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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1943)
For Tomorrow ... Invest more than .ten , percent f . year earnings la War Savings Bonds . today and create a ready means far the needs af tomorrow. DImout a Thursday srzitt t:l) p.m. Friday sunrba . S:3? a. ' m. Weather: Tues. : max." temp. 44, Main. 32. Tues. rala .IS in. Wed. river 7.5 ft Weath er data restricted by aixiy request. :-' i . KEIETY-SECOKD YEAH fbimt Oregon, Thnraday-Ilomlag, January 3. IS 13 ! t Prlca 5c No. 213 " " ' ' . - " . j ' ' ' . . .. .. ....... MAJF .r Mows Jf ura Truckers, Mailmen -Squabble Permanent Boosting : Of Truck Limits f -; Sought in BiU g J ; ;. Trucks collided - with trains, figuratively, and : motives were freely questioned on both sides as the Oregon house of repre sentatives' committee on ' high ways and highway revenue held public hearing Wednesday on the "long truck" b i l l, whose purport is to enact as a statute the provisions of a war emerg ency highway commission order under which 60-foot truck-trailer units are now operating on cer tain Oregon highways. ' . . Spokesmen for the truck opera tors, including former Gov. Os wald West and James F. Morrell, explained that permanent legisla tion is sought for the reason that Oregon truckmen do not feel jus tified in rebuilding their trucks, at great expense, to take ad vantage of the more liberal pro visions of the emergency order, in thi knowledge that when peace returns the process may have to be reversed. . . Oregon law limits inch units U 5a feet in lenrtfa, and their eeablned loads to 54,S00 pounds. ' The house bill would permit units 60 feet long and the for mula for ganging the maximum ' load figures out to about 71,006 : pounds. West read a number of statements showing the se-T vera handicap this placed upon interstate trackers entering Ore gon. alaee an neisbbortar states... ' permit the greater lenrtb and 3,CS0-ponnd loads. . v ; , Argument : against permanent legislation on the subject at this time was presented by Alfred A. Hampson, spokesman for the rail road association, who also criti cized the, bill's provisions, saying It was "a bad bill" structurally in that the load limit is arrived at by formula rather than made defi nite, and the safeguards against operation on roads which such loads would damage, are ambigu ous. ' r . ; .j - R. H. Baldock, engineer for the highway commission, testifying at the committee's request, said the commission had no new recom mendations on the subject. He explained that the truck-trailer units contemplated in the bill may operate with safety and without damage on certain designated highways and not on others' and mentioned that the bill was not as carefully-drawn as that which was before the legislature in 1941, but should be amended to provide more' safeguards. r : Personalities entered the picture when West- charged that P. L. Phipps, executive secretary of the Association of Oregon Counties which had passed a resolution op posing such an increase in size and weight of trucks, was also "an attorney for the Union Pacific."' -.. Phipps took the floor to explain that he had represented the rail road in minor matters 'In his home city, but, was not regularly 're tained and owed the railroad no obligation. He added that he had not lobbied against the bill. ... Reversing . the . compliment, after Herman Sites of the fed eral office of defense transpor tation had testified that a criti ' eal transportation problem is .' -.imminent in the northwest and t&st.enaetment this bill would tend "o relieve it, a question from 8eh.C. H. Zoreher elicited the inf ornttUon that Sites in private life is a track operator. R. W. Hogg of the Pacific Sup ply "co-op said many farmers would be benefitted : in ' getting their crops and livestock to mar ket, if this bill became law. James Elliott of Astoria, a Clatsop county commissioner, voiced fear that the big trucks would operate on sec ondary highways to their detriment. Limits GoseTwo Meat Shops Here v Federal regulations as to num ber of meat" animal to be killed during any one month caused two and threeday midweek closures of at least two downtown Salem markets - and . one slaughterhouse this week, representatives of meat dealers declared Thursday. Managers of both downtown markets involved in , the midweek shutdown assured customers they would have ample stocks for Fri day and Saturday business. erence Peace Off gpive; Overfall - ! : ' . . By -ELMAN MORIN . ' . 