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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1945)
s Race For Berchtesgaderf See Page 4 4 up;: 'ey (J. n wa.. mencan 1348. inler ;1 se ap-i i pd f.,.1 . .-: Weather Data for 24 hours to 7 a. m., April 25: Temperature: Maximum 51 Minimum 30 Precipitation OS Forecast: Partly cloudy loniuht and Thursday. vuor umbuft I al in t a m basil; Vi'ot ond Wallowa Covnriei Troop about ite oi. Prob- ihouldj h art! :ndle. " four c Biol1 . 3i ? 8 o ESTABLISHED 1890 B in Dim E Big Four Meet As Delegates Gather For Peace Parley WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE, San Francisco, April 95 (UP) The big four sponsoring powers convened a sur prise meeting among themselves today a few hours beiore the United Nations ronference for international organization was to begin its task of safeguarding world Pece- ,T The first plenary session meets at 4:30 p.m., PWl, in a spirit of determination to prevent another world war the delegates will be addressed in today's brief session by Resi dent Truman, speaking from Washington. ' . , in tne othec of Secretary or i State Edward R. Steltinius, jr., a New Ration I Board Head To Be Named War price and rationing board m.mhpn this morning met in emereencv session at the call c,f R. O. Williams, coordinator of the Union county office of civil ian defense, to consider appoint ment of a chairman for the hoard. ' . The vacancy occurred this week with. the. resignation of J. Donald Meyers, who had served with the board and in the capac ity of chairman for more than two years. At the conclusion of the ses sion, to which all board com mittcss and panels were repre sented, Williams appointed a committee composed of Homer Leffel, George Tiss and Ray Sni der to select and interview pros pective candidates for the chair manship. "Meyers has served our area well for the last two years," Wil liams said, "and leaves with the gratitude of our organization and certainly with the gratitude of the people of the county. "We must now select a new chairman. At this time it should bo strongly emphasized that all work on the war price and ra tioning board panels is of a vol untary nature and that many residents have spent time and effort, often to their personal loss, in the administration of the program. "The rationing program is an important one, though we can not always like the restrictions and compulsions it places upon us, and we must make every ef fort to make it effective in our area." La Grande Soldier Killed in Action Announcement of the death in action of Clarence E. Bowman, army technician fourth grade, of La Grande, is made in a casualty list released today by the war department. He was killed in the European theater. Next of kin is listed as his wi dow, Betty J. Bowman, 205 Spruce street, who was notified previously. - Smoke Pall Shrouds German Capital 3 4 Flamed Ravage Once Beautiful City Bv LOWELL THOMAS PARIS, April 25 (UP) Ber lin is in flames from one end tn the other. Dense clouds of smoke hide most of the city. I flew to Berlin yesterday in a P-51 Mustang with a crack air force pilot of the C7th re connaissance group of 1 the nimh air, force. o I law the cl'.y In flames, saw the bombardment going on bc tnvn he Russians and Nans, ahd then I faced back across half Lurnpii tel lVi lis last night. 0 Wv tilM pvme about this I "Je o av' loiUVolda vs. f-fiad been a Wn i.g ground Troops near Tne advancing) Russians with General Terry Allen and his lOth division Timberwnlve(Or)ri gj? Mulde river, with the Rus the big four conf-.Tees met lor !0 minutes. The others were Foreign Minis! or Anthony Eden, of Great Britain, Foreign Com missar V. M. Mulotov, of the So viet Union, and Foreign Minis ter T. V. Soong, of China. Molotov was the first to loavc. He deodited while state depart- i ment press attaches were trying ' I to arrange a group picture of the ' i big four.' The photographers were barred. Conferees Are Mum j None of the conferees would discuss their meeting other than to say that it was "to complete arrangements for the conference" convening a few hours later in the War Memorial opera house. Soong replied "assume noth- See BIG FOUR , . . Page 7 Americans Crack Jap Defense Of Okinawa Capital By United Press American troops broke through Jjpanese defenses on southern Okinawa today to seize an im