La Grande evening observer., July 30, 1945, Image 1

r
Weather
Community
Newspaper
For Every
Member of the
Family
Data for 24 hours to 7 a.m.
Temperature:
Maximum 91
Minimum 43
Forecast: Clear tonight and
Tuesday. Cooler extreme eastern
portion.
ESTABLISHED 1896
Rains Aid
Control
Of Fires
PORTLAND, July 80 (UP)
Clouded skies and rising
humidity' aided 1,200 fire
fighters in holding their own
against advancing flames of
the raging three week west
ern Oregon forest fire.
State Forester Ted Rainwater
said fire erews are building ex
tensive fire trails and blocking
breakthroughs to safeguard fire
fighters should wind velocity in
crease. Rainwater said the fire,
now in its fourth week, was ex
tended over 200,000 acres.
Light rains fell over some sec
tions of the fire area Sunday.
Unscouted
Major efforts were directed to
ward, preventing any major
breakthrough to the sea or in
land communities.
The far western sector of the
fire in headwaters of the Kilchis
river is unscouted but is burn
ing no green timber. Officials
said the fire can be held after it
gets into fog-belt timber country
nearer the coast. Extremely
rough terrain in the area made it
almot impossible to build fire
trails there.
Mountainous country is handi
capping fighters severely. Two
bulldozers were lost temporarily
in the water shed of Forest
Grove, and the upper reaches of
the Tualitan river in Washington
county. Owl camp headquarters
in the coast range expected fire
lines to be completed by night
around the advances on the east
ern edge of the fire. ,
File Slower
On the northern front in Clat
sop county, the flames have slow
ed their pace in the Spruce Run
creek sector, and loggers are
pushing fire trails through.
A blanket of smoke has pre
vented - scouts from determining
the . exact extent of the brun.
Much of the area was a patch
work of spot fires that can merge
if weather conditions become un
favorable. The situation was de
scribed as similar to those a
week ago when rain slowed the
fire and prevented new out
breaks. The polk county fire was re
ported in the mopping up stage.
Accidents Kill 3
Near. Salem Over
Last Weekend
SALEM, July 30 (UP) Three
persons died in Marion county
over the week end as the result
of accidents, state police reported
today.
Joe Williams, 25, Aumsville,
and Mrs. Clara L. McKenzie, 55,
Walport, were killed when a
charge of dynamite was exploded
prematurely on a farm east of
Marion, late Saturday.
Luther Lea, 39, Stayton, was
injured in the blast, which was
caused when a loose dynamite
cap fall on six sticks of the ex
plosive which were being lowered
into a well by Williams.
Howard Locke, 17, Independ
ence, was killed and G. J. Hildc
brand, also of Independence, was
hospitalized when the car driven
by Hildebrand overturned while
going around a turn Saturday
night.
Bank Messengers
Robbed of $100,000
BURBANK, Calif., July 30 (UP)
Two messengers of the Holly
wood state bank were held up
today and robbed of $100,000 cash
they were delivering to a check
cashing agency near Lockheed
aircraft corporation, police re
ported. Thurston M Patterson and Vic
tor H. L o h n, the messengers,
were rounding a corner within a
block of their destination the
currency exchange when an
armed civilian and a man in a
soldier's uniform stopped them,
they told police.
The gunmen forced them into
the back seat, got into the car
and drove into the foothills,
where they bound Patterson and
Lohn and drove off again in the
bank car.
Balletic
CHICAGO, July 30 (UP)
Art Doering, Denver amateur,
won the ail-American amateur
golf championship today when
he sank a 10-ioot putt on the
18th green for an even-par 72
and a -four-round total of 282
strokes one under flight offi
cer Frank R- Stranahan of Ft.
Myers, Fla., and Bob Cochran
of St. Louis.
rzJi - JS
BOMBER CRASH LEAVES GAPING HOLE IN BUILDING Empire State building office on 78th
floor where B-25 bomber flying low in fog crashed. Main wreckage of plane bounced to roof of
adjoining building, part then careening to pavement. Fire immediately broke out through five
floors of world's tallest building, though low hanging fog made the conflagration obscure from street.
