Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 May 1943 — Page 1

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FORECAST: Moderate to heavy showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow morning; not much change in temperature.

VOLUME 54—NUMBER 58

Thousands Drown In Ruhr Val ley Deluge

HUNDREDS HOMELESS IN CITY:

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Mrs. John Layne watches Beverly, her 2-vear-old daughter, as she gleeps in school 8 Bluff read, after being routed frem home.

NAZI FACTORY

AREA IN CHAOS

State of Siege Proclaimed In Westphalia; R. A. F.

Continues Raids.

Graphic Phete of Dam Break, Page Three)

LONDON. May 18 (U. P).—The' Rulir valley flood caused by R. A PF. blasting of three dams on the Bder and Mohne was degeribed in reports from Eugope today as Germany's greatest catas-

rivers

One of the most dramatic photographs of the war, the R. A. F. bombing of the Mohne river dam in Germany, appears today on Page 3.

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troph> of the war, with thousands drowned and whole cities inundated | or isolated by surging waters. i The Nazis were reported to have| proclaimed a state of siege through-| out Westphalia, the Ruhr province, in an attempt to bring order of the chaos wrought by the spectacular attack which burst the big Mohne|

and Eder dams and a third subsi-|

diary dam on the Sorpe tributary of | the Ruhr river. Aerial reconnaissance revealed | that hundreds of millions of tons of water loosed through the breaches) blasted by great iand mines had| washed out bridges, power plants. | {Continued on Page Four) \

299 Lost in Sinking by Japs Of Australian Hospital Ship

MacARTHURS HEADQUAR-] TERS. May 18 (U. P).—The| Australian hospital ship Centaur, | brightly lighted and plainly marked | with the Red Cross, was sunk by a/ Japanese torpedo off Brisbane]

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

| that he was serving &S a crew

6); Men in Service 18 ow: 19

Amusements.. §) Ash .......... 14 Millett

10| Waters 42 miles off the coast east

Editorials .... 10} : Fashions Financial .... Forum 10 Mrs. Roosevelt 8 Freckles ..... 16 Side Glances . 10 Heajth Col.... 8 Simms 10 Hold Evthing. 9 Society ....11, 12 Homemaking. 12/Sports ....... 14 In Indpls. .... 3 State Deaths.. § 9 Voice in Bal. al » Williams

& from Sydney.

17|

Flood Leaves Gardens a

By FRANK WIDNER 1

A large section of Sunshine Gar-

dens in southwestern Indianapolis i gradually began to take on the ap- mediately forced to take what be-|

pearance of a “ghost” town today. longings they could to safety. Every-

Scores of residents of this little

community were leaving their homes 2 helping hand to his neighbor to

by truck, car and on foot. Hundreds of others stood by their land, watchfully waiting and hoping. The fate of the latter depends on how strong is ihe levee holding the angry White river within its banks. Already, deputy sheds and volunteer policemen have reported two! breaks in the levee and many of the older residents shook their heads Jooking for the worst to happen.

TUESDAY, MAY 18 1943

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House-to-house calling in Ravenswood was accomplished this morning gondola style. From the ale, residents could be seen in rowboats as they went about removing personal belongings.

Sunshine ‘Ghost Town’

One section of the community in the lowlands was completely inundated and seven families were im-

one was pitching in today, lending salvage what was possible,

Dogs roamed the fields, baffled at the high water which swirled over

a“ 68 ) |

WATERS PERIL

Wabash, White Rivers Rise: Peru Power Plant Out; Roads Blocked.

By NOBLE REED

the roads and farmlands . . . mules and horses shied nervously away! from anyone who tried to reach them. So far. most of the water in Sunshine Gardens has come from Lick creek, which is still spilling its (Continued on Page Three) i

InN. Afric

Killed MRS. ROSE BOTTS, 273 Leeds ave, was advised today that her brother, T. 5th Gr. Raymond Ward, was Killed in action in North Africa Mav. 1. Ward, who was 24 was 8 radio technician with the Ist armored division. It was believed

Hoosier Heroes | Cpl. Ward | Killed May 1| al

member of a tank, He attended public school No. 23 and Manual Training high school and was employed as a trucker before entering the services two years ago. {Continued on Page Four)

early Friday with a loss of 299 persons, it was announced today. Gen. Douglas MacArthur called the attack an act of “limitless savagery” and part of an enemy horror campaign.

Only 64 among them a single inurse of the ships contingent of 112, were saved. They spent 36 | hours naked or half-clothed in open iboats, beating off sharks with boards, before being rescued. No patients were aboard the Centaur, which was en route to New Guinea

The 3222-ton vessel, attacked in

{of Australia, where the Japanese are engaged in a submarine drive jagainst allied shipping, went down

| Many victims died in fuel oil {flames that enveloped the ship. |Others drowned or fell prey to isharks. Army Nurse Sister Eleanor {Savage got off on a raft. The capitain, 67-year-old R. M.

