La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959, July 28, 1945, Image 1

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La Grande evening observer., July 28, 1945, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextWeather A Community Newspaper , For Every Member of the Family Data for 24 hours to 7 a. hi. Temperature: Maximum 102 Minimum 57 Forecast: Partly cloudy with scattered thunder storms; clear tonight- and Sunday. Slightly, cooler Sunday. Wll!!!l!!li!rMieffl!S!!l!!l ESTABLISHED 1S96 LA GRANDE. OREGON SATUKDAY EVENING, JULY, 2S. 19-t.i FIVE CENTS Plane Smacks into Empire State OVERWHELMING CHOICE Thoir smiles reflecting labor party's sweeping victory over conservutivss, Clement R. Allee, labor party leader, and wife (foreground) are cheered by supporters at Mile End, London, after Altlcc's election as member of parliament from Limehouse. Atlee succeeds Winston Churchill as prime minister. Haying Accident Proves Fata! To John E. Thompson John E 1 in e r Thompson, 50-year-uld farmer of Union, died yesterday at a hospital here fol lowing an accident at. his fatni late in the morning. Thoninson was driving a team of horses on a buck rake, when j the horses ran away, and in try ing to head off the horses, Thompson was pierced from the lower ehost through his right shoulder with a .fake tooth. . Death f i i TI7 w At ' " B ' ' "1 e vv" 1 1 o li vs later. He leaves his wife, Maude; five step-children, Mrs. Ora G-i'iscn-haver of Union, James Calhnur. of Caldwcil, Ida.. Lester Calhoun of Casllelord, Ida., Mrs. Anna Essy of Tamarack, Ida., and Mrs. Hazel Samuelson of Levele, Utah; a brother and five sis.U'is, Georgo Thompson, Emma Jackson, Flor ence Brendle, all of Lebanon; Alice Huston of Paye'.te. Ida., Lu la Davis of Oregon City, Ann Rare of Riggins, Ida., 12 slep- j gianucnnurcn ana and nephews. vjral nieces I Thompson was born Aug. 22, 1888 in Council, Ida., and had re- sided in the Union district for the past four years. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 3;, m the Mothodist church in Union, with Itev. O. A. Forttir-3 officiating. Burial will be in Union cemetciy. Sea-Air Baltic Rages Off Malaya MANILA, July 28 (UP) Radio Tokyo said today a fierce air-sea battle was raging off the Malay an peninsula as allied troops for the fifth day persisted in their attempts to invade Puket island. The Japanese Doinei agency claimed enemy suicide planes had sunk "one allied cruiser and heavily damaged another which I was probablv" a converted air- 1 craft carrier." Domei said the allied naval tatk force had pushed in close support of a second landing Thursday and today its heavy guns are raking shore installa tions. BULLETINS SAN FRANCISCO, July 28 (UP) Seven huqe task forces of Superforltesres, fulfilling America's unprecedented noti fication to the enemy, early Sunday (Tokyo time) bombed six of the Jl Japanese cities which had been warned by leaflet of impending doom. NBC correspondents reported today. POTSDAM, Juiy 28 (UP) The big three conference was resumed tonight after Prime Minister CUrtent Attlee re lumed from his election in Britain and made social call on Presldrnl Truman and Pre mier Slalin. WASHINGTON, July 7t (UP) The senate today ratified the Unicd Nations charter. The vote for ratification was 19 to 2. Megirtive TOles wire cat by Sens. Williem Larrr. W. D.. and Henrifc Shiptlead. Minn. Kiceilin Retaken By Chinese Troops CHUNGKING, July 82 (UP) The Chinese communique tonight reported K w c i 1 i n, the former great American aiiba.se city in Kwangsi province, has been re captured by Chinese forces. The ro-oceupalion of the city was completed at 10 p. m. yester dav, the communique reported, by troops under the command of Gen. Tang En-Po. Japanese forces were reported fleeing to the northwest with Chinese in hot pur-uit in hope of -annihilating the Japanese. Navy Announces Two Ship Losses WASHINGTON, July 28 (UP) The navy today announced the loss of a medium landing ship and a submarine chaser. The landing ship, LSN-59, was lost in the Okinawa area as a re sult of enemy action. Two en lis'.ed men were wounded. Their r-ext of kin have been notified. Normal wartime complement of the ship is 58 men. The subchaser. SC-521, was lost ! as the result ''of a marine disas- tel in the south Pacific area. Wartime complement of a sub chaser is 27 men. Loss of the two craft brought to 827 the number of naval vessels lost from all causes in this war. Skipper nf the