Half Million Loss
In Empire State;
Probe Promised
NEW YORK, July 30 (UP)
The Empire State building was
reopened today as a special army
air forces board pressed an in
vestigation into the cause of the
crash of a B-25 bomber into the.
world's tallest - building which
killed 13 persons. '
Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia,
a pilot in the first world war,
bluntly blamed the dead pilot of
the Mitchell bomber, Lt. Col.
William F. Smith, jr., 27, Water
town, Mass.
Blames Pilot
The bomber, flying over fog
shrouded New York Saturday
morning, plunged into the 79th
floor of the building, exploded
and turned the skyscraper into a
torch of flame high over the city.
"If the pilot had been up where
he belonged," LaGuardia said,
"there would have been no trou
ble." Regulations provide planes
must fly 5,000 feet above the
city.
Five of the dead still are un
identified. Identification is be
ing made through dental work
and jewelry.
Three Aboard
Aboard the plane with Smith
were SSet. Christopher E. Do-
milrovich, 31, Granite City, 111.,
crew member, and Aviation
Machinist's Mate 2c Albert G.
Perna, 20, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
a sailor who got aboard at Bed
ford, Mass. The plane was cn
route from Bedford to Newark,
N. J.
LaGuardia said the plane was
traveling almost four mile a min
ute when it crashed into the
skyscraper and sprayed burning
gasoline over a wide area.
The other 10' persons killed
were employes of the war relief
services of the National Catholic
welfare conference which occu
pied the 70th floor of the build
ing. Half Million
Lt. Gen. Hugh A. Drum presi
dent of Empire State, Inc., said
damage to the building can not
be estimated yet. It was estim
ated unofficially, however at
$500,000. He said the observa
tion tower will remain closed in
definitely. Workmen began patching up
the two gaping holes torn in the
north and south sides of the
building. Parts of the plane
still in the building were dis
mantled and removed.
537 Jap Americans
Return to Oregon
PORTLAND, July 30 (UP)
Oregon office of the war reloca
tion authority today reported 537
Japanese-Americans and aliens
have returned to Oregon since re
laxation of the army's exclusion
order on Jan. 2.
There were an estimated 4.000
Japanese in Oregon before they
were relocated in 1342. The new
figure showed a gain of 177 per
sons since the June 13 report.
The returnees by counties are:
Multnoma, 378; Hood River, 88;
Clackamas, 53; Washington, 7;
Marion, 6; Klamath, 4; and Clat
sop, 1.
Petitions Circulate Seeking
Soil Conservation Plan Here
Petitions are being circulated this week for the formation
of a soil conservation district in the Hot Lake, Ladd Canyon,
and Union district, R. W. Schaad, Union county agricultural
agent, announced today.
Petitions were distributed to members of the original soil
conservation committee, which has been working on the
project for more than two years,
at a meeting Friday evening at
Hot Lake sanitarium.
Only owners of land lying out
side the city limits of La
Grande are eligible to sign the
petitions, it was announced. Min
imum of 25 signatures are need
ed, after which the petitions will
be presented to the state board
of soil conservation for consider
ation. Word from the board is
expected to arrive about a week
following receipt of the petitions.
The purpose of forming a soil
conservation district in this area
is to aid drainage and land re
clamation, including weed con
trol. .
Membars of the committee and
the districts they will cover are:
Gilbert Courtright, Union and
Telocaset; J. C. Beddingfield,
area southeast of Island City;
Charles Grandy, Ladd Canyon;
T. W. Bate, Hot Lake; and Roy
al Allen, Cove. There also will
be one copy of the petition in
the county agent's office in the
Post Office building, for signa
tures of rural land owners resid
ing in La Grande.