portant hill feature north of Na- I ha, the capital, while marines I occupied three more ncary is- lands. I Radio Tokyo meanwhile admit ted "nothing seems possible now i to stop extermination of the Jap ' unpen neonlo The broadcast disclosed that American superfortresses had destroyed 770,000 homes, making 3,130,00 homeless at Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya. The breakthrough on southern Okinawa ended a six-day dead lock. A terrific naval bombard ment blasted a path for the sev enth army troops who battled across hilly terrain to reach the new position west of Ishin vil lage. New Landings Made Admiral Chester W. Nimitz an nounced that marines had landed en Haenza island east of Okina wa's Katchin peninsula and on Kiuri and Yagachi north of Mo tobu peninsula. The only oppo sition was at Yagachi. where en emy remnants were being mop ped up. American troops continued gains in the Philippines. On northern Luzon they drove with in a mile and a half of Baguio, Japanese citadel, under strong aerial support. Northeast of Manila, 43rd divi sion troops drove within a half mile of strongly-defended Mount Mapntad. sians only 10 miles away and the Germans in between. All along the front, the one thought had been: When do we join up with the Russians? ' An allied pilot with the Tim hcrwolvi's brought word that the Russians, some miles to the north, were driving west at top speed. It looked as though the Secnnd armored division of the ninth army would be the first to make it. SoJ decided to try to find a fighter pilot who would like to .'ake a look all up and down wthe front. When I was back with the 67th reconnaissance group they had invited me to do this. S(3)H-re I flew in a light artillery plane :(ftd) in no time two fast Mustangs were on the line. imeuireu Woman Has Novel Way to Get Meat BELLEVILLE, Ind., April 25 (UP) Clarence Wessel, pro prietor of a butcher shop, com plained to police a woman en tered his store, flashed n gun and demanded a four - pound roast. When he handed her the meat, he said, she threw $2 and a handful of red points on the counter and lied. Rotary Club Will Have International Night Program La Grande Rotarians will gath er with their wives at their an nual international night program at the Stein cafe next Wednes- day night at 7 o'clock to hear Dr. H G. Robinson of the state col- lege organization discuss "A Vis it to Wartime China." Announcement of completion of details for the session was made today during the regular meeting of the organization by H. E. Dixon, chairman. Young Orator is Guest Program of the day featured Ruth Barlow of La Grande high school, who recently was award ed second place in a statewide American Legion oratorical con test and who was sponsored as entrant by the La Grande Amer ican Legion post. Topic of Miss Barlow's, address was "The Con stitution." She was introduced by R. O. Williams, chairman of the Legion contest committee. Club members engaged in a spirited discussion on the inter national conference going on in San Francisco today. Speakers presented points of view prob ably to be expressed by delegates to the conference. Heard "Were LcRoy Grettum, Dr. Roben Maas ke, Fred Patton and Rev. C. A. Xopp. War Loan Group Named President Treve Lumsden ap pointed a committee to assist in I he Seventh war loan drive now underway. Headed by R. J. Green, the committe includes George Cochran, Ed H. Ford, Martin Fitzgerald, Elmer Mc Manus and H. A. Zurbrick. A club ballot resulted in the election of the following directors for the ensuing year: John Cav anaugh. Roben Maaske, Raymond Gray, Fred Patton, Frank Schiro, H. A. Zurbrick, H .E. Dixon, and Lynn Larson. Treve Lumsden, piesident, will also serve on the directorate which will meet shortly to elect officers. Lynn Larson, Rotary repre sentative on the clothing collec tion committee, reported more than five tons of clothing have been collected, and urged all to turn in heavy, warm serviceable unwanted clothing as soon as possible. Charles Hammond, retired val ley farmer, and Hugh McKail of Portland were introduced as guests. Frank Schiro was chair man of the day and Treve Lums den presided. District Meeting: Of VFW Will Be Held Here Sunday Veterans of Foreign Wars from district No. 15, which includes Union, Baker, Umatilla and Wal lowa counties, will hold their dis trict meeting