Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 211, Decatur, Adams County, 7 September 1945 — Page 1

r o |. XLIH. No. 211.

BEN. MACARTHUR TO ENTER TOKYO TONIGHT

pilled In kir Crash In Lth Carolina I Eastern Airlines I plane Crashes, All I Aboard Are Killed I Florence. S. C, Sept. 7-(UP)-Leuty-two persons were killed toI when an Eastern Airlines l alle seeking desperately to Cue' a n emergency landing.crashland burned on a plantation pein ’rove. 14 miles east of here. I All persona on the big transport, L route from Miami to New York, (ere believed to have died instantL T heir bodies lay about the Listed wreckage — burned and Loken. . I The state highway patrol said it Id counted the bodies of 21 perlons. but Eastern Airlines said 22 Lre aboard. Patrolmen said it was Lonceivable anyone could have Irvived. | Wreckage of the plane, a DC-3, L. discovered on the plantation Es B. 11- Harwell by his 12-year-lld son, Hicks. I Mrs. Harwell said she had heard L plane flying low over their lome about 2 in the morning and | few moments later they heard a Eremendous explosion. | After dawn, she said, members lot the family set out t 0 discover [tie cause of the detonation and ■Hicks stumbled over the wreckLe. I It was disclosed the plane’s comLaniier, Capt. J. Olin King, of MiaLi, had radioed the Florence army lair base at approximately 2 a.m. IEWT that he was "having trouble” LtiJ would attempt to make an ent-Lrw-ney landing at the army base. I only moments earlier, he had [contacted Eastern Airlines at Ralleigh, his next etop, and stated Lil was well. I King apparently was circling ■ back to the Florence army air base I when his plane went down. | The ship was totally demolished Iwidt wreckage strewn among the I trees. The bodies were being prepared for movement to Florence | funeral homes. Mrs. Harwell said the plane wa»j | flying “awfully low” when it pass ed over the house, but added that ho far as she could tell the engines were working. The plane had been" missing for more than 10 hours before the wreckage was located. Two other EAL planes, priva'e planes and army ships searched a 100-mile area morning-long lor the transport Ambulances from Florence and bom the Florence army air base Knt to the scene when an army Pilot .lighted the wreckage. The crash occurred in level county. The weather was clear with «ceiling of mure than 6,000 feet I a nd visibility was good. Gen. Wainwright To Leave Honolulu Today Honolulu. Sept. 7—(UP)— Gen. Jonathan L. Wainwright, wearing *h<“ four stars of his new rank, " as scheduled to leave Honolulu “ r Plane today for the United States. The man who defended Correginr to the last refused to comment oi stories told by other officere in an Francisco that he had been •tppfed arid beaten by the JapanHe said he would reveal nt> ? elails of his confinement until he a conferred with the War Department. Jeifer Slaughtered Meat Thieves Hew !nd., Sept. 7—(UP) ■ ea t thieves slaughtered a 760heifer last night on the St>H„ farm ’ 90uth of Sulphur ■>' They left only the feet snd of the animal. °«? CR * T thermometer B:Oo GMPERATURE READING) Noon m 79 t:W) p- - £ WEATHER '’ y cloudy and continued I r °) tonight and Saturday.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Navy Leader Dead fl IRIF tflEUStet jtsfr I ; Ji Vice Adm. John S. McCain, 61-■ year-old commander of famed task force 38, died suddenly of a heart attack last night at his home in Coronado, Calif. t 1,200 War Prisoners Rescued In Formosa Bataan Death March Survivors In Group ■General MacArthur’s Headquarters, Yokohama, Sept. 7 —(UP.) — Airmen from a carrier task force have liberated 1,200 Allied war prisoners—some of them survivors of the Bataan death march—from prison camps on Formosa, but manv were expected to die before they .■an reach civilization. A navy announcement at Guam revealed 'that the prisoners, mostly British troops who fought at Singapore, had been forced to work from dawn to dusk for the past three years in copper mines at Kinkaseki in northern Formoea. Os ‘he group, 193 were too weak from torture and starvation to be moved ;o waiting shlpe. Eighty - nine Americans were among the liberated group. In contrast to the situation prevailing on Formosa, ano’her* Allied rescue team which went to the Japanese homeland port of Kobe expecting the worst found that the 559 American, British and Australian prisoners in the area had taken over the ci*y. The erstwhile prisoners acquired luxurious living quarters, had Japanese servants to attend them and sent the police chief on errands following Japan’s capitulation. It was with a certain amount of regret that they entrained for Yokohama. Nearly 8,00(1 other prisoners, including 2,200 Americans, have been liberated in central and southern Honshu since the occupation of Japan began laet week. Ambulatory cases were being down from Kisarazu airfield on (Turri To Paev 4. Column S) o Telephone Company Officers Reelected All Directors And Officers Re-Named No change was made in the directorate or in the officers of the Citizens Telephone company at the annual meeting of stockholders and officers, held at the company’s Leo Yager, president; S. E. Hite, office last evening. 'The officers and directors are: vice-president; C. E. Bell, treasurer; Lt. Charles E. Ehinger, (in the Pacific area) secretary; Arthur E. Voglewede, general counsel. One of the oldest business enterprises in the city, the company has grown into on of the most successful telephone utilities in the state. Mr. Bell, who acts as office manager in the absence of Lt. . Ehinger, reported that the company, which owns the exchanges in this city, Bferne, Monroe and Bryant, had total -telephone installations of 3,654. The Decatur exchange has 2j,3-94, including tlhe rural lines. Plans for postwar improvements were discussed by the directors and the fact noted that telephone facilities will be extended as quickly as war-time priorities are lifted and materials become available. During the past year 111 telephones were installed.