LSM-59, was Lt. David G. Hawley Kansas City. He is not a casualty. The navy listed two skippers for the SC-521. A change of com mand was due to take place at the time of that vessel's loss, and the navy said it did not know which man was actually in charge. The two men are Lt. (jg) Granger H. Frost, Tarrytown, N. Y., who was due to relieve Lt. (jg) Chester R. Patridge, Long ! Ecach, Calif. Both men were list i ed as dead. "D0 N0T REMOVE" NEW YORK, July 28 (UP) Rescue workers poking through smouldering rubble of the 7!)th floor of the Empire Slate build ing found a small card, its edges chaired. It lead: "Do not remove from plane No. 577." Sgt. Mitchell Asia Discharged on Points j Sgt. Mitchell Asia, son of Mr. j and Mis. F-lix Alsa, sr., arrived in La Grande yesterday with an i honorable discharge from the j army under the point system. : hrving 118 points to his credit, and alter having served in, the army since September, 1940 when he left La Grande with the na tional guards. Ho has seven gold seivice stripi s for threi and one-half cais of ov-vrscas service, and two siripcs for throe years each. Ser geant Asia has ribbons for tlie Facitic-Asiatic theater of opeia tions. the American defense, th" Purple Hi art for wounds rrccKtd at B'.ik, for the Philippines cam paign, the Good Conduct medal, the combat infantryman's badge, tnd has thrt : bronze and one sil ver battle stars. Prior to entiling the service, A:,ia was employed in La Grande as an e'.ec'rician. His plans for the immediate future ai? indef inite. ... He ha two brothers in the Building on Attlee Promises 'Mandate Will Be Carried Out' Some Appointments To Cabinet Jobs Cause Surprise LONDON, July 28 (UP) Prime Minister Clement Attlee and For eign Secretary Ernest Bevin left for Potsdam to resume big three discussions today after Attlee told a cheering assembly of his labor supporters there would be no pussyfooting in his administra tion "and the battle will be a tough one." Attlee and Bevin left by plane for Potsdam shortly after formal ly assuming office. Before he left, however, he addressed a gather ing of the 3!)H newly elected la bor members of commons. Confidence They shouted a vote of confi dence to the now premier at the motion of Bevin. . "Our honeymoon will be a short one," Attlee said, "and then, make no mistake about it, the fighting will start. "We now have the clearest mandate from the people and we are going straight ahead." Attlee said he is picking the strongest possible cabinet and will not hesitate to change ministeis who do not succeed. New Blood Attlee. warmly welcomed the infusion! of new blood , in 'he la bor party. Maiiy'ofhe-TTrcnTbere" of parliament elected in the sweet are young laboiites with no pre vious parliamentary experience. It was a hectic day for normal ly shy and retiring Attlee. He and the six key members nf his government already picked were sworn in at a privy council con voked by King George at Buck ingham Palace. He then went di rect to the labor party meeting and returned to No. 10 downing street for two hours of confer ences. New Program There was slight surprise Her bert Morrison, named leader of the house of commons and ap pointed lord president of council, didn't receive higher cabinet rec ognition. However, his appointment as house leader signified he will bo assigned the all important task of whipping through the house the sweeping domestic program. Attlee, like Churchill, retained the posts of first lord of the treas ury and minister of defense. Dalton, Cripps Hugh Dalton, 51, president of the board of trade under Church ill, was named chancellor of the exchequer. This corresponds tj secretary of the treasury in the United States. Sir Stafford Cripps 50, and one of the most highly respected men in labor's ranks, became president of the board of trade post, which corresponds to the U. S. secre tary of commerce. Aithur Greenwood, 05, who held the minister without port folio under Churchill until he re signed without explanation, was appointed lord privy seal. SGT. MITCH EI.L ASLA comet home with 1U points. aimy, Lt. Felix Asia, jr., at Hono lulu. OahB, T. H., and Pic. Ralph Asia, on Luzon. . ; 1 PLAN WEST COAST CAR PRODUCTION Henry J. Kaiser, president Kaiser corporation, (loft) and Joseph W. Frazer, presi dent of Graham Paige corporation, at Richmond, Calif., shipyard discuss plans for .manufacture on west coast of small, low cost car, to be called "The Kaiser." 