at 2 p. m. Sundav jn the K. of P. hall. J. H. York, of Baker, district commander, will preside. Other guests will be depart ment quartermaster Fred Corn and department service officer G. O. Pike of Portland. Any service men having claims or wishing in foimatinn may contact Ray Sni der or Mrs. H. L. Hungerford be fore Sunday. The me'eting will deal princi pally with veterans' legislation, some of it proposed and some al leady passed. Ditv'ctr'ff'cers will be elected. w A 6 o'clock dinner wk'l be scrv cd for both the postsnd auxi! lanes, and (Oji'isiting servicemH) or returned servicemen are invftJ d. LA GRANDE. OREGON WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL n n Danube Crossing! Reported PARIS, April 2.r (UP) American third army troops drove 15 miles through dis organized German opposition to within 75 miles of Berch tesgnden today and uncon firmed reports said other American columns had storm ed across the Danube river into' Regensburg. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's third army tanks and armored troop carriers blazed through the last nazi defenses north of the Bavarian tedoubt, pushing the Germans back across the Danube and into Austria all alone a 100- mile front. . Near Austrian Border The 11th armored division on Patton's left wing cleared weak German rear guards from the highway center on Regen, . 00 miles north of Berchtesgaelen, and raced ahead another ; 15 miles before nightfall to a point only 18 miles from the Austrian border. The advance carried the third army within little more than 100 miles of Russian troops moving pn th-a Bavarian stronghold from, the St. Pollen area,,west of Vien na. , Infantry forces at the center of the third army line crossed the Danube. . Push Toward Munich Other third army troops cross ed thrt Altmuehl river faither west in the Gungolding area and advanced to within about 50 See BAVARIAN . . . Page 7 Probe Continues In North Powder Rancher's Death State authorities today contin ued their investigation into the circumstances of the death Sun day night of Albert Bowman, wiMilthv ctnplfmnn n lha Nurth ... j vuw...... ....... Powder district, after receiving a report from Dr. Joe Beeman, au topsy surgeon, that an autopsy conducted late yesterday reveal ed a fractured skull arri other injuries. The state police continued questioning relatives and others in the North Powder area, but said they have reached no con clusion regarding the circum stances leading up to the find ing of Bowman's body in a shal low well at his ranch home. While the investigators declin ed to divulge the trend of their investigation, they said it is pos sible that Bowman fellMnto the well, causing the injuries which caused his death, but that there is a measure of improbability of such an occurrence which led them to continue the investiga tion to determine whether or not the element of murder entered into the case. I County Committee Selected to Promote Living War Memorials Appointment of a Union county committee on living war memor ials to serve in conjunction with a s'-ate group was announced today by Charles H. Reynolds, a member of the state group upp-iintei'. sometime ago by Governor Earl Snell. The county committe-e was ap pointed at Reynolds' request by J. J. Richardson, chairman of the slate commission. Members are: Fred E. Kiddle, chamber of commerce; City Manager Ed II. Ford, Mike Lynch, Elks' lodge: Fred J. Pattttn, city schoo'u: George Tiss, Ameriean Legion, and E. R. Quinn, athletic coach Eastern Oregon follige, all of La (itande; J. W. TitGerald, pci dent Elgin chamber of commerce; L. H. Bramwell, Union, manu(e, Ifimt national back, and Chri. E. Johnilpik jr., iWrtU-xPovW- lianager No(Tl) Powder mercfl) 'Mric and (ffi)lhhg com(ia).y. 0 rri. in... II Tl, III..