Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 208, Decatur, Adams County, 4 September 1945 — Page 1

. No. 208.

NKEE TROOPS OCCUPY SOUTHERN JAPAN

t Schools katur Are Bed Today ®ose Reported gncoln School, Sn High School of 30 pupils in the Kui and first six grades ■icoln school building is ■pff-set by a loss of 19 the junior-senior high ■fr of whom are in the KI, the opening day reg- ■ ■of students reveals, ■ ■Krick, city superinSfrnounced at noon. Kck ascribed the loss in Koi enrollment as temKwo reasons were cited Kialler enrollment today, Ki industry and on the K the enlistment of sevKs in the armed forces. Kindergarten, which is ■ Mrs. Gladys ChamberBss the biggest increase, gfc as compared with 86 Boning day of school last ;■ kindergarten is divided Horning and afternoon Kd it may be necessary ■ an additional teacher Kepartment, Mr. Krick K today the enrollment ■ecatur public schools ■I,OBO, compared with Kir ago. The figures for ■ compared with the 1944 B enrollment, for each Bow: ■Lincoln School 1944 1945 Bien 86 97 E. 93 90 i 94 96 ■ 74 86 ■ 87 76 I- 60 86 E 70 63 K.... 564 594 unior-Senior High i 85 95 ■e 83 80 I 85 73 • 78 77 it Catholic School teatur Catholic high and h grade schools will open , Sister M. Fidelis, prinlounced. ation is expected to exceed that of a year view of the number of lilies, that have moved city. nent for beginners was t Friday and so far 29 have registered. y Teachers Employed rick announced that the de had been divided into ctions and that Mrs. orwin had been employed ply teacher in the grade. Be, the second grade has (tided into three sections i. Clyde Harris has been d as a supply teacher. Ichers were on the staff To Page 2. Column 3) ■ o Day Holiday Toll Is 333 By United Press inary reports indicated k>the nation’s three-day lacelebration, its first peaceiday week-entf in four st 333 dead and hundreds Ing long restrained vacaIres, Americans jammed I golflinks, parks, busses toads. War-worn tires and ed autos were a common h the highways, where otorfets capitalized on ragas and the lifting of the I speed ban, the toll was est. A total Os 187 persons traffic accidents, 17 in the California alone. CRAT THERMOMETER IPERATURE READING m 56 i.m 70 -: 76 rn 86 WEATHER illy fair tonight and Wedwarmer.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Jap People Fail To Realize War Lost Strange Situation Found Among Japs Editor’s Note: United Press correspondents have spent several days in carefully surveying Japanese opinion on the outcome of the war, interviewing businessmen, journalists, and influential leaders. The following dispatch is a result of the survey. By Richard W. Johnston Tokyo. Sept. 4 — (UP) — The Japanese people, stubbornly proud to the last, still don’t realize that they have lost the war. The en tire nation lives behind a comforting wall of excuses. The Japanese navy, virtually blown out of the water, blames its debacle on bad administration of the war effort by the army. Japanese intellectuals criticize the military bitterly—not for taking Japan into the war, but only for failing to win it. The Japanese army is relatively intact and still has no awareness of defeat in the personal sense. The mass of the people believe that the war was halted by the magnanimous gesture of the emperor, rather than as a result of Allied force. This is no snap judgment on my part, but the result of several days of asking questions. It represents the conclusion of all United Press correspondents and many American officers. The Japanese simply say:- “We are embarrassed at the failure of the army and navy to triumph for the emperor—next lime we will do better.” American forces in Japan are regarded as slightly unwelcome guests who must be tolerated for a time. There is none of the abject subservience of a badly beaten people. Nor the bitter resentment of those who know they have been hopelessly licked. The Japanese apparently prefer to regard this as a breather between rounds. They are simply waiting for the bell to send them out fighting again — presumably when und if Japan obtains the secret atomic bomb or some other “equalizer." It appears as if the Japanese simply regard the existing peace as a “tactic” in the eternal war for world domination. One of Japan’s leading journalists, formerly stationed in New York and Washington, sorrowfully complained that the army and (Turn To Page 3, Column 6) Marriage Licenses Increase In August Dan Cupid succeeded in marital match-making August to a greater extent than he did a year ago, records in the county clerk’s office show. In August this year, 23 marriage licences were issued, compared with 16 in 1944, Fern Bierly, deputy clerk, announced. Mrs. Martha Frost Dies This Morning Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon Mrs. Martha Ellen Frost, 54, a native of Decatur, died at 12:30 o’clock this morning at the home of her mother, Mrs. V. P. Ball, 429 Line street, after a year’s illness of complications. She was brought here two weeks ago from her home in Saginaw, Mich. She was born in Decatur March 23, 1891, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. P. Ball, and had lived in Saginaw for u st 31 years. She was a member of the Methodist church at Saginaw. Surviving in addition to the mother are the husband, William H. Frost: one son, Robert Witham, of Decatur; one brother, Charles Ball of Avon, N. Y„ and one granddaughter. Funeral services will be held at 2 o’clock Thursday afternoon at the Gillig & Doan funeral home, with the Rev. Carey R. Moser officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p. <m. Wednesday.