8 8 8 4- Outlook for Reconversion in West Bright; Three Problems j. By PAUL'WARRISON - - WASHINGTON, July 28 (UP) The outlook for reconversion is generally bright but three serious problems must be solved before civilian production can be stepped up, according to war production board chief J. A. Krug. "Our nation is still engaged in the toughest war in its history." He said, "many materials are in tight supply and the military has first call on them." More Men The nation's No. 1 problem, he said, is the crisis in railroad trans poitation which can be met only by more manpower. Next, he said, aircraft produc tion is threatened by a serious migration of workers to peace time jobs. This trend will spread to other industries which cannot convert to peacetime production. Finally tin is a "desperately tight" raw material and further controls on its use may have to be invoked. More Textiles On the credit sWe, Krug said textile production should increase steadily from now on. Manpower shortages which have been the major cause of insufficient pro duction are checked. He said this year's new passen ger automobile quotas should be met without any trouble although the bulk of 1045 prodction will not come until the last few weeks of the year. His summary of the production situation was made largely on the basis of a tour of industrial cen ters in the west from which he has just returned. Lose Workers He said unless congress passes an unemployment compensation law which will relieve unemploy ment fears of war workers there will be new manpower crises in ar production and inevitably slow leeonversion. Some aircraft plants are already behind he said. On the west coast, he added, every plant is losing more workers than can be spared without sacrific ing scheduled plane output. In all the cities he visited Krug said he found no need for work ers to fear unemployment for some time. In spite of substantial cutbacks in aircraft and ship pro duction, he said, virtually all of their productive capacity is being used. South Forty Club Plans Annual Tour Annual crops tour and picnic for the South Folly club will be held tomorrow at the Eastern Oregon experiment station at Un ion, it was announced today. II. G. Avery, superintendent of the experiment station, will con duit the tour for the club, which is omposed of young Union county farmers. The club, organ V, .'1 in ! 0.15. meets evciy month 10 study technical, economic, and serial problems Tlie committee in charge con sist; ot Clayton Kox, Arthur V.c Call, Robert Betkr, and Clelus Hohstadt. ' 78th yg Methodists Elect Five From Here To Executive Posts Five La Grande delegates from the western district of the Idaho confeience were elected to ex ecutive positions at the 35th an nual institute of the Methodist church on the Methodist camp grounds at Wallowa Lake, it was announced today. Rev. Floyd E. White of Fir street Methodist church was elect ed dean; Rev. Logan Pruitt, First Methodist church, assistant dean; James White, son of Rev. Mr. White, president of the student council; Ula Metsopulos, Fir street, secretary; and Barbara De trick, First Methodist, first com missioner. Other officers elected were Ol iver J. Gill, Pendleton, business manager; and Mrs. S. E. Smut., Cove, dean of women. Approximately 105 delegates were present at the institute, 70 of whom were from La Grande. The First Methodist church sent 32 delegates, and the Fir street Methodist church had 24 present for the conference. Mrs. Haltie Rultan, 84, Dies at Home; At Elgin M Years, Mrs. Hatlic Ruttan, 84, of Elgin died at her home today after a long illness. She was born Dec. 3, 1800 in Pennsylvania, and had been a resident of Elgin for 80 years. Survivors are two children, O. G. Ruttan and Ruth Ruttan, both of Elgin, one sister, Mrs. Caroline KlxTsole of Michigan, and one In other. Frank Van Der Voort ol Elgin, and other relatives. A son. Garry, was killed in an auto ac eirii nt March 10 of this year. