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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1943)
NINETY-SECOND YEAR Satan, Oregon Saturday Morning February 23. .1943 Prlcsj Sc. No. 248 CDimraniel JT- aunt 9 i 77 77 TAT - ' TT 7" m ---- s. FdDFinni Qjlwwmwni mr NY Ore ;-(8 Of Report Expected i Monday; Leaders Aver pJo( Change9; Gas, Oil Shortage Stressed By STEPHEN C. MERGLER ' The 1943 legislature's "big truck" bill, HB220, appeared headed for an early and violent showdown in the house Friday night following a joint house-senate hearing at which army, navy and interstate commerce commission representatives urged re moval by statue of normal length and weight restrictions in Oregon. ' It is not satisfactory that these restrictions remain lifted only by the present temporary order which was put- into effect last year after the governor had con ferred with army and navy offi cials as to their requirements, F. E. Landsburg, principal spokes man at the hearing, declared. -: Under the existing condition,'--with only a temporary relaxa-s tion of length-weight limitations m effect, Oregon operators de cline to make the expenditure required to increase to maxi mum the capacity of their tracks and trailers. Landsburg asserted. - " They weald convert their equtp "ment to greater carrying capac ity If expanded weight-length : regulations were made "perma nent" by adoption of IIB220, he said. Declaring they were not inter ested in the political , side of the tween the truckers and the rail- . rmuli tha mrmv artri nivv snokes men urged that by one means or another the way - be cleared 'for lengthening of trucks in Oregon to help eliminate increasingly dif ficult tieups in transportation. Prbbabili ty of an ; acute short exuJin 'nt sfl anH other petroleum products La the Pacific northwest due to switching of rail road tank cars to the Atlantic sea board and the likelihood that Pa cific coast ocean tanker service may be sharply curtailed was em phasized. T -Speaker William M. M'sAIlls " ter said the disputed bill prob ably weald be reported ont of committee a second time today in the bouse and put up fee: final consideration Monday. While the hearing was closed to all but members of the legislature ' and of the press, few of the wit nesses' remarks were requested to .be withheld from publication and illVaV VICtfclfc WIUl " tion. : - Obvious opponents of the truck bill and other questioners directed most of their attention at Lands burg, who, it was brought out, formerly was an NRA truck in dustry officer in the state of Wash ington and prior to that service was at various times employed by xrucK agencies iuiu wuwi Danies. "If I had it in my -power, I'd change things over immediately" Landsburg said in answer to one question, and, to another, he de ned that any bottlenecks in ship ping were being created by fed eral regulations. : . The ICC officer, who is also district allocation officer for the office of defense transportation, said Oregon , truck line operators would order and could obtain 30 oil trucks and 35 trailers '; under a special war production author ization just made, if the legisla ture passed the truck bill. Other wise, he said, the allocation would go elsewhere. No new trucks that meet Oregon's peacetime regula tions are available, he added. The state's present emergency order allows truck and trailer combinations up to 60 feet long and 17,000 pounds gross weight, approximately the specifications that would be authorized by the bill in dispute. The present statu tory limits are 50 feet and 54,000 pounds. V;.. Leaders in', both houses ex pressed ' the opinion after the bearing . that no votes - have been changed." Speaker Will liam M. McAllister mustered a : bare majority last Tuesday - when he asked that the bill be - referred back to committee for Friday night's hearing. lie said ' ai that time that he bad Just received a telephone call from the Los Angeles office of the petroleum 1 administration far war saying that that agency and " others wished to be beard, " ' ' The .army plea Friday night was keynoted by CoL Clarence P. Talbot, ; assistant chief of staff. Fourth air force, San Francisco, who said all the army asked was that the legislature guarantee "to make necessary - transportation available.'' ; - "If you will assure us of the gas we need some other way, m be satisfied, the colonel . added. Warning that coastwise , tanker (Turn to Page 2 Story C) If House to Make