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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1945)
Ntirrow Escape From Fire See Union News, Page 3 Will Gambling Hit College Football? See 'Sports Roundup" VaM If Cef;i ESTABLISHED 1896 LA GRANDE. OREGON FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 3. 1945 KIVE CENTS 1 Japanese .j Shipping Bottled GUAM, Aug. 3 (UP) The relentless air offensive against flapan thundered around ilia clock today and the 20th air force announced B-29s have, blockaded ship ping between the Japanese home islands and Asia. Every harbor of consequence on the homeland has been mined, the 20th air force reported, as has (very harbor from Korea to the Soviet-Manchukuo border. . Storms, Too Hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping have been sunk by mines and reports from Okinawa said 10,000,000 Japanese on Kyu shu are threatened with addition al disaster as typhoons lashed China sea. Progressive d i s integration of the Japanese homeland was in tensified by attacks on rail trans portation ,whieh began to sever the vital arteries. No Ports The B-29 mine-laying program was described as "the greatest in history" and a spokesman said "there are now no major ports or harbors to offer safety to Jap anese shipping." Radio Tokyo reported 100 American fighter-bombers carried forward the assault, shooting up military targets in the greater Tokyo area only a few hours af ter Manila and Guam communi ques tallied up the results of three more attacks. Tokyo said 105 Mustangs had attacked Utsonomiya, O m i y a, Maebashi and Takasaki in two waves about 10 a.m. Announce Results . Allied headquarters at Guam and Manila announced results for three earlier raids: Tokyo, Monday carrier planes of the third fleet destroyed or damaged 278 Japanese planes and 116 ships, including 33 warships. Kobe-Nagoya. area, Thursday -ISO Iwo-based Mustangs dam aged 14 enemy ships, knocked out three aircraft and blasted in stallations at five airfields with out loss. Nagasaki Wednesday 250 Okinawa-based planes sank 10 enemy ships and wrecked drydocks, shipyards, railway yards and har bar installations without loss. 125 Workers Found For Union County Farm; Ranch Jobs More than 125 workers have been placed in jobs on Union county farms and ranches this summer by the farm labor office here, Mason Caldwell, farm labor assistant to the county agent's of fice, announced today. Most of the 125 have been placed in the hay field work and the grass seed harvest, but a few ' went to the fruit harvest also. Most of that, however, was han dled by the fruit growers associa tion. , Use Dozen Within, the next few days, Caldwell, said, he can place a dozen men. or boys in the small grain harvest. Within the last few days he has had calls for more men than he could furnish immediately. He had been "even" with the demand by Aug. 1, but in the last two days there have been re newed requests for harvesters. He has no doubt that he will be able to find the men for the jobs, as many will be coming back from the hayfields and the seed harvests. No "Outsiders" j Most of the demand has been ( met by boys from La Grande, Caldwell said, although there have been a few transients who have sought work here this sum mer. The boys have been able to fill the jobs admirably and the farmers to whom they were sent have been enthusiastic about their work. There have been no Mexican nationals or prisoners of war im ported, because it was felt the need for workers could be met without the complicated proced ure involved in hiring either Mexicans or prisoners. Weather Data for U hours to 7 a.m. Temper gture: Maximum $ Minimum si i Forecast: Clear over weekend. . frtl- M ...... . I . Ms) kamau iuim NEW 9o9K, Aug, 9 UP The British information sefyjcv A ! 'st tj?ht more than 200 Off British royal navy shipstriow t were, perating agafn the Jap s' anese in the Pacific.-' ! 0 I FRANCE J Jxi . 80NIN lsy! -f- OKINAWA INVASION PROBLEM Maps above show the comparative distances between Pacific and European staging sites and the respective combat areas. Slag, ing areas for the invasion of Europe, in coastal cities of south England, averaged 90 miles io the combat area. Main staging area, in the Philippines, for large-scale attacks on Ja pan or the China coast average 900 miles from the combat Man Wanted For Desertion From Army Arrested Pvt. Louis Francis Prerosky, wanted for desertion from Camp Gruber, Okla., since June 6, was arrested last night by state police and placed in custody in the city jail to await arrival of military police from Pendleton army air field. Private Prerosky was appre hended following a tip received from-iihe.Mt. . Emily. mill, where he worked under the name of Gene Turner, state police said. Suspicious The mill had become suspi cious of Prerosky when he claim ed he left liis draft card and identification