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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1942)
Tho Insidb Tour complete morning newspaper, The Statesman, off en 70a pertinent . com ments on war new of the day by Kirke S I m p 1 o n, Washington analyst. Dinner! LANCASTER, Pa, Feb. 17 (fy-Farm hands complained they couldn't hear air raid sirens. Someone Mid use a, dinner bell. They hear new! foundexc 1651 NINETY-FIRST YEAR Salem, Oregon, Saturday Morning, February 28, 1942 Plica 3a Nevrstands 5c No, 233 psji JNJ up a TO mam Huge Toll Of Enemy Revealed Stimson Says US Army Holds 5-1 Pacific Margin WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (AP) Secretary of War Stimson declared Friday that American army fliers j and anti-aircraft gunners In the southwest Pacific have a five to one margin over the Japanese in point of losses inflicted. Summarizing the toll exacted from the foe since Pearl Harbor, Stimson said in a communique that army fliers and gunners had shot down 245 enemy planes, while but 48 American - craft were lost in air combat. The total was raised to 410 by the addition of 165 Japanese planes shot down by the Amer ican volunteers serving with the Chinese. The volunteers lost but 31 aircraft of their own. The ratio was described as "particularly significant in view of the overwhelming superiority of the enemy in practically every encounter." Excluded from the first com prehensive report on the army fliers' triumphs were losses of planes on Jthe ground, which the communique said had been heavy on both sides. " In hammering at the Jap anese invasion fleets, the army airmen have probably sank at least 19 Japanese vessels, in cluding the battleship . Haruna, and seriously damaged 31 others, Stimson said in his state ment, which was more inclusive than earlier such war depart ment summaries. (In addition, Secretary Knox reported Wednesday that navy warships and warplanes in the Pacific had sent 53 Japanese ships to the Wrttom.) The army fliers' score included 11 transports probably sunk, and 14 seriously damaged, and Stim son observed: "Many of the enemy transports were sunk before troops had an opportunity to debark, so (Turn to Page 2, Col. 1) Water Guards Boost City Board Costs No army guards may be ex pected to replace those now paid by the Salem water commission to guard municipal water system properties, the commission was informed at its regular meeting Friday night. As this notification from State Civilian Defense Coordinator Jerrold Owen was read, com missioners glanced to the , Jan uary balance sheets on the table before them to learn that Sl, 29747 had been spent the first month of this year for civilian defense. Major portion of this sum. Manager C E. Guenther explained, was for guarding - services. Operating e x p e uses for the entire month totaled Ilt,l9.89. : A sick-leave program for em ployes, presented for study at the last meeting, was tabled in the absence of Commission Chairman Van Wieder. v Guenther was authorized to take initial steps toward possible construction of a bridge to the Stayton island water system prop erty. County Engineer N. C. Hubbs has estimated such a struc ture could be constructed for ap proximately $1800, the board was told. Net Income for the water sys tem daring 1941, the annual re port presented at the meeting showed, was S23S,t2eUZ. Of this sum. $147,982.43 was from , metered residences, 943,847.45 from commercial accounts, and $28,528.69 from Industrial ae- Counts. Manlelpal sales totaled 13,179.77 and new services brought lit 9175UL : . Operating expenses for the year were- $89,415.18; non - operating expenses $10,761.73. Financial expenses totaled. $78,329,31, 0. which , $78,137.50 went to bond interest payments. - jVcio Jap Push i S'Bhutan) msaW BURMA! V cwengra Bay i f Bengal S Thi- O 3QOV I MILES British lines held on the Sittang river but smoke rolled over Rangoon (1) as the scorched earth torch was applied by defenders. Bassein was bombed. A new thrust toward the Shan states (2) was looked for from Thai bases, and Chinese troops were pouring- into the area to reinforce the defenders. A thrust toward India also was fore seen and some dock areas aronnd Chittag ong were evacuated. Dies Committee Tells Jap Spy Program in US 'Report Reveals Plans for Conquest in Four Phases; Recites Espionage Covering Years In Gathering Data of Military Importance . WASJUNGT QNeFeb, startling recital of years of Japanese spying on" American