1 LONDON, Jan. 27-(ff)-The 1943 world strategy conference of President 'Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, at Casa blanca has forestalled a new German peace offensive, observers said Wednesday, and informed quarters said the immediate re sult is likely to be the announcement of an over-all command for the impending battle of Tunisia. An unofficial American source reported that full agreement Change Talked In Excise Tax .. Corporation Levy Might Be Marked To Help Aged By RALPH C. CURTIS Amending the state corporation excise tax law so as to collect from public utilities, which now pay only property taxes, was discussed at Wednesday night's session of the daily hearings being conduct ed by the house taxation and rev enue committee of the Oregon legislature with pro and con argu ments rather evenly balanced. But in relation to Gov. Earl Snell's proposal that the proceeds of this extension be utilized to supple ment old age assistance benefits, scant enthusiasm was evidenced when it developed that the addi tional revenue would not exceed $500,000 at present and would amount to much less in normal times. " .. . . ' Oddly -enough, no one mentioned that ' thia proposed ; 'earmarking" couldn't be done legally without making a fundamental change in the excise tax law, one which many . citizens would ' consider an extremely dangerous precedent; and that by one interpretation, it couldn't be done without amend ing, the state constitution. Solo spokesman for the utili ties, Allan Smith, voiced no pro test acainst such additional tax ation but did make the point that the privately-owned utili ties would advocate the inclu sion on an equal basis of the ; PUD, REA and other publicly-, owned utilities. He along with ; others made the point that the tax wonld really be paid by. the ultimate consumer, and it was his contention that the patrons of privately -owned utilities should not bear this burden alone. Of the excise tax in general, Tax Commissioner Earl Fisher i (Turn to Page 2 D) Lebanon Mill Hearing On PORTLAND, Jan. 27-(ff)-The strike of AFL lumber and saw mill workers at the Evans Pro ducts company plant in Lebanon January 12 was called after the company laid off the night shift, testimony revealed here Wednes day. ) I John B. McCourt, attorney, act ed faa referee for the west coast lumber commission at the hearing and will report to the commission. Union officials said 223 of the 700 mill workers were laid oft Company : spokesmen contended insufficient logs were available for three shifts. Questions of sen iority also were involved. Fuel Shortages Surpass - War . I J ; 'By ISABEL CHTLDS i: Definite fuel shortages in Salem the past week have topped any experienced during World war L a. veteran dealer . in the . capital city declared Wednesday, although he -did not prophesy, an unheated 1943-44 winter f c residents of the area,- ., - , '' , , t Most serious difficultjhaince the snowfall has been the pn&Jem of delivery of fuels.: Short of coal all winter; major fuel dealers &re out or inai commodity w can esaay, vrnuWAV nnaiaM nnrmrnn ma v i until the past week, been able to meet demands for coal but had not tried to "push" the business because of the long time required to move , to the coast the fueL much of it second-grade, they said. Briquets were a minus quantity here Wednesday, nor did dealers ifyinies - jixis was reacnea at uuaDiann.on a commander ' to t a k e charge ' of British forces driving from the east and British, American and French armies in Tunisia. An RAF commentator added that early announcement also was expected on plans to co ordinate the effects of allied "air "forces in Libya, Malta and Tunisia, all of which are nam " mering at the same targets. While parts of the British press obviously had expected disclosure of more concrete results toward establishment of a united nations war council for all theatres and a French unity, buoyant members of parliament expressed confi dence that developments of the utmost importance soon would become evident, j Political observers said indica tions that Adolf Hitler would of fer a compromise peace as part of his 1943 plans had' been mul tiplying for a month. Unconfirmed but persistent reports said his pro posals were to be made ; through non-belligerent Spain and would contain an offer to withdraw from western Europe , while re taining territories occupied in Poland, Russia and the Balkans. Thus the Casablanca declara tion that the united