papers in his lug gage, and when they noticed his name and social security number on the payrolls of the Enterprise mill, after claiming he had work ed only on farms in Oregon. When Prerosky drew his pay after working only three days, company officials notified L. L. McBride of the bureau of inter nal revenue and state police, who questioned him. Held at Pendleton Military police from the ninth service command at Pendleton field picked up the prisoner to day. He will be held at Pendle ton until word arrives from Gruber officials. Prerosky, with his wife, Blanche, had been staying in an apartment house on Adams av enue, police records show.' She has been working in a laundry here. Prerosky, who had been in the army six years, gave no motive. Alexander Keeps Admiralty Post' Under Attlee LONDON, Aug. 3 (UP) A. V. Alexander, first lord of the ad miralty in the Churchill coalition cabinet, was renamed to that post today in the labor govern meant of Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Additional appoint m e n t s to Attlee's cabinet were announced after he called on King George VI at Buckingham Palace. He named some key members of his government last week before hurrying to Potsdam for the con clusion of the big three confer ence. James Chuter Ede was named secretary of state for the home department. Lord Addison be came dominions secretary. Frederick William Pethick Lawrence was appointed India and Burma secretary. G(Ot( Henry Hall became colonial sec retary. John James Lawson was appointed war secretary. VIEW GRADE CROSSINGS SALEM, Aug S (UP) The state highway commission v. sited S: stern tmioy, to vie the pro pesed s.ite of lew grade creep ing, Tlie rttrnmioion, wnichjlett Sak'tn this morning, piatu etsd UVj tgr in Eugene Mem bers are MJ de R. CJtewO An. As- .JttuKArtiur Wi Ftthau6r)81;(SvrJ F.S4. O "tT M Village in Fire Area In Danger PORTLAND Aug. 3 (UP) Consolidated Timber com pany's sawmill near Glenwood was threatened again today in the Wilson river sector. New flare-ups of burning snags menaced the mill and 60-homc village and a backfire on the north side of the Wilson River highway has been set up to pro vide a bare area of protection. Fire lines protecting the Forest Grove watershed were holding today with the exception of a quarler-mile finger snaking into the Soda Springs-Cherry Grove sector. Spot Fires Dangerous spot fires arc still burning in the coast range be tween the middle and south forks of the Salmonberry river, run ning parallel to the Wolf Cieek highway. A few loggers from camps in the vicinity are fighting the flames without .benefit of communication. Fire trails protecting Cochran were conn-acted Thursday, giving the town added security, although flames in some places are only a mile away. Soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., meanwhile, battled the Cedar mountain blaze which raged over 300 acres near Enum claw in western Washington. The fire jumped fire trails and spread rapidly last night. Washington's only other major fire is burning along the North river in Pacific and Grays harbor counties, but foresters said it is under control. Lost Trail Fire fighters lost nearly all the fire trail won earlier in the week at the southern tip of the Wilson river fire on the Jordan creek front. More equpment was rush ed to the fire scene this morning. An appeal for even more troops wasmade to help hqld uncon trolled fires in the northern sec tor from the Nehaleni into south ern Clatsop, county. One spot fire : believed carried by winds from the Salmonberry into south ern Clatsop county has covered an estimated 800 acres. Farther south, fire is burning only a mile from Wakefield near the railroad line down the Ne-halem. Scholarships For Canning Offered 4-H Club Girls Chances for college scholarships are being offered to 4-H club members in the national canning contest now being sponsored by the Kerr-Mason manufacturing company, the Union county home demonstration agent's office an nounced today. Persons eligible for participa tion in the contest are 4-H club members working under the su pervision of the extension serv ice, and enrolled during the cur rent year in a food preservation project or activity. In addition, those competing for state awards must be between the ages of 14 and 21, and must have completed at least three years of 4-H club work including the current year. Before the final reporting date, members should submit such rec ords as may be requested by the county extension agent. National awards will be six col lege scholarships of $200 each to be presented to a blue award group selected from state winners; state awards will be an all-expense trip to the 24th national 4-H club congress in Chicago Dec. 2 to 6, 1945 or, in case war re strictions should prevent trips to Chicago, the state winners will receive a $100 war bond in lieu of the trip; and