militajry and naval" activities and vital water and oil supplies, combined with careful "scouting of the Pacific coastline, was unfolded Friday night in a report of the Dies committee investigat- ing unAmerican activities. The committee, after investi gating Japanese propaganda and espionage for more than a year, presented maps, pictures, inter cepted messages and testimony to support its charges that Japanese, alien and American born, formed a menacing fifth column in Cali fornia, Hawaii, the Philippine Is lands and the Panama canal re gion. WASHINGTON, Feb. 27-(JP) A plan for Japanese conquest of the United States, written by Lt Gen. Kiyokatsu Sato and included in the Dies commit tee report made public Friday night, envisions a war divided Into these four phases: 1. Capture of Hawaii. 2. Destruction of the Ameri can fleet and the Panama canal. 3. Landings on the American west coast, and consolidation of forces west of the Rocky moun tains. 4. An advance to the east coast. The report told also of espio nage and anti-American activities of Japanese societies and Japa nese language schools. It told of slow, thorough work of the Japa nese in establishing themselves in California, especially the south (Turn to Page 9, Col. 4) Inn-Keepers Indicted by Polk Jury DALLAS, Feb. 27The Polk county grand jury returned an Indictment this afternoon charg ing K. Shimmin and Ralph Lau- tenschlager with maintaining a common nuisance at Curly Chicken Inn, night club located near Eola. The two men were Immedi ately arrested on bench war rants and brought Into circuit court here where their ball was fixed at $599 each. They were ordered to be arraigned here at 1p.m. next Friday, Dlst Atty, Brace Spanlding announced. The indictment alleged that on February 26 and for many months prior to that date the defendants unlawfully Buffered large crowds of boisterous, noisy and lawless people to assemble at late and unusual hours in and around their resort The public peace was dis turbed and the nearby highway obstructed, it charge,' Witnesses listed in the indict ment were Vera Hill, state police man: Joe Kersehner and Ben I Stroup. Frank Farmer, served as foreman of the' grand jury. - Mined North ICHUNGTIENs Salem Meets Landis Order New Blackout Request Already in Effect in Oregon's Capital City Salem is already complying with the request issued Friday by James M. Landis, national direct or of civilian defense, for nightly blackout of all lighting which cannot be extinguished on a mo ment's notice. An order issued in Decem ber by the 2d Interceptor com mand (Salem Is now part of the area over which the 4th inter ceptor command exercises con trol) brought a "lights out" or dinance from the city council. By that ordinance, advertising Jlghts Including those used to illuminate store windows were ordered darkened each night until such a time as their own ers could guarantee they could be blinked off In 60 seconds' time. City street lights, dark in Sa lem for more than a week, were not allowed to burn until a single switch for their control had been installed. WASHINGTON, Feb. 27. r-m- James M. Landis, director of the office of civilian defense, Friday night called for a nightly blackout of all lighting in critical areas along the Atlatnc, Pacific and gulf coasts "which is not capa ble of being put out at a moment's notice. . This will involve, an OCD statement said, "the extinguish. , ment of ail advertising signs, store window displays and sim ilar lighting which could not be controlled at once In the event of an alert. Landis telegraphed all reeion al directors cf civilian defense in coastal areas calling on them to request states and communities to take steps in accordance with this policy. PORTLAND, Ore Feb. 27HF) -roruana civilian defense offi dais said Friday night that west coast cities already are complying with an office of civilian defense order to be ready to black out at a moment's notice. . Shortly after the start of the Pacific war, Lieut. Gen. John L. Dewitt, western defense commander. Issued an order similar to that of the OCD. In Portland all outdoor lights were turned off at night for week while switches were revised and electrical circuits changed to permit an instantaneous blackout. 