NEW EDITOR
SALEM, July 30 (UP) J. Wes
ley Sullivan, discharged veteran
and graduate of the university of
Oregon journalism school, has ac
cepted a position as news editor
of the Oregon Statesman, Charles
A. Sprague, editor and publisher,
has announced.
Mates Tell of Cantrel's Battle Daring
Daring of a wounded marine
flier who rallied his squadron in
a hot aerial battle amid intense
ack-ack over Honshu was de
scribed by squadron mates of
Capt. William A. Cantrel, 25-year-old
La Grande, Corsair pilot who
returned with him to a California
marine corps air station for leave
and reassignment Captain Can
trel is now here on leave.
Operating from an Essex-class
.QT-rinr nf Vir AHmirnl MjlTC A.
Mitcher's task force 58. Cantrel j
led his division in attack against
the huge Kure naval base March
19. "After they had bombed and
strafed their target the 16 marines
were attacked by 40 Jap fighters.
In the battle nine enemy planes
were knocked down, others prob
ably destroyed. Two marines were
lost.
His fellow pilots said Captain
Cantrel shot down two planes in
10 seconds. He was firing on a
third, which he sent spiraiinq
down in a "probiible kill," when
he was hit in the right leg by
shrapnel. He started back toward
the carrier and scored another
probable on a fighter.
At that moment the squadron
commander, Maj. Thomas E. Mob-
LA GRANDE. OREGON MONDAY EVENING, JULY 30, 1945
Yank Ship Came
Up to Shore Of
Japan For Rescue
PEARL HARBOR, July 30
(UP) The story of a navy ves
sel which boldly sailed within
pistol shot of a lighthouse and
shore batteries on the Japanese
coast to rescue three American
airmen and then turned its guns
on the enemy installations was
told here today.
The three fliers were bombing
enemy shipping in the waters of
northern Hokkaido when shells
from a freighter hit their plane,
forcing it to crash-land in the
water. Climbing on to a life
raft, the men saw an enemy
speedboat putting out from shore
in their direction. Yank airmen,
however, either sank it or drove
it back.
Dawn saw the life-raft and its
occupants near the northcalern
tip of Honshu. American carrier
planes spied them a few hours
later. Soon the bow of a ship
came over the horizon and the
men rowed toward the vessel
with all their might.
Then in a nose-tumbing ges
ture typical of "Bull" Halscy's
men, the vessel raked the light
house and shore batteries with its
five-inch guns and swaggered out
of the mine-strewn waters of the
narrow Tsugaru straits.
CAPT. WILLIAM CAWTflEL
"The m)or didn't know Gantiol
was wounfcd and Cantrel did
n't tell."
ley of Jacksonville, Fl ordered
him to take over when the com
mander's plane was riddled by
-3 ' I
Japs 'Choose Disaster' As
Third Fleet Strikes Again
Big Three
POTSDAM, July 30 (UP)
The big three met again to
day and it is believed their
conferences are within 24 to
36 hours of conclusion.
President Truman, Premier
Stalin and Prime Minister Att
lee were reported working on a
final communique but this was
not expected to announce the
military decisions reached.
The only word issuing from the
conference compound today was:
"The conference is still going
cn."
(The dispatch did not speculate
on the nature of the military de
cisions, but a CBS correspondent
broadcast from London he be
believed one of the principal
negotiators obviously Russian
had slated his country will go
to war against Japan soon.)
The big three conference ob
viously was in its closing stages
and the communique was Ex
pected to be isued soon. An of
ficial statement yesterday said
the conference was "progressing
satisfactorily."
In addition to meeting Stalin
and Attlee, Truman was confer
ring with Judge Samuel Rosen
man, his special adviser, on the
report to the nation which the
president probably will deliver
by radio within 24 hours of his
return to Washington.
Elliott Roosevelt
Asks For Release
From Army Duty
WASHINGTON, July 30 (UP)
Elliott Roosevelt, who rose from
captain to brigadier general in a
little under five years, has asked
the army to release him from ac
tive duty.