Congress Will Be Reconvened On Wednesday Important Problems Facing Congress In Emergency Session Washington, Sept. 4 — (UP) — Congress meets tomorrow in emergency session to deal with domestic and international problems ranging from repeal of federal war time to disposition of our atomic bomb secrets. The overall challenge to congress is the cutting of a pattern for reconversion and our postwar economy. War time will succumb to farm state protests. President Truman has proirtised to make some suggestions in a message soon about the future of atomic secrets. Both houses will meet at noon tomorrow, their projected two months vacations having been cut in half when Japan unexpectedly bowed out of the war. Neither house will transact any significant business before Monday. The senate will adjourn immediately until Thursday out of respect to the memory of the late Sen. Hiram W. Johnson, R., Calif., He died during the recess. There is no business ready for the senate floor. ” House committees are ready with bills for the disposal of surplus property and surplus ships. But the house leadership will not attempt to legislate until more members are present than are likely to be in Washington during the remainder of this week. The political truce of sorts which prevailed during the war will end with a bang as congress meets again. So, probably, will the political honeymoon enjoyed by President Truman since he succeeded the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 12. Mr. Truman’s five point program submitted before the recess is heading into trouble. He called for more adequate unemployment compensation, a “full employment’’ commitment by the federal government, new surplus property legislation and continuance of some of the functions of emergency war agencies. Fateful For Labor Washington, Segt. 4 —(UP) — Organized labor regards the congressional session opening tomorrow as the most fateful in history for American wage earners. Union leaders and their legislative representatives disclosed (Turn To Page 6. Column 5) ——o Quiet Holiday Is Observed In City City Returns To Normal Pursuits Decatur was returning to normalcy today after the Labor Day holiday, marked by a two-day suspension of most business activities. For the city’s war workers, Monday was the first Labor Day holiday since 1941, as war plants maintained production through the long war months. The majority of the city's business houses, closed all day yesterday, will be open all day Thursday of this week, foregoing the usual Thursday afternoon closing. City and county authorities reported a quiet holiday observance, with no arrests made and only two minor traffic accidents in the city. Many residents took advantage of their first holiday in many months without any restrictions on driving following the suspension of gasoline rationing and speed limits, and spent the holiday at lakes, resorts, fairs or visiting relatives. Today’s return to normalcy was featured by the opening of the Decatur public and the county rural schools. The Decatur Catholic schools will open Wednesday for the 1945-46 school year. Damage estimated by city police at |IOO was caused In a traffic (Turn To Page 3, Column (/

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, September 4,1945.

Formal Surrender At Yokosuka

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THIS SCENE ALONGSIDE THE U. S. S. SAN DIEGO shows the formal Jap surrender ceremony at the Yokosuka Naval Base. Jap Adm. Tatsuko (arrow), salutes as he faces (1. to ».) Rear Adm. Oscar C. Badger, commander of the Yokosuka occupation forces and Vice-Adm. Robert B. Carney. U. S. Navy Radiophoto.

Service Officer May Be Appointed Here Commissioners May Name New Officer The county commissioners ate considering the appointment of a county service officer, as provided, in senate bill 182, passed by the 84th session of the Indiana general assembly. The commissioners have received communications from Governor Ralph Gates and William C. Slatnaker, state director of the department of veterans affairs outlining the procedure relative to the appointment. The only qualification for a man to hold the post is that he be a ‘war veteran, with at least six months active service. Dale Moses, president of the board, stated that he had one applicant for the place. The salary and other allowances are fixed by the county commissioners. The duty of the county service officer is to serve veterans of World War 1 and 11. The commissioners were informed that the appointment should be made not later than September 15, (Turn To Pagte 4, Column 6)

Horrible Destruction By Atom Bomb At Hiroshima Described

Editor's note: The writer of tho following dispatch is a veteran United Press war correspondent. He was transferred to the Pacific after covering the American advance through France and Germany, during which he saw most of the heavily-bombed cities of Europe. By James F. McGlincy Hiroshima, Sept. 3 —(Delayed)— (UP) —Hiroshima is all the ruined cities of the world put together and spread out. Yet only one bomb did it —a single atomic bomb dropped by an American superfortress on Aug. 6, the first atomic bomb to be loosed on a hostile land. We drove into the center of what only a month ago was a prosperous modern city - and for two miles in every direction found nothing biit complete and utter ruin. By Aug. 20, The Japanese had counted 33,000 dead among those ruins. The total reached 53,000 last Saturday and more still dying