county awards will be goldplated medals of honor. There Goes Republic PARIS, Aug. 3 (UP) Pierre Laval was charged today with exclaiming "there goes the repub lic" when he affixed his nsn ture at Vichy to the new French constitution. In drametic interpellation ')( Leval'e ovn testimony in the trial of Mrshl Henri Philippe Petain c chare.' of treason, the ninn ho was called France's o'evil genius" was said to have pro claimed the c9i d 0& republcan Frjtyce when '& signed the con stitution: documents. Laval angrily turned on hii accusesfj) rre de la Pomeraye, former secretary general of theCDedge he was affixing hit name I French se.iate. Taft Sees "Another W Givinq Poland Part of Suggestions Listed For Memorial Here Suggestions for a living war memorial for La Grande and Union county are being circulated in the city and already probably 2,000 signatures have been obtained to the forms on which the suggestions have been set forth. The letter is not a petition and is not meant to represent tnc strict program of any group. It does, however, list the following things which it urges the com mittee for the living memorial to consider: A Grandstand, a half mile race track with a baseball dia mond in the center, a swim, ming pool and improvement in the playgrounds; all this to be placed on the Pioneer park grounds. It is further suggested the park be named Memorial park. Sam Hill was appointed chair man of the group which had the mimeographed letters prepared. The suggestions were made ahd Hill was selected during a social meeting not long ago of the Maverick club. It is not, how ever, an official program of the Maverick club itself. The committee suggested the letters might be able to arouse interest in residents of the city who might otherwise not make suggestions to the memorial com mittee: and it also declared if there were any who did no agree with the proposals set forth: they would be inspired to pro-i test or to mafrc counter proposals.; 60 Copies , j About 00 copies of the letter have been circulated and already many of them have been filled with signatures, and some mem bers of the committee have started filling second copies with signatures. "We are not stirring up any argument and we have not set out a hard and fast program," said Hill. "We meiely thought we would give the public a chance to indicate what it thought about those suggestions." Harvest of Bing, Lambert Cherry Crop Started Royal Anno cherries in this area have been harvested almost 100 percent now and the harvest began yesterday and today on the Bing and Lambert varieties, according to cherry growers in the Grande Ronde valley. At least 350 pickers are engag ed in the harvest, including the Pumpkin ridge area, and those near Cove and Union in the prin cipal cherry sections. While quality is high, the ton nage in most cases is not expect ed to be quite so heavy as last year, when the crop was unus ually heavy. There will be a nor mal crop this year, however. Senator Morse On Way to Oregon PORTLAND, Aug. 3 (UP) Senator Wayne Morse is on his way to Oregon, according to in formation received friom his Washington, D. C, office. The senator will meet Mrs. Morse and children in Madison, Wis., motoring to the coast (rem there. He is expected to be in Portland about Aug. 9 for a brief stop before going on to his home in Eugene. "I am not a fascist." he shout ed in a cracking voice. "I am mot a nasi. I love the republic." The court reem refkea with laughter. Z.iraged, Laval Hxwe4 to te spectators and saeafcsJ: "You cam laufatl" Laval lnsisV--d he did not re member making any such remark but Pomeraye insisted he had sat at the tabic in the hall of the Majestic hoteL in Vichy where Laval signed the three acts of the cor.Oitution. The charge Laval had signed the conMltulion in lull Icnowl- to the death warrant of the Temperatures Here in Month Widely Varied 1 Weather in La Grande for July brought 22 days with the mer cury going to 90 or above, with only one day, July 28, going above 100 degrees, and on that day the thermometer reached 102. Th lowest, 42 degrees, was rached July 13. The average maximum temp erature for the month was 90.85 degrees, and the average mini mum temperature, 51.90 with the average temperature amounting to 71.42 degrees. Nine days during the month the heat record receded until the weather registering equipment showed nine days when the temperature dropped 50 or be low. Same in County Northwest was the prevailing wind direction, with 17 days; 11 for northwest; two for southwest and one for northwest. Twenty-four, days wereclear; and seven partly . cloudy. . One one-hundredth of an inch of rain fell during July in La Grande. La Grande weather record for with that of Union county as re corded at Eastern Oregon live stock experiment station. County records follow: Aver the month of July, 88 degrees; averaeg minimum temperature for th period, 67 degrees. 