Adm. McCain Dies Suddenly Thursday Night Famed Commander Os Task Force 38 Dies After Heart Attack San Diego, Calif., Sept. 7 — (UP)—Vice Adm. John S. McCain, who died less than 24 hours after returning to this country from surrender ceremonies in the Pacific, was worn out from the strain of the final battle against Japan, a navy physician said today. McCain, peppery, 61-year-old commander of famed task force 38, died suddenly of a heart attack last night at his home in nearby Coronado. He was a veteran of 41 years in the navy. McCain was exhausted from his activities in the last four months in the final effort to batter Japan to her knees, the navy doctor said. The slight, wiry admiral, one of the navy's strongest advocates of air power, was suffering from a slight cold but generally considered in good health when he arrived here Wednesday from Pearl Harbor. He had planned to spend a few ' days resting at home before continuing to Washington, D. C.. I where he reportedly was to accept a position as director of naval veterans affairs in the veterans' administration. With McCain when he died were his widow, Catherine, and his aide, Lt. Cmdr. Don Thornburn of New York City, who had accompanied him from Japan. McCain fought the Japs ferociously because he hated them. Like his boss, Adm. William (Bull) Halsey, he told reporters at Pearl Harbor a few days ago that he would have liked to kick every Jap at the surrender ceremany aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. They looked at the American officers “the way a man measures you when he's going to hit you,” he said then. The Japs, he had declared, weren’t “half-licked” and (Turn To Page 2. Column 2) Miraculous Escape Os Officer Revealed Lt. Thomas Anderson Is Given Discharge Wi*h the release yesterday of Lt. Thomas C. Anderson, a B-24 pilot from the Army Air Forces, and son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Clayson J. Carroll of Berne, formerly of this city, it was learned that the young pilot had a miraculous escape from the cold waters of the North Atlantic when his plane cracked up and he and his crew had to bail out. Lt. Anderson, the husband of the former Marjorie Carroll, was piloting the plane from England last May. In addition to his regular crew, he was ferrying in Infantrymen from Europe to the United States. The entire group, probably 20 in all, had to bail out near the shores of Newfoundland. They were in the water for a few hours and were re-cued by a navy PBY boat and brought to Presque Isle, Maine. Lt. Anderson wa.s discharged yesterday from Camp Atterbury. During his two and one-half years of army service he served with the air force and was oversea.- for tour months. He had 14 bombing missions to has credit, including the bombing of Berlin, and other vital points in Germany. o Mrs. Laura Meyers Is Taken By Death Funeral arrangements have not been completed, pending word from relatives, for Mrs. Laura Maddox Meyers, who died Wednesday afternoon at the home of a daughter, Mrs. R. Paul Miller of Berne. Also surviving are the husband, Henry S. Meyers, in CalifQrnia; a son, Perry Meyers, New York City, and another daughter, Mrs. Wilma Gay of Los Angelee.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Fri day, September 7, 1945.