Grass Fire Results In Department Call The fire department was called at 12:30 this afternoon to extinguish a grass fire in a field on the north side’ of Jackson street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth War Prisoners Are Returned To Guam Compiling List Os Jap War Criminals Guam. Sept, 4 —(UP) — Marine ace Maj. Gregory (Pappy) BoyingIton and 63 fellow prisoners of war the first group of navy and marine personnel evacuated from Japan —arrived in Guam today. The group of 19 officers and 45 enlisted men made the 1,550-mile flight from Kisarazu naval base aboard two naval air transport C--54’s. Pilots, gunners, submarine men and. veterans of Wake, Corregidor, Guam and North China were in the party. Some had been prisoners for as long as three years and eight months. Most appeared in good health (Turn To Page 6, Column 5)

every day in hospitals around Hiroshima. Thirty thousand persons are missing. No one knows how many were wounded. Japanese doctois fear that everyone wounded, no matter how slight his scrach, is doomed. They say the death toll ultimately may exceed 150,000 —nearly half of Hiroshima’s pre-war population. The doctors tell of how the wounded's hair drops out, the>r gums bleed, their kidneys refuse to function, how the number of their white blood corpuscles are found to total only one seventh what they shduld, how they grow weaker and weaker, and how they finally die. We cannot chock on the accuracy of the doctors’ testimony just yet. But we can confirm Japanese accounts of the terrible destruction wrought by that lone bomb a month ago next Thursday. It te almost indescribable. No one in the United States could conceive or ever know what it is like (Turn To Pag* 4, Column 4)

Thousands Os American Troops Occupy Southern Japan; To Tokyo Friday

Budget Session Is Opened By Council Session Is Opened By County Council The members of the county council convened this morning in the auditor’s office for what is known as the annual budget session, which will extend over to Thursday. All members were present, namely, Henry Dehner, chairman; Julius Schultz, Charles Jones, A. C. Munro, Deane Byerly, Leon Neuenschwander and William F. Kruetzman. The councilmen started a general review of the budgets during the forenoon. The budgets are divided into three departments this year, including the one for the general fund, the highway department and the county welfare department. Approval or pruning of estimates asked by the various county officials for their respective offices and departments will be given as the items are checked by (lie councilmen. Final action w not expected before Wednesday evening, the councilmen stated. All of the budgets are higher than the estimates of a year ago and the tax levies asked exceed those as finally fixed by the council last September. The three budgets total $561,811 and carry proposed rates on each SIOO of taxable property in the county of 43 cents for the general fund, five cents for the county highway department and 16 pents for the welfare department. These proposed levies exceed the 1945 total of 43 cents by 21 cents, amounting to 64 cents on each SIOO. Civil Air Patrol To Meet Tonight All members of the Decatur civil air patrol are requested to meet at the McComb airport at. 6 o’clock this evening. The members are asked to dress in fatigue clothes to aid in setting up the field for CAP field maneuvers, which will be held in the near future. * Mention Eisenhower To Succeed Marshall Expect Many Changes By President Truman Washington, Sept. 4 — (UP) — With world hostilities over Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was being mentioned here today as a likely replacement for Gen. George C. Marshall as army chief of staff. Marshall has long since served out the normal term of any army chief of staff, and President Truman. following his policy rtf selecting world war II veterans for government positions affecting military policy, is expected to pick 'Eisenhower as Marshall’s successor. Other top brackets of the armed forces and the cabinet which probably will see changes by the president in coming months: Commander of the U. S. fleet chief of naval operations — now held by Adm. Ernest J. King. This post will probably go to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz though possibly to Adm. William F. Halsey. Commander of the army air fores —now held by Gen. H. H. Arnold who has been in ill health during recent war months. Two logical successors: Gen. Carl A. Spaatz or Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker. Secretary of war — the present secretary, Henry L. Stimson is 78 years old and is known to desire retirement. His possible successors are many, including John J. MeCloy, present assistant secretary of war. Some sources are agitating for the appointment of Gen. (Turn To Page 4, Column T>.

Japs' Emperor Commands Diet To Build Peace Emperor Hirohito Speaks At Session Os Jap Legislature Tokyo, Sept. 4 —(UP) —Emperor Hirohito, dressed in the khaki uniform of a grand marshal of the Japanese army, today commanded the firs! postwar session of tlie imperial diet to build a peaceful state from the ashes of his shattered nation.