The 34-year-old officer, second
son of the late President and
center of more than, one nation
wide controversy, accumulate
278 discharge points in a career
that included action in north Af
rica, Sicily, Italy, Britain and
France. Eighty-five is minimum
needed for discharge.
The war department said young
Rooscvelt'3 discharge application
has been sent to Gen. H. H. Ar
nold army air force chief, but no
action has yet been taken.
The department declined com
ment on published reports Roose
velt had been "advised" to retire
from active service because of re
cent publicity over loans he ne
gotiated while his father was
chief executive.
Chennault Honored
By Chinese Leader
CHUNGKING, July 30 (UP)
Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault,
retiring commander of the U. S.
14lh air force, was awarded the
order of the blue sky, one of
China's highest decorations, as the
climax of a dinner tonight at the,
homfl 'of Gcrenalissimo Chiang
Kai-Shek.
58 bullets and his compass unit
knocked out.
"The major didn't know Cap
tain Cantrell was wounded and
the captain didn't tell," the pilots
related. "He went on to reform
the flying order and helped chase
Japs away from the crippled
planes limping home to the flat
top. Because of hisleg, he was un
able to use rudders and flew his
ailing Corsair back on the stick
alone. His plane was so battered
he was forced to make a crash
landing on the deck. Then it was
learned for the first time that he
was wounded."
Captain Cantrel was awarded
the navy cross, two air medals,
and the purple heart.
Captain Cantrel and his fellow
marine pilots A the famed "Eight
ball" squadron teamed up with
navy fliers to ravage enemy in
stallations and shipping from
floating airstrips in home waters
of Japan. BesidMi ttv; raid on
Kure on Honshu, they participat
ed in the first and second carrier
based actions against Tokyo in
February. They bombed and
strafed target on Kyushu, Shi
koku, Honshu, Amami O Shima,
and other Ryuku islands.
They covered the troop land
Meeting Nearly Over
Russians Say 'No
Proof Hitler Dead'
BERLIN, July 30 (UP) Col.
Gen. Alexander V. Gorbalov
said today there still ii no defi
nite proof Adolf Hitler U dead,
and an investigation is continu
ing to determine whether he
still It avlive. Gorbatov is the
Russian representative on the
interallied command of Berlin,
also called the kommandantur.
"We do not exclude the pos
sibility that Hitler is still alive
and in hiding," Gorbatov said
at a press conference.
Truman Promises
Yanks They'll 'Get
Home Quickly'
POTSDAM, July 30 (UP) Pres
ident Harry S. Truman has prom
ised American soldiers in the Eu
ropean theater they'll get home
in a hurry, but not so quickly
peace will be jeopardized.
Talking to a reporter for the
army's daily "Stars and Stripes,"
Truman called the European oc
cupation "temporary" and prom
ised troops will be returned to
the United States "as soon as con
ditions warrant."
Truman told the G. I. news
man he was' opposed to bringing
soldiers' families to the Euro
pean theater because he didn't
want to have Americans settling
in Europe.
Asked how long the Japanese
war might last since Tokyo ig
nores the recent surrender ulti
matum, Truman replied:
"No man is smart enough to
answer that one."
In discussing Japan, Truman
said he is doing his part to end
the war in.qffenng the Japanese
a final surrender opportunity.
He assured returning service
men they will get jobs He said
if soldiers want to work, he
thinks they will have "no very
serious trouble in accomplishing
that purpose" because he expects
employers to be co-operative in
rehiring veterans.
Truman announced he would
put a new military policy before
congress this fall, and said any
discussion of peacetime conscrip
tion was impossible at this time.
Man Unhurt By
Fall From Window
PORTLAND, July 30 (UP)
A fall from the second story
window at his home while walk
ing in his sleep Saturday night
only tended to interfere with
Claude Hoffmai's slumbers.