ONE WAR PLANT HERE IS CLOSED

Stewart - Warner Sends | Employees Home; Pennsy | Bridge Collapses.

By EARL RICHERT

Rampaging flood waters were sweeping a path two or three miles

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffics Indianapolis, hd. Issued daily sxcept Sunday.

Floods at a Glance CON

Swollen streams in the Indianapolis distriet and ail along the Wabash and west fork of the White river force evacuation of hundreds.

WHOLE TOWNS -==:=

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No relief in sight with through tomorrow morning; rain = » » White river inundates sections and Little Eagle creeks over large banks at points.

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wide through Indiana today, fore ing many thousands of families to fice from their homes in rescue boats and threatening to isolate whole towns. Forecasts of more rain tonight threatened to send the swirling Wabash and White rivers and their tributaries to the levels of the 1913

Flood Pictures on Pages 1,2, 45 8 and 14,

flood, one of the worst disasters! in the history of the state. Every city and town within a radius of two miles of the Wabash

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from homes. " » »

thorities in rescue work.

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State floods most disastrous since 1913.

showers and thunderstorms predicted

falls on 12 of last 13 days. . = .

in Ravenswood and Warfieigh; Big West side areas: Fall creek out of

White river levees break in southwestern section.

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White river stage of 20 feet, eight over flood, predicted here.

Red Cross, soldiers, civilain defense units join regular civilian au-

6000 Acres of Peas Lost:

Tomatoes, Corn Delayed

By VIRGINIA HATFIELD

Commercial vegetable growers

have suffered the heaviest. loss from

rain-drenched fields, Horace E. Abbott, Marion county agricultural agent,

! said today upon returning from a tour to various points in the county.

The commercial growers depend upon profit from vegetables planted

early enough to beat production in the home garden.

on fields has almost completely ruined those crops and in some cases

Indianapolis’ industrial plants, ex-| from: Bluffton. through Huntington, |; threatening to destroy plants

cept for the Stewart-Warner plant at 1514 Drover st, were still going | full blast today, despite the floods) which kept many out-of-town workers from getting to work. In the city itself the water had subsided in many places and enough | streets were open to enable the plant protection departments to funnel the workers into the plants. This rerouting procedure caused many | workers to be late, however. Greatest industrial damage was south of the Kingan & Co. packing plant, where a section of the Pennsvivania railroad bridge going into the railroads freight yards col(Continued on Page Two)

On the War Fronts

(May 18, 1943) By UNITED PRESS ATR WAR--R. A. F attacks targets in South Germany as great allied aerial offensive goes into sixth day; flood waters loosed by bursting of big German dams spread devastation through northwest reich.

AFRICA — British bombers raid Sardinian port and airfield of Alghero, leaving big fires in continuing drive against Italy.

RUSSIA—Russian army repulses German attack in northwest Caucasus, destroys number of axis tanks in fighting near Novorossisk.

PACIFIC AREA-—-Australian hospital ship Centaur sink by Jap-

New | in Mediterranean sweeps, the ad-

{more before reaching crests.

U. S. POLISH PAPERS

yette, Clinton, Terre Haute, Hazelton |

rapidly. | Further Rise Expected | weather bureau here

The U 8S. forecast that even if no more rain falls, both the Wabash and White, civers would rise four to five feet] With more rain predicted, river observers) said “we can expect the worst’ Every additional rise of one foot in} the water means hundreds more) acres of land inundated. Lafayette, Logansport, Kokomo and Peru were the hardest hit in the first surge of the waters. The Wabash at Lafayette was (Continued on Page Two)

SIDE AGAINST RUSS

NEW YORK, May 18 (U. P)—| Editors and publishers of Polish newspapers in the United States have endorsed the position of the Polish government-in-exile in its current controversy with Russia, it was announced yesterday by the Polish telegraphic agency. at a conference here on May 15 and 16, delegates from Polish newspapers also warned of “the increasing danger of communist propaganda and activities in this country.”

6 ITALIAN SHIPS SUNK LONDON, May 18 (U. P)— British submarines sank one Italian destroyer, five axis supply ships, and damaged at least six other vessels

| Wabash, Peru, Logansport, Lafa-|raised in greenhouses.

In the state, according to Maurice

[levels reaching as high as 13 feet| floods would set crop plantings back above flood stage and still rising at least 20 days creating a possi-

bility of “great harm” to Indiana's 1943 food production. Suggests Soybeans Mr. Douglas said it would be at least 10 days after the flood waters receded before farm land would become tillable. Those crops that were put out early probably will have to be replanted, he said. Some shifting of crops may be made ‘necessary by the delays in planting, Douglas said, but if corn can be set out by May 25, the shift-

ing would not seriously impair the

crop. Mr. Douglas said farmers whose land will take long to dry out will be advised to substitute soybeans for corn. Not necessarily rain, but overflow has left water standing on (Continued on Page Two)

DANIELS IS 81, SEES WARLESS WORLD NEAR

RALEIGH, N. C, May 18 (U. P). —Josephus Daniels, who was secretary of the navy during world war I, observed his 8ist birthday today with a prediction that his “long-cherished dream of a warless world” would be realized at the end of the present conflict. The veteran publisher—he first became editor of the Raleigh News and Observer 49 years ago—said he believed that “under certain conditions” the nation would draft Prasident Roosevelt for a fourth term. Mr. Roosevelt, who served as Daniels’ assistant secretary of navy in 1017-18 still calls his former

Water standing

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Main Center of Opposition Smashed, Knox Says.