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday, July 30, in the Christan church in Elgin with Rev. Glenn Ballard officiating. Interment will be in the Elgin cemetery. DIVORCE GRANTED SALEM, July 28 (UP) A de cree of divot re has been granted in Marion county circuit court to Ml. Marian A. Rilea, wif of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Rilea. ad jutant general of the Oregon na tional guard. Floor; 13 B-25 Explodes, Flames Trap Offices 1,000 NEW YORK, July 28 (UP) of the Empire State building: instantly uecjune a blazing street The plane was lost" in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant, spectacular burst of flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan. - Two hours later police reported at least 13 dead. Flames raged out of control In six floors of the building for 10 minutes. '-Three -elen valms crashed from the 80th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street; The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated, a 'wing of the floor, .de stroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part! of it landed on the roof of the Carriers Hit Again By WILLIAM F. TYREE GUAM, July 28 (UP) Greatest carrier strike in his tory turned Nippon's inland sea into a graveyard of wreck ed and burning Japanese ships today as s o in e 2,000 war planes of Admiral William Ilalsey's third fleet resumed the attack on the K'tiic naval base. Slamming in at dawn through a skyful of flak and fighters, Ilalsey's American and British JHorsJilfued-a. new-trail of death and ruin across waters still doted with the hulks of 808 enemy ships smashed in the onslaught Tuesday and Wednesday. Finish Job The first wave of attacking dive bombers spotted the 30,000 ton battleship Hyuga lying on the sandy bottom of Nasaka Jimn harbor, outside Kuro, her decks awash and her superstructure burned out. The great ship and 22 other warships, the last mujor fighting foior in the Imperial navy, were holed by allied bombs and rocket fire Tuesday. Preliminary reports from the gieat battle fleet maneuvering almost within sight of the Hun shu coast said Halsey's fliers had finished today the job they start ed Tuesday complete neutral ization of the Japanese fleet, See Earlier Pcaco Every single major enemy war ship was believed to have been sunk or knocked out of action at least temporarily, if not for the duration of the war. Halsey opened his licet strike on Japan almost three weeks ago with a three-fold purpose; To beat down the enemy's air force, to strike the hitherto - immune noithern areas of Japan, and to silence the Japanese warships whose big guns might have play ed havoc with an invading fleet. All three aims have now been accomplished and the possibili ties of an early peace have great ly increased. Crash of Plane Wo Surprise' Occupant of 75th Floor Office 'Lucky' By JAMES W. IRWIN NEW YORK, July 28 (UP) At about 10 a.m. today I was sitting alone in my office on the 75th floor of the Empire State building. Outside the winodws there was a dense fog. The roar of airplanes going i.'voihend is a familiar sound, but this morning I hi ard one coming that seemed lo be headed right my way, I ran into the hall as ho roar increased. Just as I hit the hall the plane struck. Isolated A gill elevator operator had just opined the door of the ele vator shaft on my floor. The blast bk-w her all the way acioss the hall. She is in the next office as I dictate this to the , United Press. No first aid has reached us yet, We arc isolated, There are at liasl 11 othor casualties on this floor alone. Mostly women, sonic oi them badly burned. I am told the plane struck the building several Moors above my office. Tlu halls are still so full of fumes that we are afraid to Feet High; Caused by Fog : - - - A B-25 bomber crashed and today and the upper part of the mlerno tor hundreds ol oil ice ' . ' 12-story Waldorf b uilding on 33rd Offices Empty ' . Six of the dead wero reported to be soldiets, some of whom pre sumably were members of the plane crew of five. Only the fact it was Saturduy morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a fur greater disaster. . . . The 78th floor was unoccupied. On the 7Dth floor, occupied by offices of the war relief service of the national council welfare council, several ' persons were killed. Nine bodies were found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fall en elevators. The third was emp ty. Huge Crowd An enormous crowd gathered in the street and the largest amount of fire fighting apparatus ever assembled in New York City was rushed out in four fire alarms. Glass and debris con tinued to shower down for alrrtbst an hour. The 34th street foyer of the building was' converted into an emergency receiving station. Bellevuc hospital sent ull avail able doctors, nurses and disaster equipment. First reporters to fight their way up past the smoke-clouded 00th floor found the cowling of the plane still stuck to the side of the building. The point where the