96 Highest Th maximum daily tempera ture for the month was 98 de grees on July 10, 20 and 21. The minimum daily temperature for the month was 36 on July 31. to only a trace, not enough to register, as compared with the 33-year average for the month of of .49 of an inch. This made a deficiency of .49, though the to tal precipitation for the calendar year to date, (January 1 to Au gust 1, 1945) has been 9.47 inches as compared with the 33 year av erage for that period of 8.Ji inches, leaving an excess of 1.22 inches. The total precipitation for the current crop year, (Sept. I, 1944 to Aug. 1, 1945) shows II. 97 inches, or a deficiency of .51 of an inch when compared with the 33-year average for that period of 12.48. Twenty-four days of the month were clear in the county, six were partly cloudy, and one was cloudy. Northwest was the pre vailing wind direction. More Red Points For Salem Cafes SALEM, Aug. 3 (UP) More red points for restaurants in Sa lem are in sight today, as the re sult of increased patronage be cause of the reaction of Camp Adair. George Aiken, executive secre tary to Gov. Earl Enell, will meet next week with local OPA offi cials, and will show them records indicating the large increase in military personnel. Says Laval,Signs Pact third republic came in the fidit of a lengthy story by Laval of his pre-war diplomatic maneu vering! which he insisted were motivated by a d s i r e for "peace." When he said: "I hate war. I loathe war. War does not pay. even when you are victorious," the jurors at the Petain trial jeered openly. In his diplomatic searching! for peace, Laval said, he went to the Duke of Windsor, then Prince of Waleroand urged that Britain mo a deal with Germany sim ilar to the one Laval had made with Italy He told how he and Sir Samuel Role of Russia In Japan War Not Revealed By R. H. SHACKFORD WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UP) Big three plans for restoring or der to war-devastated Europe and reducing Germany to a nation of farms and peaceful, domestic in dustries were generall approved today by prominent U. S. sena tors. Only one critical note was Im mediately forthcoming. Sen. Rob ert A. Taft, R., O., thinks the pro posal to give Poland a large chunk of eastern Germany contains "the seed of another war." Praises Italy The major unanswered ques tion is: what role does Russia plan to play in the closing days of the war against Japan? Few had anticipated the b 1 g three communique would give more than a hint on on issue of such tremendous import. But there was little doubt" the military matters of common in terest" discussed by the chiefs of staff of the United States, Britain and Russia involved Japan. It was also noted generalissimo Stalin had signed a communique which praised Italy for at least joining the allies in the struggle against Japan notice the Rus sians no longer aro concerned about offending the Japanese. Expect Help ' Most officials here expect Rus sia to be In on the final stages of the Japanese war. But one sen ator Warren Magnusnn, D., Wash. predicted unless Russian help is "absolutely necessary" she will not become a belligerent. The senate had recessed for two months. Those who noted the ab sence of final decisions approv ed. "If they go slow, we'll have n better peace," said Sen. Elbert D. Thomas, D., Utah. TRUMAN DECLARES NO SECRET DEALS ABOARD USS AUG USTA WITH PRESIDENT TRUMAN,, Aug. 3 (UP) President Truman suid flatly today, after publica tion of the Berlin conference communique, "There are not sec ret agreements of any kind" re sulting from the big three meet ing. As Truman traveled back to the United States, he worked on a report to the nation which he will deliver by radio shortly af ter he is in the White House again. Also he canvassed care fully special dispatches report ing reaction in the United Slates to the big three announcement. Meet Sept. 1 Meanwhile, a lot of the deci sions of the big three remained to be activated by the newly cre ated big five council of foreign ministers which will meet ut London not later than Sept. 1. A number of questions put before the president, Prime Min ister Clement Attlee and Goner ulissimo Josef Stalin were left to the foreign secretaries for finul discussion and disposition. Trurnun conferred frequently with Secretary of Slate Jumeg F. Byrnes, Samuel I. Rosenman, special counsel to the president, and other advisers. Truman's stalcment the Berlin See ROLE . . . Page 3 Hoarc had agreed to let Italy have a free hand with Ethiopia and how at the same time, prior to the German-Austrian ansch lussf he and Mussolini made a secret deal whereby Italy would protect France in event of Ger man aggression against Austria. Then, to said, ke went to London -Where he hae) a private talk with the Mice of Wilen, urging him to gel Britain, to make a deal with Germany. Edward's