Now Patton Has The White Horse 91 ■ Vi p■’ H' " IMS AU « f.l w9K •»»- » • imhei GEN. GEORGE S. PATTON, commander of the U. S. Third Army, sallies forth in Austria astride “Favory Africa," tiie horse which Adolf Hitler had personally picked out to be presented to Emperor Hirohito until circumstances, in which Patton had quite a hand, altered his plans. The horse formerly belonged to the riding school of Vienna.

Political Mud To Fly During Probe Pearl Harbor Probe Approved By Senate Washington, Sept. 7 — (UP) — President Truman is stepping nimbly away today from the shower of political mud expected to splatter when congress begins its investigation of Pearl Harbor. The investigation was approved in the senate yesterday with the President's endui'seme)#. It will be agreed to in the house next week. There will probably be a joint committee of five members from each hotuse. Questioned at his press conference yesterday afternoon, Mr. Truman quickly aligned himself with the rest of the public by saying he knew nothing about the Pearl Harbor .disaster except what he read in the newspapers. In other words, tlr's isn’t his baby and if it cries someone else will have to walk it. He said he. had agreed with Democratic congressional leaders that th*Te should be an investigation to get the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Congress, he said, would have the right to all testimony available. That means that the White House will not intervene to prevent fiavy or army officers from testifying on grounds that national security might he jeopardized. Reports to Mr. Truman were (Turn To Pace 4. Coin tin 5) Blue Cross Plan Is Explained To Club Hospital Service Plan Told Rotary Charles E. Rudicel, of Indianapolis, district representative of the Blue Cross hospital plan, was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Decatur Rotary club Thursday evening. The speaker explained the plan, which is under the direct guidance of the American hospital association, outlining many details of the value of complete hospital service. The Blue Cross plan, in operation throughout the United States, is a non profit, community sponsored hospital plan, Mr. Rudicel explained, and has now passed the 19,000,000 mark in membership throughout the nation. The plan was inaugurated in Indiana last November and membership in the state has now pawsed the 200,000 mark. More than 3,000 hospitals in the country are now participating in the Blue Cross plan, and any Indiana member is accepted in any of these hospitals by simply present(Turn To Page 4, Column 4)

General Electric Building For Sale The Reconstruction Finance Corp., through the Chicago office carries an advertisement in this l.’sue of the newspaper for the “sale or leMe" of the new General Electric building, corner of • Eightli street and Dayton avenue. It was built at the opening of the war and occupied by the company in 1942. it is known as plant two. o — 95,000 Workers Are Idled By Disputes 40,000 Are Absent In Detroit Alone By United Press Nearly 95,000 workers were idle throughout the nation today in labor ritanagement disputes, many over problems of reconversion. The Detroit industrial area counted 40,000 absent from their jobs. Unable to keep assembly lines moving because of a lack of parts from the strike-bound Kel-sey-Hayes Wheel Co., the Ford Motor Co. laid off approximately 25,000 employes and warned that its other plants throughout the country would shut down by the end of the week if parts were not forthcoming. Elsewhere in the .notcr city, automobile production was paralyzed at the Hudson Motor Car Co., where a strike of 500 supervisory employes affected 6,000 production workers. Minor Detroit area strikes accounted for the other idle workers. A baek-to-work movement was expected momentarily among 15.000 strikers at the Consolidated Shipyards at Orange, Tex., as company officials announced an agreement with AFL pipefitters over layoff procedures. Publication of the three major daily newspapers in fst. Louis was resumed today with the settlement of a carriers' strike which bad tied up the newspapers three weeks. Some 4,000 hard coal miners returned to the pits in Pennsylvania, hut the labor picture was clouded by the threat of paralyz(Turn To Papc 4 ■"'ntiimn SI Offices Swamped By Unemployment Claims Indianapolis, Sept. 7—(UP) — A “s’aggering number” of unemployment compensation claims swamped the Indiana employment security offices teday and a shortage of trained personnel delayed service. Director Noble R. Shaw said that a whrtime skeleton Gtaff was caught without extra help by the end of the Pacific war and "it takes time to recruit and train inexperienced personnel into efficient division employe.;.”