: | WASHINGTON, May ‘18 (U. P) | —Navy Secrstary Frank Knox an- | nounced today that American troops nave smashed one of the main centers of enemy resistance on Attu. He said that our troops had captured a ridge, where the enemy was holding up a two-pronged American advance on the main Japanese positions around Holtz bay. | Knox also told a press conference that, despite stubborn resistance of the Japanese, casualties so far in the campaign are “much lighter” than had been expected. The secretary met reporters an hour after the navy iscuéd a coms munique stating that Japanese forces entrenched along the rocky ridge were giving stubborn resist. ance to two columns of American troops landed on the southeastern and northeastern ends of the island. “We now have word that our troops have captured that ridge and driven the enemy out,” Knox said. “We are now in possession of the ridge.” Knox said he had no definite word as to whether a juncture be(Continued on Page Four)

LOCAL TEMPERATURES 6am ...63 10a m ..

0, S. FORCES TAKE

{and Vincennes, were hit with water Douglas of the Indiana AAA, the

KEY RIDGE ON ATTU

FINAL | HOME :

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PRICE FOUR CENTS *

| LEVEES BREAK, RIVERS RISIN

Photos by Victor Peterson, Times staff photographer. Harding st. at White river was a giant lake as the levee broke spilling flood waters over thousands of acres. The picture was taken from 600 feet with Lt. Carl Meyer piloting his C. A. P. plana, :

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TINUED RAI ADDS T0 PERI

Army, OCD, Red Cross and Other Agencies Join in Rescues; Some Workers Abandon Plants. »

By LEO DAUGHERTY ; | With hundreds of families in the greater Indianapolis War plant workers remain at posts when assured of access to and area already driven from their homes, danger to life and

|property increased today as streams approached to the

‘highest marks since the 1913 flood disaster. As intermittent rains continued through today, the U. S. weather bureau here warned that more showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow morning will continue to swell all streams, large and small. : It will be. several days before crests are reached and increasing flood alarms were posted both here and in all Indiana cities from the source to the mouths of the Wabash and west fork of the White river, "3

Prove Mettle

Levees along the White river gave way or threatened to break, and Big and Little Eagle, Fall and Lick creeks surged over their banks. All emergency crews were mustered ‘ifito action to evacuate families from water-surrounded and water-soaked homes and to salvage property. vg The Red Cross offered assistance and food. City state police and sheriff's deputies supplied boats. There was some indication of scenes which might be enacted in the event of a direct war disaster.

and

BRIDGES WITHSTAND HIGH WATER IN CITY

Only One Reported Down So Far; Others Hold.

Up to the present, at least,

‘bridges inside the city limits are

showing no signs of being weakened by the high water, Arthur Cassady, city bridge engineer, reported today. “I think they'll carry through all right,” Mr. Cassady said. The only bridge fatality so far has been the Pennsylvania railroad bridge over White river into the Pennsylvania freight yards, A section of it collapsed at 6:30 a. m, today, dumping three carloads of coal into the river,

GARLIC EXPORT 0. K.'D MEXICO CITY, May 18 (U. P) .— Hold your breath: The government today removed restrictions on the export of garlic. A decree in the official gazette said there was no shortage.

YANKS DOWN 121 PLANES LONDON, May 18 (U. P.).~The United States 8th air force announced today that it destroyed 131

. 66 Tam ...63 1lam..68 Sam ... 65 12 (nen) , 68 9am |

German planes in three days of

. i Ft. Harrison soldjers plowed through inundated sections in jeeps to take out families. piled sandbags against weak« iar Toso taining wit trained for civilian defense service,

answered the call and proved their mettle under their first real’ test.

3000 Acres Under Water ;

The White river stood at 16.1: féet : here and the weather bureau ples dicted a crest of 20 fet. The crest

or retaining walls to afford protege

a SE AR ER 0:

wh wr 3

They frantically =|

in 1913 when there were few levess

tion was 20.5 feet. Today's greatest suffering and peril was in the Sunshine Gardens in the southwestern section of city. Five hundred feet of one'le gave way near Hanna ava, of what are known as the High and Low roads. Another lew broke about a mile to the and west. The backwater from the surg White and from swollen . Eagl creek spread over the ! area. Some veteran rivermen & timated that 3000 acres in the ares were under water, : Countless families were i to safety and every precaution was being taken to guard against im: creasing danger between 3 an

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o'clock this