reaction, Lfts in dicated, was noncommittal but he promised to talk to his father, the lole'XSoorge V. However, he warned Laval, "my father does n't meddle in politics." HOME FROM CROSS-STATE FROLIC Falted-calf welcome greets youthful jaunters, chubby twins, Jerry and Jimmy, as mother, Mrs, R. H. Crow, Seattle, Wash., meets them at depot a' they return from stowaway trip by train to Portland, Ore., where railroad officials "got wise" and detrained the six-year-olds. Fundi pooled for the trip totaled 1.S0. Beefsteaks (Remember?) Coming Back Butter, Sugar, Soap Shortages Continue WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UP) Secretary of Agriculture Clinton P. Anderson today offered civilians the cheering news beef steaks and roasts are "coming back" this fall and winter. Writing in the current issue of American Magazine, Anderson said there should be "appreciably more" beef on the market soon. He listed prospects of increased production, cut-backs in military purchases andn better distribution as the reasons. "Your butcher should be back at work this full and winter," he Deadlines Laid Down Uu Big Three For Future Actions WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UP) The shape of things to come futuie deadlines laid down by the big three at Berlin: Sept. 1, 1945 First meeting of the new council of foreign ministers. Sept. 1, 1945 Publication of the first list of defendants in the war criminals trials, Feb. 2, 1946 Amount of German industrial equipment to be removed must be deter mined. Aug. 2, HI47 Removal of German industrial equipment from the western zones must be completed. Aug. 2, 11150 Russia must complete payment, in goods, for three-fifths of the equip ment transferred to her from the western occupation zones. "First among the immediate tasks" a peace treaty with Italy. "In the near future" peace treaties with Finland, Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary. In the indefinite future a peace treaty for Germany. Doolitlle Calls For Undivided Command For War in Pacific .. 10TH ARMY HEADQUAR TERS, Okinawa, Aug. 3 (UP) Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittlc, com mander of the Eighth air force, called for the appointment of a single supreme commander for the Pacific war in an army air forces day speech. He told soldiers of Gen. Joseph W. Stilweli's 10th army he is convinced unity of command through the naming of a single over-all commander for ground, sea and air forces is cssftntial for victory over Japan. Doolittlc's remarks made hlin the first general officer in the Pacific c.tnipaigii to criticize pub licly the prosontt divided com mand. Under the present set-ilp, Gen. Douglas MacArthur com munds all army forces in the Pacific and Admiral Chty'r W. Nimitz. all navy forces. Efieh has a number of air forces under his command. It ar in Reic h said. Anderson warned, however, the outlook for other foods is not so bright. "As things look now," he said, "we're going to be short of ggs, pork, lard, butter, sugar and even soap, as well as chickens, until the spring of 1948 at least." Anderson disclosed at the peak of the black market this spring fully one-half of the civilian sup ply of top-quality beef and almost 75 percent of the chickens were being sold at illegal prices. He expressed the belief recent gov ernment steps are slowly choking the black market to death. The nation's food boss said the fear of being caught with food surpluses on V-J day was the "basic cause" of present shortages. Needs Confidence The farmer is "hesitant to pro duced after his experiences in 1(144 with market gluts in pork and eggs, Anderson said, and his confidence must be strengthened with price support. Anderson disclosed more U.S. butter than ever now is being shipped lo "o u r allies" under "some new supply arrangements necessary to the strategy of the war." Relief food shipments to lib erated nations are "a mere crumb from our gigantic brcadbox," An derson said. He pointed out civil ians will get about 77 percent of the nation's food supply this year while the army will take about 17 percent. New Program Will Relax Meat Quotas : WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UP) The agriculture department said today custom slaughterers in notv- federally inspected plants may ba brought under a new program re laxing slaughter quotas and per mitting iplans to ship meat into ' interstate commerce. Under the program, secretasy, of agriculture Clinton P. Ander son will certify non-federally in spected plants which meet pre scribed conditions. Once certtV ed the slaughter houses are free of'Huiotas (iid imiy have meat across state lines. O Custom slaughterers are ones who kill livestock upon specific order of in)ttyiduals. If they are operating Iji'a non-federally in spected plflnt certified by Ander son present limitations on their output will be lifted. S3