nations would be satisfied with nothing short ef the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy and Japan was viewed as having smashed -this peace offensive j before it could even get started. It was expected also that the (Turn to Page 2 B) To jo Asserts Japs Battle For Security By The Associated Press Premier Hideki Tojo told a re convened session of the Japanese diet Thursday that Japan is wag ing war "to enable all countries each in its proper place and all peoples to live their lives in peace and security," and said that Jap an in pursuance of this ideal was marching "to crush the United States and Britain," the Japanese radio reported. The broadcast, recorded by the Associated Press, said Tojo de clared Japan was in the midst of a war of "unprecedented scale" against both the United States and Britain, which he said "vaunt their wealth and strength to the world," in order "to destroy their sinister ambitions to dominate the world.! The empire, he , said, has had this goal of "peace and security" for 3000 years, and "it is also to realize this great ideal that the na tion with a hundred million united people in humble obedience to the i m p e r i al command is declaring war and marching to crush the United States and Britain." - Reviewing the first year of war in greater East Asia, Premier Tojo said Japan "has completed the ba sis for certain victory." "Our position ! for both offense and defense has been "completed," Tojo declared. , ; anticipate being able to fill all standing orders, since, a represen tative of the group declared, this is a convenient type of fuel for army camp use! , However, with clearing weather, the briquet plant In Portland which supplies this area is expected to go into Opera tion again and there may be some available. Larger dealers declared they had In Salem there' is: 1 Slabwood ana - mlllwaul k plenty. iWl, enough, depending on trans portation. CoaL none or very little now; scarce all winter. " , Cordwood, cut but not currently available.'- - Sawdust, plenteous when mdi commence operations again. Briquets for the ana' t Murder -:: . :.!. ... ...',. :.. ' .' " j -; Charged I Folkes -X Train Second Cook' i ; .Confesses, Then J - Dehies Slaying : By FRED 'HAMPSON' ( ALBANY, OreV Jan. 27-P) The ' second: cook of the South ern Pacific's West Coast limited was charged " Wednesday ... with the slaying of the handsome young navy bride in lower IS. The break in the fiction-like "murder on the mainline', mys tery came with the unexpected filing by Linn County District At torney Harlow L. rWeinrick of a first-degree murder charge against Robert L. Folkes, 20-year-old negro, arrested in Los Angeles as the train ended its 1800-mile run through Oregon and California.; Police Capt Verne Rasmus-, sen said In Los Anseles after the charge was filed that Folkes confessed slashing the throat of blonde Mrs. Martha Virginia Brinson James as she lay in her berth in sleeper D while the train rolled throuah snow-mantled Limn county in the. early - morning darkness' Saturday. Basmussen said, however, that Folkes- retracted his admission of killing the 21-year-old daughter of a prominent Nor folk, Va family. j Until he could study the con fession, weinrick declined to re lease it for publication. He dis closed, however, that Folkes told Los Angeles police that he used "the- head cook's boning knif e.f AskedwlMt, be did witb fgfe. oiKes was quoxea as replying. "That knife never will be found." 1 Weinrick commented, "He Will be surprised on that score." if The murder charge waa filed in justice court shortly a f t e r Weinrick said he expected a break would come only after the arrival of passengers from California for questioning. Weinrick said Folkes, held by Los Angeles police for return here, would be denied bail. Mrs. James, married only four months ago to Ensign Richard F. James, also a member of a prom inent Virginia family, was slain, officers said, by a sharp knife possibly a pocket knife wielded by a right-handed attacker. If the death weapon baa been recovered, police have not dis closed that fact. Nor have they announced determination of a motive for the crime. They had established however that Mrs. James was neither raped nor robbed. Her purse, containing $112, was found in her berth.! The investigation that followed the discovery of her body, slumped in the car aisle with blood spurt ing from a cut that started behind her left ear and extended to the front of her neck, followed the train