Supreme Commander Os Allies To Raise Flag Over American Embassy

Exped Draft To Continue To Ad Expiration New Point System For Discharge Os Officers Announced Washington, Sept. 7 —(UP) — Congress appeared virtually certain today to let the draft continue at least until the present selective service act expires next May 15. By that time, many members feel, measures taken to spur voluntary enlistments will have begun to make themselves felt and it will be possible to estimate whether enlistments alone will fill occupation needs. The house expects to act next week on legislation to speed recruitment by extending veterans' benefits and offering a 90-day furlough with pay and transportation to men eligible for discharge who wish to reenlist. In general congress seemed willing to go along for the present with President Truman's request yesterday to continue inductions so those who have been in service several years and “have been under constant fire and continuous danger” may return to their homes. Chairman Andrew J. May, D.. Ky., of the house military affairs committee typified this sentiment when he said, “we must continue drafting men for the time being because we’ve got some work in Europe and Asia that must be done.” Senate and bouse members did not all agree with the president that inductions should include all registrants 18-25 years of age. Four senators —chairman Elbert Thomas, D., Utah, of the senate military affairs committee and Sens. Pat McCarran, D., Nev., Warren R. Austin, R., Vt., and Homer Ferguson, R., Mich. —said they would offer legislation to stop drafting 18 and 19 year olds. Thomas is the author of a bill to continue two-year inductions of men 18-25 but he said he would seek to amend his bill by eliminating 18 and 19 year olds. Most congressmen hoped along fT.irn T« ?. r»n!umn Q_ Mortgage Burning Ceremony At Elks 40th Anniversary Observed By Lodge Earl B. Adams and I. A. Kalver, two of the charter members, held the mor'gage as it burned from ’he flames of a highway flare at the mortgage burning ceremonies last night, marking the observance of the 40 th birthday of Decatur Lodge No. 993 of the B. P. O. Elks. The ceremony was held in front of the Elks home and was attended by more than 125 members, all of whom had previously been guests at the banquet served earlier in the evening. Exalted Ruler Florian Keller gave the signal for setting fire to the official documents and Wendell O. P. Macklin, war veteran member of the lodge who recently returned from overseas, put the flames of the flare to the envelope. The crowd joined in singing God Blees America. Attractive tables were arranged throughout the home for the four course dinner, which wae served by wives of the members, committees being chosen from the three sororities. L. A. Holthouse acted as toastmaster and a melody trio frem Fort Wayne furnfcshed music Ct'uru To Page 2, Column t)

To Philippines P'll ■Bl £ • ■ dfll < flMk'' /■ ] Paul V. McNutt, war manpower commissioner, and former governor of Indiana, has been appointed by President Truman as high commissioner of the Philippine Islands. McNutt Returns To Philippines Post Former Governor Os Indiana Appointed Washington. Sept. 7 — (UP) — 3rig, Gen. Carlos P. Romulo. resident commissioner of the Philip pines, said today he was certain he inlands will attain their independence on July 4, 1946, if not before. “The sooner we begin doing for mrselve; what we Gooner or later have to shoulder anyway, the better for us," he told the United ?ress. Romulo emphastically denied that President Truman's appointment if Paul V. McNutt to be high commissioner might indicate a re-exa-ninatlon of the Philippine question and a postponement of the independence date. Several months ago McNutt suggested po tponemen’ until Philipnines relief needs had been met In seme quarter there was specttlaion that this policy might prevail. Romulo said McNutt’s nominaion at the present time indicates not delay but profnpt action toward the twin goals of Philippine independence and rehabilitation. He said McNutt returned from his recent visit to the i lando “appalled by the plight of the people" and praised him as “a man ho knows our needs.” The Filipinos estimate their war damage at sl.300,000,00:.). Romulo ncted congressional resolu'tioix setting the date tor Philippine independence day for July 4, 1946, and a later one, passed durng the war. advancing the date to the time “when the Japanese are xpelled and con. titutional processes resiored.” "So you see.” he said, “it may (Turn To Paere 4. Column *<, Seek Porter Estate As State Park Site An organization has been formed of the Noble county and Foit Wayne perecns interested in acquiring and converting the Gene Stratton Porter esta'e on Sylvan Lake, Rome City, into a state park and then return the body of the famous authoress from Los Angeles for burial on the grounds. The group will incorporate as the Gene Stratton Porter Memorial Inc. Dr. Leland Frurip of Kendallville was elected permanent chairman.