- l.. ...illf y-yf'" " """i'--'-1 "" uheieliy pfiwical film .; of j.'v - asvjri in making the arrange-1 nit nn, fu(u)e y: -nei -atiniis iVriy meWs for the visit here on MayW- improved. m Wm 1 II , " SPRING SHOW DANCERS Among ihe featured performers at lhe annual spring show of La Grande high school Friday evening will be Nancy Fitzgerald, left, and Lynn Russell. Miss Fitzgerald will appear i.i a Mexican hul dance, and Miss Russell i.i a South seas number. Spring Festival of Music and Dance to be Staged Friday Night by High School Group The annual spring conec i t of the La Grande high school will be presented Friday evening with a program international in char acter with numbers eledicalcd to the "good neighbor" policy and Wlt: BUI llll""" I the United Nations. A large cast has been in train ing for several weeks on a pro gram that includes 20 numbers, of almost as many different types of entertainment. Several soloists will be featur ed in specially arranged musical and dancing numbers, and cos tumes and lighting effects prom ise to make this event one of 1 lie best of its kind ever presented locally. The program will be staged at 8 o'clock under the direction of O. P. Weigel and Leroy Darling. "Vienna, the eily oi' dreams" will be represented in an "imper ial ballet" with Patsy Clark fen lured. A Dulch clog quartet will in clude' Dorothy MayfielH, I'arhiua Carroll, Jean Payne awl Anila Johnston. A milit.iiy special will be l" 4 of Sam Hives, regional direc tor of tiie living memorial com mission, who will addross a eivi:1 meeting on too subject. Tickets may he obtained now at the chamber pi cv-nmeree for the luncheon at which I p; will speak. Following H.jjx's' visit the rom mftV'e will meet to loim a (d (-) m;n' nt orenni.-ilion to nronint - creation oLIiyiiiij memorials v:b)! f.O Inyj!i"i;dX alkwrty- In Ids and eijKlIiir pfiysicaVini,iti.-s ffc comntanity a'-knowh 'L;.M--lit. W J" IV - 1 I giauuitie io (mil ami WMi:cu- i,., ......,i ;.. .rrr. i .1...... 1.1 .11,.. w.ll, .UHI 1131 . . KJ. . '' ... iTie.'.r1. f il it! m-id i r. ii iin.:in c.l'u pioviuinj! 2V, iy 15 h 7 (?" 'V I', ' t 'MiwVi ' I a L I T IM senled by Majorettes Nancy Fitz gerald, Virginia White, Beverly Millinger, Elaine Turner, Jean and Joan Payne, Carroll, May field and Johnston. The Oregon Log Scalers will present a hill-billy number, the characters being Merl LaGore, Jack Evans, Jack Akers and Bob Alters. Among the dancing highlights will be a Hawaiian numher by Lynn Russell and a Mexican hat dance by Miss Fitzgerald, sup ported by Arlon Harvey. Ilarve-y also will appear with Billie Triii" in a South American tango number. Another ensemble number, the I'.-iiado of the Wooden Soldiers, will he pri'sented by a majorette eroup. Misses While. Johnston, C.nroll, Fitzgerald and Mayfield. Huss Meyer will present a "chalk talk," with sketches of prominent figures of the world S( etle tndny. Marilyn Chandler will appear as vocal soloist, and instrumental numbers will be presented by See HIGH SCHOOL . . . Page 7 Junior Chamber. Has Dinner Session La Grande junior chamber of coinmrrrf members met last eve ning at the Stein eoffee shop banquet room for their business session nnrl dinner. Diseussion covered last minute details for the paper drive. Utm Clemens, a nuesf, was in troduced. Karnes of committee members were announced and I'. ice Si.hineder showed films on i Latin American friends and their x;,r effni ts, u safety first feature : t-d a enmedv. KaselVall Result I Amorican League I.miis at (feiliilnl (2) .fcdiitponed, ram. IV gp al Ify.sldilstQ,, po:.t- w 'I. lain. O r NnlionM Loag "kly n at Huston, postponed, Iln i ain. JMiil.-u!el)hi,i j,) Myp" rain. New York. pinniD Defense Doomed I As Bitter Battle Is Waged in Streets : LONDON, April 25 (UP) Two Red armies completed the encirclement of Berlin today, snapping a trap, on iis' fanatical nazi defenders and dooming them to surrender of; stand and die without hope of reinforcement. . ' m Marshal Stalin, in an order of the day sealing the fate of v Berlin, announced that the amies of Marshal Gregory R,', Zlnikov and Marshal Ivan S, Konev had linked up northeast of Potsdam, thus closing the gap between the prongs of thfi; giant pincers around Berlin. A junction of American and Russian forces south of lv Herllin was expected to be announced momentarily by ; Washington, Moscow and London. r.., The encirclement of Berlin i came as the two siego armies slugged through the streets in the heart of the city in what reports described as perhaps the most violent and spectacular fighting of the entire war. Swedish' correspondents in Berlin forecast ihe fall of lhe city within two days, and Mos cow, reporting panic and chaos in lhe German capital, said the climax of the struggle woi near. Stalin unnounced that the con verging advances of the Zhukov and Konev armies hooking around the capital on the north and south had cut all the roads west out of the