as it thundered from Oregon into California. i Oregon state police took charge immediately. They were aided by sheriffs officers, , police of cities from Seattle to San Diego And Southern Pacific special agents. Mrs. James' body was discovered by Marine Pvt. Harold R. Wil son, whose parents - moved re cently from Windom, Minnas to Buckley, Wash. He told how; he propped her head with a pillow, noted that she already 'Was dead and then fruitlessly pursued a dark man clad In a brown pin- stripped suit through the train. Other passengers related 'hear ing a woman in darkened sleeper (Turn to page 9 C) been able to "just keep up" with fuel oil orders prior to the snow, had been unable to care for I all since then for three reasons. Num ber one difficulty here, as with meat fueL deliveries, was condi tion I of streets and 7 drivewiys, which slowed trucking service con siderably. ' Number two, they said, goes back to general transporta tion troubles . over the . nation. Third, they found householders, particularly, ordering more heav ily than before.; J Cordwood is available for purchase-but not for immediate de livery, since much of it is in the hills, where trucking is still next to impossible, wood dealers said: Merchants b?riing other types of fuel predicted stai greater dif ficulty in obtaining cordwood be cause of increasing demands ' for (Turn to Page 3 A) it!- t a - nf ... a ? Bombs Mhs Maltad i M Half of Japps' rs Casualties Counted jn Papua Campaign; Raids Widespread ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, Thursday, Jan. 28 W)Gen. Douglas MacArthur- an nounced Thursday that allied cas ualties in the victorious Papuan land -campaign in New Guinea, including : numerous cases from natural .illness, were less than hall the losses of the .defeated Japan ese.; Previous announcements had said a Japanese Papuan army of 15,000 had been annihilated. The general pointed out in his noon communique that "these fig ures reverse the usual results of ground offensive . . when losses of the attacker usually are I (Turn to Page 2 E) Allies Retake Vital Spots ' In Tunisia LONDON, Jan. 27 -JPh Amid gathering signs that a final offen sive tq drive the axis out of north Africa may be near the allied North African command disclosed Wednesday the recapture of sev eral central Tunisian positions with which the enemy had sought to form a line to protect the flank ofi Marshal Rommel's retreat into Tunisia from Libya. The British command in Cairo announced that contact had been made with Rommel's rearguards as early as Tuesday somewhere west of Zauia, which itself is 30 miles beyond fallen Tripoli the first contact reported in three days. In Tunisia, the allied communi que announced that a number of positions in the Ousseltia valley and in the mountains to the east had been regained - by the at tacks of American troops who went to the support of the French, it jwas disclosed authoritatively and were being consolidated. An allied spokesman said in supplement: .; i. ' -. ;-.- ".. 5 -;' ! Wow we hold the Kairoulan- Ousseltia pass." Allied warpianes were handi capped by bad weather but suc cessful attacks . on German rail way communications were report- ed f from, allied . headquarters in north Africa, while from Cairo it was announced that " Liberator heavy bombers of the Ninth US air. force had attacked Messina in Sicily, and that fighter aircraft had held Rommel's retreating col umns under attack. ' . The Italian radio reported that Naples had been bombed over night. V Storm Toll Reaches 11 PORTLAND, Ore, Jan. 27-ff) The cold and snow: forces that claimed 11 lives in Oregon in 10 days beat : a hasty retreat Wed nesday. Temperatures generally were above freezing and highways were all open again, the Portland weather bureau and the Oregon State Motor association reported. Portland transportation neared normal and schools were sched uled to reopen Thursday. Many home owners complained of leak ing roofs caused by melting snow and ice., v'. . Z .