Price Four Cents.

Flag Ceremony Will Symbolize Final Act Os Jap Capitulation To Allied Strength General MacArthur's Headquarters, Yokohama, Sept. 7 —-(UP) Plans were completed today for Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s triumphal entry into bomb-ravaged Tokyo about 10 a. m. tomorrow (8 p. m. today, EWT.) Tlte supreme commander is expected to raise the stars and stripes over the American embassy across the street from Emperor Hirohito's palace at 10:30 a. m. (8:30 p. m. today CWT). The ceremony will symbolize the final act of Japan's capitulation. The flag is the same one which flew from the capitol in Washington on Pearl Harbor day in 1941 and since has flown over Berlin and Rome and from the masthead of the Missouri during the signing of Japan’s surrender last Sunday. MacArthur will return to his Yokohama headquarters after the flag raising. He ultimately will establish bis headquarters in the Tokyo embassy building, but n>t until sufficient office space and billets can be found in Tokyo for his staff. The seventh and eighth regiments of the first cavalry division, chosen by MacArthur to spearhead the occupation of Tokyo, will roll into Tokyo in trucks and other vehicles about breakfast time tomorrow'. They will assemble at the main Tokyo railway station by 10 a.m. and then march 10 blocks to the embassy for the flag-raising ceramony. The first cavalry band and the regiment, once commanded by Custer at Little Bighorn, will lead the parade with “F” troops of the second battalion providing a special honor guard for MacArthur. MacArthur will arrive in Tokjo as supreme ruler of the country that once sought to dominate the world with her Axis partner! Hirohito, the Japanese government and the imperial generil staff already are doing his bidding. The Japanese people slowly have begun the task of repairing their bomb pitted capital. Demobilized soldiers, dyd partly in uniforms and partly in civilian c’othes, slowly and painfully were filling in bomb craters and piling up rubble. Tokyo was declared “in bounds” igain for correspondents at noon today (10 p. m. Thursday, CWT). The first car of each of the two trains operating daily between Yokosuka and Tokyo were reserved for American officers and correspondents. Admiral William F. Halsey, meantime, disclosed that an American prize crew has taken over l'he Japanese battleship Fuji, presumably in Japan's inland sea. He also reported that five Japanese destroyers, two minelayers, ’wo picket boats, four submarines and ISO midget submarines have been seized. Fleet dispatches said first units of Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge's U. S. 24th corps will land at Jinsen on the west coast of Norea about 2:30 p. tn. tomorrow (13:30 a. m. CWT.) (Turn T<> Pane 6. Column 6) — -M—— _________ Rich Funeral Rites Sunday Afternoon Mrs. Mary Klopfenstein-Rich, 69, lied Thursday at the home of a ;on, Elmer, in French township. Also surviving are another eon, Albert. near Berne; a eister, Mrs. 3arah Buehrer, Avilla. The body will be removed from the Yager funeral home to the Rich resilence, nor'h of Decatur, this eveting. Funeral service; will be held at I p.m. Sunday at the Defenseless Mennonite church, west of Berne, with the Rev. N. A. Schmucker of•ficialing. Burial will be in the MRE cemetery at Berne.