1 -l Can Jap ids I n Move Opposed Solon in Coast Probe Ponders Spot for Aliens SEATTLE, Feb. 27 (AP) Rep. John H. Tolan, chair man of the congressional com mittee Checking up on the west coast enemy alien prob 1 e m , expressed opposition Friday to internment of Japa nese in abandoned CCC camps. "Most of these camps are where there is timber," the California congressman declared in an inter view after his arrival here for a hearing Saturday. "The fire hazard will be tre mendous and we've got to have the timber for ships, cantonments and other war purposes. I'm against establishing any intern ment camps where there is tim ber, because even in the absence of sabotage there would be sus picion if aliens of any enemy na tion were in the vicinity." Congressman Tolan said one of the major problems in connection with possible evacuation of Japa nese from the Pacific slope is that "Nobody wants them. The com mittee has received numerous ex pressions from inland areas to that effect." A federal agency to adminis ter the property of aliens and Pacific coast areas should be es tablished immediately, Tolan said at Portland before leaving for. Seattle. , M At a press conferenceFblarC head of the committee which heard testimony here Thursday on re moval of Japanese-Americans, said the agency was needed to pre serve civilian unity. "Aliens are forced to sell their property at tremendous losses," he said. "We can not afford disrup tion of civilian morale due to evacuation merely because there is no equitable provision made for taking care of abandoned prop' erty." Admitting that alien evacua tion would hamper the national farm program, Tolan said "that Is really a secondary considera tion and comes after tSe safety of the nation." Most Japanese in this region are truck garden operators. Tolan said that Thursday's hear ing brought to the committee realization of the fire threat to Pacific northwest forests because of possible alien action. He proposed that the agency to administer property embrace the entire Pacific coast with branch (Turn to Page 2, Col. 5) Merchantman Sinking Told By Survivors NEW YORK, Feb. 27-5V-The torpedo sinking of a huge British merchantman in the north At lantic was revealed Friday in an interview with 15 survivors who attributed their rescue to an ordi nary ship's bucket and a stalwart fourth mate and chief engineer who regaled the men with srngs to keep them awake and cheerful. Capt. Wilfred G. Evans, 45, of Abergavenny, England, who lost 21 pounds while leading aa open lifeboat through six days and five nights of "freezing hell" and "greedy seagulls, told the story at the Long Island col lege hospital In Brooklyn. He said that two men were killed in the torpedo explosion shortly before dawn February and 54 others were missing and believed dead in three:; lifeboats caught in the gulf stream which swirled them toward the central Atlantic. The -third naval district head quarters gave permission for pub lication of the story. The Identity of the ship was withheld.1 Touring Coast on Bicycle " The true Yankee vront be deterred from his summer ; vacation trip to America'! beatxtr pc!s by Lis lack cf auto fires. Hell lump on his bicycle and pedal for exercise . and enjoyment, with sothina to stop bins from seeing all the byways d the highways. Wendell Keck, craduate of WSIasetta nniversirf, describes Hi last sizzmsr's Jovmy on bicycle down the Orecpa coast on the feature pace of Sunday's Oregon Statesman. US -Dutch Vfarships Into R UssO'Jap: Relations Expected Russ Crushing Trapped Nazi Crack Troops Piece by Piece 16tli German Army Hit In Frozen Swamps LONDON, Feb. 27-P)-The Leningrad radio reported Fri day night that Russian units on the Leningrad front had killed 1140 more Germans and had destroyed an artillery battery and six more pillboxes In the German defenses. A German counter-attack in one sector was repulsed, the radio report said. MOSCOW, Feb. 27-()-Seg- ment by segment, the German 16th army was being crushed in its fortifications on the frozen swamp lands of Staraya Russia Friday night, red army dispatches said, despite counter-attacks launched in the desperate hope of saving at ljeast some of 96,000 trapped nazi troops. At least six encircled divl- sions -tnesc were cucu bpcvu ic ally faced complete disaster. Despite the heaviest of losses the Germans refused to sur- " render5, and the ed ara was fighting on the Stalin principle that In this case they must die. It was in the nazis' fortified set tlements that the greatest slaugh ter was being recorded. A German unit in one -such strong point was wiped out to the last man. Besides the three divisions originally trapped, the 290th, the 30th and an SS division, the Russians now are