Decision, Size Of Cut in Tax . Minority Report to Be Included; Small Loans Charge Holds j By RALPH CURTIS "Size of the bite" in income tax reduction will be put squarely up to the Oregon house of represen tatives through introduction of majority and minority reports, it was determined Friday through action taken by the taxation and revenue committee. The majority report signed by six members of the committee will support a bill which was being drafted Friday, providing for 10 per cent reduction, without change in rates, upon income taxes pay able fin 1943 and 1944. Barring further, legislative aetionxthere would be -ae reduction ln-1945..;1 V The Sninority report will Nje ommend passage of a hill Intro duced by Bep. John Ball early in the session, amended so as to provide for a 25 per cent re duction without change In rates, for 5 Income tax payments doe this year; and a rate reduction of 1 per cent In each bracket, effective In 1544 and thereafter. This would reduce total re ceipts. It was estimated, 21.81 per eenL - (Turn to Page 2 Story D) Chinese Slow, Reverse All Jap Drives 1 By The Associated Press CHUNGKING, Feb. 19-A Chin ese high command said Friday that all the Japanese drives in central, southern and southwest ern 'China had been slowed won or thrown into reverse, although costly fighting continued in some areas. Bloody battles w ere being fought in northern Kiansu prov ince, north of Shanghai, as the Japanese tried to compress a 45 mile semi-circular line running through the lake country from Paoying to Fowning near the sea. The Chinese said all the Japanese thrusts had been halted. The fighting in western Yun nan, where .the : Japanese were trying to extend their grip along the Burma road and were moving in several columns west of the Salween river, also was, growing more intense. But one column which moved up to the Salween withdrew after an' artillery ex change across the stream, and there was no change in positions north of Tengyueh, also on the west aide of the river. In Hupeh ' province in central China, where the Japanese were attempting new expeditions from their Ichang and Shasi bases on the Yangtze, the Chinese said they were ' in pursuit of one column after killing 400 of the invaders. Another enemy column which set out to the south from the Yangtze port of Hosueh was unable to make any progress. ; -j:-;.-- .... ... ; - Arraignment Next Week for Folkes ALBANY, Feb. 19 -W-Linn County District Attorney Harlow Weinrick said he would arraign Robert -E. Lee Folkes next week on an indictment charging him with first degree murder in the "lower 13" slaying of Mrs. Rich ard F. James. . ' The county grand Jury returned an ; indictment yesterday against the' Los Angeles dining car cook in the knifing of the prominent Virginia girl aboard a limited train last January 23. T&s Scene Erased From . . , .... , ... , .. - vN - .V.'.y.v.v. i I I - ' .-.v.-. v '. v. ,v. a. ' .i.-.'O'.'.'.w.y Canned Goods off Shelf Tonight; Florida Freeze Hits Fresh Food Supply WASHINGTON, Feb. lfM'PJ-House wives, confronted by a twin freeze, have their last" chance Saturday to stock up on can ned fruits and vegetables in advance of rationing. Officials said Friday that stocking up is approved so long as it stays within reasonable family needs. A government "freeze" will take these canned goods off the Soldier Help : IriGropfSaid Agreed by FR WASHINGTON, Feb. 1MJP) President Roosevelt was reported Friday to have agreed that sol diers should help harvest crops in regions where there is a shortage of farm labor. Chairman Fulmer (D-SC) of the house agriculture committee said Mr. Roosevelt endorsed this idea in principle in a discussion with him at the White House, but suggested there was no need for legislation since the matter could be handled by executive order.! , Mr. Roosevelt himself had indi cated at " his press conference earlier that he was backing the army firmly in its controversy with some congressional elements over the question of limiting the size of the armed forces, and sug gested that older school children must shoulder a large share of the food production job He told reporters that the size the army should be at the end of 1943 was decided last August , by the dictates of military necessity, and the' decision : had not t been changed. . -, Food production was understood to have figured . in ; a conference which the chief executive's top economic advisers held during the day, - but if : any decisions , were reached they were not disclosed. Some members of this group, the economic ; stabilization board headed by James F.