When police asked him to go
to a hosoital to make sure no
bones were bipken, Hoffman
laughed off the idea and climb
ed back into bed.
ings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa,
Captain Cantrel making pro-invasion
photographic flights over
the latter, and then flying as close
support for marine and army
ground troops.
The marine officer expressed
his appreciation of the "superb
American workmanship" which
enabled him to bring his bullet
riddled, battered plane back.
The La Grande veteran pre
viously flew witty (the "Eight
balls" at Guadalcanal, in the Rus
sell and Solomon islands, on his
first Pacific asignment. On its
latest assignment his squadron
was credited with 134' Jap
planes destroyed or damaged and
40.000 tons of Jap shipping de
stroyed or damaged. Cantrel him
self accounted for five vessels.
He flew 117 missions, logging 410
combat flying hours.
The son of Harlen S. Cantrel
of Baker, and Mrs Edna B. Chap
in, 1514 Monroe, he was gradu
ated from Baker high school in
11139, and attended Eastern Ore
gon college for two years. Eutitcr
ing flight training in November,
1941, he won his wings at Corpus
Christi, Tex., in July, 1942, and
was promoted to his present rank
tin December, 1943.
FDR Promised To
Send Aid in 1940,
Herriot States
Tried to Keep
Petain From
Armistice
PARIS, July 30 (UP) Former
Premier Edouard Herriot testi
fied today at the treason trial
of Marshal Henri Phillippe Pe
tain President Roosevelt prom
ised France material aid from
America before the armistice
with Germany was signed in
1940.
"I know Roosevelt was con
vinced he one day would ask the
United States to enter the war,"
Herriot said in mustering argU'
ments of the French republicans
against the armistice Petain nego
tiated. Petain himself was suffering
from an acute attack of laryngit
is, Judge Pierre Mongibeaux re
vealed in announcing tho session
of the trial today would be short
ened, the strain on the 89-year-
old marshal is becoming more
evident daily.
Herriot, president of the cham
ber of deputies when Franco coi
laDsed. was an imposing figure,
as he worked up to an oratorical
fervor, he gesticulated passion
ately, waved his arms and shout
ed: "I believo in liberty, equality
and fraternity. They are in the
best traditions of France. But
the men of Vichy took away the
republican emblems.
"We became a full-fledged dic
tatorship."
His report of Roosevelt's offer
of material aid came as he argued
against the necessity for an arm
istice and said French republi
cans wanted to try to save any
thing possible from the debacle.
"What could be saved from
Franco?" he cried. "Firstly, our
glorious fleet. Secondly, Algeria.
Thirdly, our empire with our
great soldiers. Fourthly, the re
public. Hcriot said he talked with
Churchill at Tours shortly before
the armistice. He also talked
with Premier Paul Reynaud, and
told Reynaud hee "would rather
be shot by the Ocrmans than de
spised by tho French." He re
iterated earlier testimony Petain
agreed to a cabinet move to
North Africa to continue resist
ance but said the agreement was
broken as soon as the government
loft Bordeaux.
60 Attend South
40 Club Tour At
Experiment Farm
Annual crops tour and picnic
for the South Forty club was held
yesterday at the Eastern Oregon
experiment station at Union, R.
W. Schaad, Union county agricuf
tural agent, announced today.
Approximately 60 members of
tho club and their families were
present for the tour, inspecting
the cereal and forage plots on the
station grounds in the morning,
and holding their potluck picnic
luncheon at noon.
H. G. Avery, superintendent of
the experiment station, conduct
ed the tour for the club, compos
ed of ox-mombcrs of the 4-H club
who are now young Union county
farmers. The club was organized
in 1935, and feels every month to
study technical, economic, and
social problems
The committee in charge of the
tour consisted of Clayton Fox,
Arthur McCall, Robert Becker,
and Clctus Hohstadt.
Fire Fighter Flown
To Baker Hospital
John Rapp, jr., of Baker, 17
year-old who whs on the fire
fighting crew on the Minam, to
day was flown from the Horae
ranch to Baker for medical aid.