grinding down the 5th division, the 18th divi sion, brought up from Tikhvin, and the 81st division, recently moved east from occupied France. Some 140 miles north of this vast and bloody entrapment, the defenders of Leningrad struck out in force to divert part of the Ger man reserves which the nazis have thrown into action to try to stem General Pavel A. Kurochkin's northwest offensive. Debate Teams Meet Today Six Remain in Contest As High School Speech Tournament Nears End Six debate teams compete at 8:30 this morning to open semi final matches in the five divisions of Willamette university's eighth high - school speech tournament Decisions are to be announced at 4 o'clock this afternoon. Friday's results, as announced by Dr. H. E. Rahe, tourney di rector, to include those still in the running, were: Two debate teams from Beaver ton and one each from Salem, Dallas, Banks and Grants Pass. Extempore speaking Three from Salem, two each from Banks and Hillsboro, one each from Medford, McMinnville, Camas. Wash Beaverton and Albany. Humorous interpretation Two from Dallas, one each from Leb anon, Banks and Parkrose. Serious Interpretation Three from Oregon City, two each from (Turn to Page 2, CoL 4) Thursday's Weather Weather forecasts withheld and temperature data delayed by army request. River Friday, LS feet. Max. temperature Thursday, 47, mia 29. 70S - 777! JT IB0L IT Decorated The name of Lieut. Willibald C. Bianchl (above), of New Vim, Minn., was added to the list of concresslonal medal of honor winners for performing eon snicuous gallantry in action February S In the Philippines. Gen. Douglas MacArthur recom mended the award for Bianchl, a member of the 45th infantry, Philippine scouts. Bianchl, who personally silenced a Jap ma chine gun nest, was wounded three times. U-Boats Sink US Tankers Two American Vessels Torpedoed in Atlantic One in Sight of Shore By The Associated Press Flames roaring up from two torpedoed tankers brought the raging war at sea close to the United States shore again with the disclosure Friday that two American vessels were attacked off the Atlantic coast, one in sight! of New Jersey's seashore resorts. An axis U-boat, with running lights aglow, converted the loaded Standard Oil tanker R. P. Kesor Into an inferno with one torpedo hit when the ship was off the New Jersey coast. Only two men of a crew of 41 were listed as rescued. The navy announced the tor pedoing of the Atlantic Refininj company tanker W. D. Anderson off Florida, with only one sur vivor from a crew of 36 reported in safety. The survivors said flames had completely enveloped the 10,227-ton vessel. While the 7451-ton Resor re mained a smoking hulk, survivors of a huge British merchantman told how the "biggest sub we ever saw" sank their ship February 8 about 900 miles from New York. Two men were killed by the blast, 15 reached New York and 54 are miss in in three lifeboats that were helpless in a 2 -knot Gulf (Turn to Page 9, CoL 6) Salem Cannery Workers Seek AFL Charter - Application for a charter for a union of Salem cannery workers was to be forwarded to American Federation of Labor offices- this morning by Charles R. Smith, AFL organizer, Smith announced .Fri day night following an organiza tion meeting of cannery employes here. Practically every cannery in the city" is represented in the roll of organizing members, Smith said. -. " : A delegation- from the Portland cannery workers, union, attending the Friday night meeting here, of fered a $25 defense bond to the Salem . member bringing' in' the largest number of applicants dur ing the next'two Weeks." The tin ion is to meet each Friday night at Labor temple, Smith said. fw ' ; , -' - f s msgsqraeiurfefettttAesns orces Wighii:i.in By WILLIAM SMITH WHITE Associated Press War Editor Warships of Japan and the United Nations battled in the Java sea Saturday morning in a clash which may signal the start of an all-out and wrest Java from the United Nations. The two sea forces met mation some time Friday night, the naval department at Batavia announced, but no details of the certainly bitter fighting were given immediately. "Certain United States battle, a navy spokesman in soon after first reports of the fighting were received from Batavia. He added: "We know none of the re sults as yet." There was little doubt pressed for time in their Java adventure. Dispatches have told of the strengthening of the Java stronghold by "many thousands" of tralian troops as the showdown