-ri ' The latest fatality was that of Pearl Parkins, 60, who apparent ly? collapsed . wr41e ' working in snow on his ranch near. Timber. His snow-covered body was found near a barn. Allied Losses Ships with food and supplies have been arriving more frequently re cently at often bombed Malta," but net without incident as pictured here. Nasi bombs explode' harmlessly '(left) near some of the ships " lin the convoy Associated Press Telemat. Reds From Capt t ... . By The Associated Press . ' .: .. LONDON, Jan.: 27 Russian troops have captured 3350 more German survivors of the 220,000-man nazi army trapped at Stalingrad, leaving fewer than 8650 .doomed troops on the Volga, while in the continuing offensive to the west another red army salient has been driven to a point 60 miles from Rostov, and 80 miles from Kursk, two big nazi bases, Moscow said Wednesday night In a regular communique corded here by the! soviet radio monitor. : . i ; ' , Two thousand nasi troops lald dewn their arms, includ ing one whele regiment i at Stalmgrad, and 'another i 135t also surrendered, the midnight bulletin said. This was near the eeatral part, ef Stalinsrad., . ;, The other, " remaining : enemy pocket north of : Stslingrad was being annihilated, it 'added.1 The Russians had announced Tuesday that only 12,000 trapped Germans remained to be extermi nated after a general red j army attack began January 10 when the remnants of the 22 nazi divisions refused to surrender. Since then more than 40,000 have been kill ed and 31,350 captured. j ; Sweeping westward from re captured Voronezh on the upper Don river the communique said the Russians had occupied Gor shechnoye, 80 miles east I and slightly south of Kursk, big Ger man base . on . the Moscow-Kharkov railway. The town is j about 50 miles southwest of Voronezh. As evidence of the continuing rout on the Voronezh front the communique said that 5000 axis troops, including a j colonel, two majors and a captain, surrendered "after a short battle", in the Var-vorovka-Shelyakino sector which is 45 mileseast of j soviet van guards who already have i taken Volokonovka on the Moscow-Yelets-Kupyansk railway, i In another sector during ; the day 400 Germans were wiped out, the communique said, r ; Farther south the Russians also reported a) suceessful amaah west of Byelokurakma, which is anly 50 miles from the important' railway Junction af Kupyaask, and 105 mUes south west of Kharkov. Three; inhab ited localities were taken, the eennnuniana said, ana of them after an all -day fight in which the Germans : unsuecessfully counterattacked with two: bat- ; talions supported by tanks. : In the Caucasus the Russians, pushing northwestward from Salsk on the Stalingrad-Tikhoretsk rail way, captured Sredny-Yegorryk and Ttaman, the latter 60 miles from Rostov which: is connected by railway. . !!.;.' I i .' ..... . .; . - .t'-i . . , : - . i (. Solomons Battle Arrives in US 1 j - --. - i . i : - : WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 The- navy - reported Wednesday night , that Maj. Gen. Alexander A. . Vandegrift, who , commanded marine corps combat operations in the Solomon islands, arrived in Washington Wednesday. ' -" 'sS-'. - The ' navy would not ; disclose Vandegriffs location here, j but it was understood he would I report to headquarters on the Guadal canal operations . which he had commanded since 'the initial oc cupation of positions in- August, 1942. - , -J-., : . ' i j '! . M , The navy announced on ; Janu ary 21 that Ma. Gen. Alexander M. Patch of the army had assum ed command of the US forces on Guadalcanal, : relieving General Vandesrift. - . - - ; i -! . ure 3350 Trapped Army Berlin Avers 8th Offense Russian troops on the central sector northwest' of Voronezh be gan attacking German lines Tues day with "considerable . forces," the Berlin radio said Wednesday night in a broadcast recorded by the Associated Press. :.v If this report is true, the red army now has opened its eighth major offensive against the axis on a front extending virtually clear across Russia. German broadcasts frequently have an nounced ' the red; army's blows ahead of Moscow announcements. The German military commen tator, Capt. Ludwig Sertorius, was quoted by the Berlin radio as say ing that the southern' Russian of fensive below Voronezh now had "overlapped"' the - central - front northwest of that hinge city, and "thus the central sector has been drawn into the great battle of the south..,- i.v The Soviet. Russians are em ploying considerable forces there, he said, "but it cannot . yet be stated whether this means a shift in the center of gravity of their offensive or whether the main thrust of the enemy continues to be aimed in the old direction, that is, towards the Donets .basin and Rostov." Group Okehs WASHINGTON, Jan: 27-tP) The senate foreign relations com mittte put a 13 to 10 stamp of ap proval Wednesday on . President Roosevelt's nomination of Edward J.. Flynn -to be minister to Aus tralia, and