Keith Province, pilot of tho In
terstatc plane, made the trip in
15 minutes, and they were met
at the Baker airport by an ambu
lance. It was thought early this
morning that, the lad was suf
fering from acute appendicitis,
but upon arrival at the hospital
It was found he was suffering
some internal disorder.
FIVE CENTS
Planes, Ships
Leave Factory
Areas Flaming I
PEARL HARBOR, July 30
(UP The mighty third fleet
attacked the heart of Japan by
air and seea again todayK and an
American admiral warned the
Japanese they have deliberately
chosen disaster. i.
More than 1.000 carrier-based
Dlanes swarmed across the Tokyo
area, while the greaet lndu4
canter nf Hnmnmatsu went I 9
flames under a bold pre-ri'a
naval bombardment.
Ready to. Invade
Roar admiral Dewitt C.
sey, chief of staff of tne
fifth
fleet
fleet, in the first official
comment on Japan's rejection of
the Potsdam declaration, warned
the. most overwhelming forces
ever concentrated are preparing,
to invade the enemy homeland.',,
"It's a harsh fate our enemy
hat chosen,') he said. "In the
world history, there is no more j
glaring example of a nation
Imposing disaster upon itself. "
"For these people, the lan---guage
of bomb and guns ap..j,
parently is the only convincing
language." ,'.
A Japanese communique said
700 allied carrier planes had at
tacked "widespread points in the
Tokyo area and adjacent prefeo-
tures since early morning.
Ships Attack
Meanwhile the fast American;;
battle ship Massachusetts, the,
British battleship King George V,
and a half-dozen or more" other
allied warships hurled 1,000 tons
of shells into Hamamatsu, 135 .
mjles southwest of Tokyo, in an
unopposed hour-long bombard
ment from six miles off-shore.
The explosives hit the Imperial
government railway shops, an
airplane propeller factory, and
other key targets. Shells severed
the double-trunk railway life-
lino linking Tokyo with the great
war production centers of Nav-
oya, Osaka and Kobe.
Only a few hours after the '
bombardment ended, the planes
took to the offensive. They at
tacked transport airfields and
other military targets in the To
kyo area in relays beginning at
dawn. .. ,
'. Three Raids
Radio Tokyo reported three
separate raids had been carried
out by mid-morning. The first
wave of 270 planes struck at 5:30
a.m., attacking for an hour and
a half, the second attack, by 100
aircraft, came 20 minutes later,
and a third followed soon after
ward. The air-sea, pxc-invasion of
fensive was carried into its 21st
day.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nim
itz announced Anglo - American
airmen of the third fleet had de
stroyed or damaged 283 planes
and 180 ships, including 18 war
ships, Saturday.
No Ships Left
This raised the fleet's total
since July 10 to 915 Japanese
ships and 1,211 planes damaged
or destroyed.
A United Press dispatch from
Admiral John S. McCain's
flagship aid Japan has no sea- '
worthy warships left to defend
the homeland against invasion.
Nimita aid the battleships Har
un, Ise, and Hyuga had been
sunk or damaged.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur an
nounced more than 700 Okinawa
based bombers and fighters had
attacked Japan Friday and Sat
urday. Four one-ton bombs hit
the crippled Huruna and hits also
were scored on a light cruiser,
light carrier, and an escort car
rier. Ignored
Gen. Carl Spaatz, commander
of the American strategic air
forces in the Pacific, said the
United States ultimately will
send more than 1,000 Superfort
resses against Japan.
Premier Kantaro Suzuki said
Japan would Ignore the uncondi
tional surrender demand.
Japanese Domei agency said
Japanese planes started fires on
three American airfields on Oki
nawa and sank at least two un
identified ehip. o
a
runoyuu ro flier
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 30
(UP)-ol. William F. Smith, jr.,
pilot of tho army bomber whiqh
crashed Into the Empire State
building Saturday, will be buried
here, a member of the family said
today. is