Opening the 88th session of Japan's '‘legislature,” Hirohito read an imperial rescript to a joint session of the house of peers and the house of representatives in the lavish diet building which stands unmarked in the bombblasted heart of Tokyo. Hirohito was in full uniform, including boots and spurs and wearing military decorations when he arrived at the diet building at 10:42 a. ni. He traveled from the palace in a well-worn black Rolls Royce bearing a 16-point chrysanthemum medallion, the imperial cfmblem on its radiator. Hirohito was escorted from the palace, a mile away by blackuniformed police riding bright red motorcycles. Boy police kept the crowds at a respectful distance. They uncovered and bowed gravely. A few minutes later a single superfortress buzzed the imperial palace grounds—a sport Japanese planes were never permitted. According to the official Japanese translation of the rescript the emperor said: "It is our desire that our people will surmount the manifold hardships and trials attending the termination of the war, make manifest the innate glory of Japan’s national policy and win the confidence of the world.” In another version the phrase “win the confidence of the world" became “keep good face among the nations.” At 11 a. ni. Hirohito appeared on a golden throne above and behind the rostrum of the huge rectangular room of the house of peers. Some of the diet members wore uniforms. Others sported morning coats. But many in shabby business suits and rundown shoes crowded the big room (Turn To Page 3, Column 7)

Circuit Court Term Opens This Morning Call Court Docket Thursday Morning Judge J. Fred Fruchte presided at the opening ot the September term of the Adams circuit court this morning. The court made a number of entries, including approval of the entries male by the clerk during vacation. Judge Fruchto announced that the calling of the docket would be held at 9:30 o’clock Thursday morning. He asked that attorneys be present to set their cases for the naw term. Earl B. Adams was named spe’cial judge in the Gottligb Gerber estate. Judge Fruchte disqualified himself for reason that he was a witness to Mr. Gerber’s last will and testament. While the calendar has not yet been prepared, several criminal cases are expected to be tried during the September term, D. Remy Bierly, prosecuting attorney, said.

Price Four Cents,

MacArthur Orders Demobilization And Disarmament Entire Forces Os Japanese General MacArthur’s Headquar* ters, Yokohama, Sept. 4—(UP) - Thousands of American troops began the occupation of Japan by sea and air today, taking over Kyttehu’s most important airfield and a large port. Some 600 miles to the northeast, the first oT an ultimate force of 20,000 American air and ground force crewmen moved into the Tachikawa army air base, eight miles west of Tokyo, under an occupation program that will put troops in the Tokyo metropolitan district Friday. ■Large-scale transfer of troops from ALsugl to the Tachikawa airdrome will begin Thursday, 19 days ahead of schedule. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme occupation commander, probably will move his headquarters from Yokohama to Tokyo proper next week.

, >(A CBS dispatch from Yokohama said Gen. Douglas MacArthur issued his second general order as Allied occupation commander today. calling for the immediate demobilization and disarmament of the Japanese army, clearing of all harbors and prompt release of Allied prieonere.) Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu conferred a t length with MacArthur at the General’s headquarters today forth« second straight day. Landings on the southern tip ofl Kyushu, southernmost ot the Japanese home islands, began at dawn without incident, in compliance with MacArthur's surrender orders, not a single Japanese plana was seen in the air. A huge fleet of air transports ferried air-borne infantry from. {Okinawa to Kanoya airfield, just {southeast of Kagoshima, under the {direction of an advance party of 120 technicians who landed yesteriday. The newly-landed troopo quickly secured the airfield and fanned out in all Japanese sources estimated that 2,500 troops from the American sixth army, veterans of the Philippines and New Guinea, will ba s'atioued at Kanoya. The airfield, most important la southern Kyushu, formerly was a baise for Japanese suicide planes which attacked Okinawa. A small task force from Admiral I Raymond A. Spruance’s battle- | Fifth Fleet sailed into Kagoshima, |tested Fifth Fleet sailed into Kago.shima bay at 7 a.m. (4 p.m. Mon|day C. W. T.) and proceeded in i formation to an anchorage oft Takasu, four miles southwest of Ka--1 noya.

Four Japanese naval officers, grinning and eager to please, went aboard the flagship of the task force, the destroyer David William Taylor, for a conference with Capt. Clyde M. Jensen of Peru, 111. Arrangements for the American landing at Takasu and occupation of the port were completed at au informal conference held over a, wardroom table with an American naval officer interpreting. Husky, armed seamen stood guard behind the Japanese, identified as Lieutenant Commander Kubs, Second Lieutenant Hasebe, Lieutenant Commander Sugiyatna and a staff officer. Soon afterward, troops began swarming ashore at Takasu and surrounding points from six land(Turn To Page 2, Column 1) Telephone Company To Elect Directors The annual election of directors, followed by the election of officers of the Citiiens Telephone company, will be .held Thursday evening at the company's office on Monroe street. The present directors are, Leo Yager, C. E. Bell, S. E. Hite, Arthur E. Voglewede and Charles E. Ehinger, the latter serving as a lieutenant in the U. S. army in the Philippines.