plane struck was near a bank of 10 elevators. All floors from the OOlh to the 70th were littered with debris. Windows Shattered About 20 feet inside the win dow nearest where the plane struck lay one of the B-25 en gines and half a propellor. A fragment of a propellor was im bedded in a wall. Office windows were shattered 10 floors up and 10 floor bslow the 78th story. A stream of fire men, police, piiests, doctors and nurses moved up and down the stairs. Six charred bodies lay in. or near the Catholic welfare of fices. Mayor LaGuardia said the plane was "flying too low." City regulations forbid fewer than 5,000 foot over the city, he said. Saw Approach Eye-witnesses said the plane zoomed down Fifth avenuo, ap parently in trouble. Nanette Morrison, typist in the office of Carl Byor associates, publicists, was gazing out the window as See B-25 EXPLODES , . . Page 7 use the stairs. , The screaming and general hubbub up here is so terrific I ran hardly hear over the tele phone, but now things are ciiit ing down. Not Surprised All of my windows are gone and the hallways are littered with glass. I don't want to claim too much, but I must say I am not too surprised at what has hap pened. We heur these planes all the lime and frequently they sound like they are com ing awfully close. Fortunately the building was not too full of tennants this morning because so many people take Saturday off. Returning to my office after the blunt I saw how lucky it was I got out into the hall. I would have been full of splintered glass if I'd been in hero when It hit. Firemen have reached us. on (he 75th floor. They came pant ing up the stairs and said any body who was able could start walking do v.. Hie 74 flights. They said the fumes arc clearing out. Killed Hundreds in exploded in the 78th floor. tallest building in the world" workers 1,000 leet above the street. ' . Fire Out Of Hand i ' V . . PORTLAND, July 28 (UP) Dry winds today catapulted the Tillamook fire in western Oregon out of control and past the 200,000 acre mark. - There is every prospeect the fire will surpass the 240,000 acre Tillamook burn of 1033, worst firee in the modern history of Pacific northwest. ' Tho inforno defied more than 2,000 fire fighters und raced north into Clatsop county and east and south nearly 25 miles away Into Washington . countty . Many lire trails, held sinoe' rains a-week ago; hhd to abandoned as-line crews retreated to save equip ment and' lives. Three lives al ready have been lost. Much Timber The perimeter of the fire ex ceeds tho total area of the 1933 fire but unburned spots kept the estimated burned area at about 200,000 acres. It was less than 100,000 acrecs only two days ago. Much green timber is being de stroyed, as well as second growth covering the burns of 1933 and 11)30. The Consolidated Timber com pany's camp near Glenwood was still standing although surround ed on two siaes. Fire hoses play ed on the mill and buildings to ward off sparks and heat. Stimson's camp west of the base line guard station was en dangered. Pall Great The pall of smoke was so great it was impossible to deter mine how far the flames have swept down the Trask river to ward the Siuslaw national forest 10 or 15 miles away. Federal forest crews were preparing for a giant backfire operation to pre Seo FIRE . . . Page 7 Shower Helps To Break Heat Wave Eastern Oregon residents arc hoping the trace of rain which fell this morning may break the heat wav which has oppressed the city lately, and their hopes may be realized, since weather forecasts predict "cloudy and cooler" weather. ., Yesterday was the hottest day of (he year so far, with a temper ature of 102, and was the hottest July 27 La Grande has had since 10311, when a temperature of 108 was registered. California Added To Damaged List WASHINGTON, July 28 (UP) The battleship California was added today to the navy's list of U. S. warships publicly revealed to have been victims of Japanese suicide plane attacks. The 30,000 ton battlewagon, which is 24 years old, was hit by' suicide plane Jan. 0, 1045, during the battle ..pt Lingayen gulf. Six officers and 39 enlisted men were killed, three more were reported missing and 155 were wounded, r The California is now back in action, the navy added. SIGNS EXTRADITION " SALEM, 'July-i 28 (UP) Gov. Earl Sncll today signed extradi tion for Chnuncy Draper, who is wantrd in Price, Utah on charge of non-support. Draper is being held in Salem for Utah police.