city and fusod the barrier around it Into a com plete ring. In the final push to complete the encirclement, Konev's first Ukrainian army captured K!t zin, 22 miles west of the Pots damer Plat, in the heart of the city. Zhukov's first White Hus sion army seized Mauen, 23 miles due west of the center of Ber lin; Rohrbeck, 14 west-northwest of Potsdainer Plat.; and Elstal, six miles west of Spandau. A half to two-thirds of Ber lin had bee-n overrun and ground to ruble by two Russian armies which now had joined forces in the city for the final onslaught. For all practical purposes Ber lin is isolated," a United Press dispatch from Moscow said. The Luxembourg radio quoted Moscow dispatches as saying that ' the topmost ranks of the nazi i hierarchy had bogun to leave Berlin by. air. State's Aviation Program to Be Conference Topic Oregon's plans in aviation for lhe next fiscal year will be dis cussed at a meeting of the state board of aeronautics called for April 27 al 0:30 a. m. in the of fices of the board in Portland, Dr. V. M Pen re, La Grande repre sentative on the board, announc ed today. The meeting is called at the request of Paul Morris, regional aoministratnr of the civil areo naulics administration, TJr. Pearo was notified by Leo G. Devane-y, director of the state board pro. gram. Discussion will center around acquisition of aviation equip ment, including the airport pro gram, development of emergen cy landing fields, flight strips, and air parks and air marking. Dr. Pearo declared the meeting important from a planning point el view and with regard to the coordination of general statu and national programs In aviation, Lee Eyerly, chairman of the board, will preside at the ses sion. i.. ll ... r i i ouege uraauaie a m f . 1 ni L 1 l-i io uei ouioiarsnip I'rV'sidcn) Roben J. Maaske of Eastern Oregon college- today an-iiounced(-i.ee'i(ijt of a $101) schol .(rfiip from Alt. Emily Lumber empany, through its prc(;d)mt A. J. Stange. The scholars wilf'go to a candidate for bachelor of science degree, and will be presented to n former graduate or one of the present three-year graduates who elcsires lo take an additional year at the local college to earn a de gree In elementary education. FIVE CENTS : : Bombers Raz Hitler Home In Bavaria I LONDON, April 25 (UP)- The Royal air force wrecked; Adolf Hitler's country house,; near Berchtesgaden today, with a direct hit by a six-ton' earthquake bomb. ; .' It seemed certain that no body iu the house could have survived, but there! was no assurance that Hitler was there. The German radio has insisted for three days that; ho is leading the defense of Berlin. r A force of Lancaster heavy bombers, escorted by American Mustang fighters, went gunning for Hitler's house and po. sibly for, Hitler himself. - . Some of the big planes carried six-ton earthquake bombs, and Flight Sergeant E. J. Cutting, a Lancaster gunner, said he saw one of the huge bombs smash See HITLER'S . . . Page 3 n Ernie Pyle Marine Tumbles From Hike In Being Polite (Editor's Note: In addition to' the story which appears her to day, we will print ssveral other which we havo just received from Ernie on Okinawa. We believed he would have wanted us to. Al a great reporter, a great news paperman and a great person, he would havo wanted his stories io go through, despite his tragic death.) , By ERNIE PLYE OKINAWA (By Navy Radio) One morning after breakfast about a dozen of us were sitting on the mat covered floor of a little Okinawan house talking things over while nipping our coffee. ; Our first division marine com pany had just moved ia the night before and several days' accumu lation of grrtne covered every- I body. Suddenly Lieut. "Bones" Carstens stood up and said: "I cleaned my lengernails thia morning and it su& does feel good." And then my friend Bird Dog Clayton held his own begriiOed Lands out in front onJ.im, look- t iime and : lC'as to go to dinner ia ' Dallas and lay them things up on a white tablecloth I wonder what would happen O ,, J (T)ood many of the Okinawah civilians, while Wandering along the roadside, bow low to every American they meet. Whether this is from fear or native cour tesy I do not know, but anyhow they do it. And the Americans being Americans usually bow right back. One of the marines I know got mixed up in one of these little See OKINAWAN . . . Page 3 -