sent it along to a doubt ful fate in the senate. Three democrat - Senators George of Georgia, Van Nuys of Indiana and ' Gillette of Iowa broke ' across party lines to op pose the 23-member . . committee's endorsement of the former demo cratic national chairman. . . - The test found 12 democrats and Senator LaFollette (Pro-Wis) vot ing for Flynn, seven republicans and three democrats against him. Senators Glass (D-Va), who sup ported the nomination,' and John son (R-Calif who opposed t it, were absent and voted by proxy. Service Men v Talbot Bennett,-former depu ty Marion county district at torney, was commissioned a sec ond lieutenant in the United States marine corps January 13, courthouse office-holders and employes were told at their din ner party Wednesday nlitt at the Chiaese Tea Garden,. Flynn Naming Batter Boris Copenhagen Raldeil For First Time By INIosquitoes : LONDON, Thursday,. Jan. n UPy-A stepping-up alied t aerial offensive against the German! roared . int o Its second, day: Thursday as RAF night bomb ers streaked into Germany aft er a momentous day which saw the first all-American blows at Germany dtomt and th finrt bombing of Copenhagen," Den mark. Observers saw in the new blows' LONDON, , Jan. 27.-P)-The . weight of bombs of all kinds dropped en Germany proper by , the RAF new totals more than . the loftwaffe has poured down on Britain, an RAF eommenta tor said Wednesday the beginning of a campaign de signed, one said, to bust Ger many wide open." Swarms of Flying Fortress and Liberator bombers of the US army air forces figured in the daylight attacks on the naval base of Wilhelmshavcn and nearby Em den. . V' Just where the RAF night bombers struck in their followup attack was not immediately an nounced. The nighty before they had raided the German subma rine base at Lorient, France, and Bordeaux. . The targets of the afternoon ' raid by fleet Mosquito bombers f the RAF were the shipyards te -tbe JHMklab capital which are working for Germany, and this, attack followed night raids by the bomber and coastal com- -mudi the aubmarliie pens ; at Lerlent on the French coast and Bordeaux, farther to the south. The . Copenhagen l raids w ere aimed at submarine diesel engine works in the shipbuilding yard of Burmeinster and T Wain at the. Danish capital. The coordinated night and day raids, concentrating on U - boat nests and factories, were the first lightning blows of the war after the announcements that a 1943 pattern for world conflict had been fashioned at Casablanca by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. The bombing of Copenhagen Tuesday had been a matter of speculation in the house, of com mons only Tuesday when it was pointed out that U-boat diesel en gines were made in the environs of the Danish capital.' (The German radio said British bombers made, a "terror raid" on Copenhagen and caused "casual ties' among the civilian popula tion." Anti-aircraft fir brought down one plane, it added.) Although Danish targets such as Aarhus and Aalborg had been bombed previously, Copenhagen was spared up to Wednesday. The Mosquitoes, flying low and fast, bombed the Copenhagen na val installations and saw many bursts - among the ; targets. One Mosquito was lost. ' - A dispatch from Stockholm said the bombers hit two fac tories in the ' southern part of Copenhagen, setting them afire. ' Four workers were killed and . 15 hurt, it said, and added that all the crew were killed on the one bomber brought down. The Fortress and Liberator raids on Germany were on the grand scale expected to become routine practice. . The heavily armed four-engine planes went on their missions without escort and found surpris ingly little opposition. Three of the big bombers failed to return, US headquarters said, but "a number" of enemy planes were destroyed. (Berlin claimed eight of the four-en gined bombers were de stroyed, and that defensive fire frustrated a bombing attack on valuable objectives.") Anti-aircraft fire was light and returning Yankee pilots declared: It was a picnic. We caught them completely unawares." A sizable fleet of . German . ships barely was missed by the American raiders. The 'vessels were spotted entering Wilhelms havcn Just after the 1 bomber force wheeled away ; from un loading their hizh explosives ea the submarine fitting and har bor fixtures. The full damage was obscured by a heavy cloud formation over the target which forced the bomb ers to unload Quickly through s closing hole in the overcast.