for this rich Dutch col ony approached. Earlier Friday the allied air force had come upon Bulletins TOKYO (F r o m Japa nese Broadcasts) Feb. 28 HSatttrdy),-(AP) T h e Japanese fleet In the Dutch East Indies ' has sunk one allied cruiser and three de stroyers in a fierce battle in the Java sea and is pursu ing the enemy fleet, imper ial headquarters reported today. The headquarters said the Japanese fleet in tercepted the allied fleet in the Java sea early Friday night. The announcement did not mention Japanese losses. TOKYO (From Japa nese Broadcasts) Feb. 28 (Saturday) (AP) Lieut. Gen. Yoshitsugu Ta tekawa, Japanese ambassa dor to Moscow, has resigned because of ill health, and Naotake Sato, present ad viser of the foreign office, has been appointed to suc ceed him, Domei said today. Sato was foreign minis ter in 1937 and has served as ambassador to Belgium and France. More recently he was ambassador pleni potentiary and president of the Japanese economic mis sion sent to Italy in 1940. LONDON , Feb. 28 (Saturday) ( AP) RAF planes were over enemy ter ritory during the night, it was authoritatively report ed today. LONDON, Feb. 28 (Saturday (AP) A Vichy broadcast today said the Vatican reported Pope Pius XII was slightly indis posed, adding; that "there is, no cause for anxiety, but doctors have advised his holiness to avoid all strain.. Sprague Bans Beach ;Gov. Charles A, Sprague Frt day ordered 'state police to pre vent building cf fires on Oregon beaches, , which he said might be used to signal enemy vessels at sea,,- -- . .'Gov. Sprague issued the order in response to a request by Lieut Gen. John L. DeWitt,. San Fran cisco, in charge of the western defense command. imp JL Japanese drive to invade - 'S3S- and went into battle for units are involved," in the Washington acknowledged that the Japanese had been American, British and Aus a Japanese fleet off the Island of Bangka on the western edge of the Java sea and just off Sumatra. Bombers went into action immedi ately, but the results of the en gagement are not known. It may be that. United Nations naval forces' were "sent out to gage this fleet or that the unit seen oft Bangka -ivas only part of a larger, enemy invasion force closing in on Java.. Whatever the disposition of. the Japanese forces, the unit off Bangka was given a severe pounding. Returning fliers said they encountered a concentra- " ted barrage of anti-aircraft fire and were forced to fight off a formation of ten Japanese navy fighter planes. The anti-aircraft fire was so intense allied fliers were unable to observe the effects of their at tack. It was certain that any Japan ese force approaching Java's shores will 4l find the lack of allied air resistance which has eased their burden in other cam paigns. Although the air strength of Java is not known, it includes, Dutch Australian and United States units with an unknown ' number of flying fortresses. The possibility of some impor tant turn in the strange neutral ity arrangement between Russia and Japan arose -Friday night. First of all, the Japanese began to talk of breaking through the Indian ocean to "destroy the whole Anglo-Soviet plan of ma terial cooperation" that is, pre sumably, to cut off Russia's supply lines between Britain, the United States and the Persian gulf. The comment quoted was by the Japan Times and Advertis er, which is controlled by the Tokyo foreign office, and aside from the curious bellicosity of its tone toward a naUon with which Japan was on a neutral footing it was Interesting be cause of the fact that It came en a day that brought a disclosure of the first Japanese attack upon the territory of India. This was a Japanese , bomber raid on the Andaman islands, which lie in the Bay of Bengal of the British-allied 1 sea routes from the Indian ocean. And from Kuibyshev, the al (Turn to Page 2, CoL 3) McNary Backs Soldiers' Hall For ..Salem ' Efforts to gain for Salem a fed eral recreation center for soldiers have the support of Sen. Charles L. McNary, the army-liaison com mittee here -was advised Friday. They had asked his aid after the city had been dropped from lift of locations for centers around the Corvallis cantonment. . c , . : Pe'arce Da vies, assistant region al director of fhV federal security oflTArirv. -wrttto to 5 the committei preliminary - surveys had bees made of the area and tentative plans established ; for recreatics buildings at Albany and corv&LLi while Salem's needs were no felt to be so great.