-Byrnes, hint ed that protracted ! discussion ' of the 48-hour week had prevented them from going deeply into the farm problem. (The house defeated by a tie vote, 109 to 109, a motion by Rep. Dirkson (R-Ill) to instruct ; the agriculture committee to draft ; a measure scrapping the administra tion's entire farm program and substituting a new one. : Lone Enemy Over Sydney SYDNEY, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 20 - (if - An enemy plane which, the government said, ap parently came from a submarine was' fired on Friday ; night by anti-aircraft batteries and chased out to sea. r T " " f , . A blackout was ordered in Syd ney. The plane first flew over the Kembla area. - .. - -"As planes from submarines can carry bombs, it was decided not to lift the blackout until a later hour,' said Maj. Gen. A- C. FewtrelL commander of the New South Wales lines of communica tion area. :y- . i-,-. The alert Thursday night was the first in Sydney since last June when an enemy submarine shelled the city. - - - - , i:xi-:::;fv';i:: ' - v s v . ;y:::vV;;x;:;-;:-:;r:;:;.;::- grocery shelves for one week after Saturday midnight In preparation for, "the start' of point rationing March 1. ' . . ' At the samejtime a freeze of na ture was reported by the agricul ture department Friday to have damaged severely the Florida win ter crops of fresh vegetables count ed upon heavily to supplement the rationed canned supplies. Officials said the situation was. not serious enough, however, to tnterfere with the canned goods rationing, and 'they proceeded with the program. The point values of - the rationed articles will be announced Sunday and published In the Monday morn ing newspapers. The public will register for the new ration books starting Monday. The Saturday, midnight sales suspension will affect all canned and frozen' fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, canned baby foods and canned soups. In the following eight days, peo ple are expected to live on their accumulated stocks of these foods plus the unrationed foods which will remain on sale, including fresh fruits and vegetables, cer eals, bread, milk and meat. Meat is to be rationed later but for the present may be sold without re striction. -- - - " The cold spell in Florida was re ported to have virtually wiped out the crop of snap beans and to have caused varying degrees . of damage "to celery, cabbage, lettuce, lima beans, peas, tomatoes, egg plant, early potatoes, berries and citrus fruits except grapefruit. Coupled with the fact that tioning of canned goods is expect ed to shift considerable consumer (Turn to Page 2 Story A) RAF Slashes i LONDON, Feb. The RAF delivered a heavy cargo of blockbusters on the Wilhelmshav- en U-boat base and shipyards Thursday night while other Brit ish squadrons shot up shipping along the Dutch and French coasts and inland communications across France and -Belgium. The Wilhelmshaven raid was a repeat performance of the heavy asault a week earlier arid the 72nd attack of the war on the sprawling port .which has pro duced a great number of Atlantic raiders. Coast: Ship Good weather favored th&ilrill be back again later this year tack, officially designate as heavy one in which four'bombU f were lost. The Germans concejJed casualties were suffered "particu larly in the surrounding localities' and claimed nine planes were downed. Strong . Intruder squadrons bombed railways and shipping in the Dunkerque area and hit a convoy between Calais and Cap Gris Nez, where results were dif ficult to observe. Two fighters and a coastal command plane failed to return. Kharkov ., ,,,, v .; ;. . iri.iii.il Uiu uit j.ti..j M rf ' v. b -' ' ' V - S f ' ' ' A. ' ' 1 3 s 1 - - ' i y d When Russian troops swarmed tnte the Ukraine steel center of Kharkov last Tuesday, they . ended the nasi hold that had lasted since the fall of 194L This photo shows German tanks entering, Kharkov in 194 L UN Photo. Own Tax Plan - Pay-as-You-Go Gets Committee Favor ; Skip Disliked WASHINGTON, Febl9n()-An proposed pay-asyou-go tax plana, including net that would have canceled out one income tax year completely, were rejected by the house ways and means commit tee . Friday, and a subcommittee appointed to draft an acceptable compromise.. " The plans. voted down included a modified form of one submit ted by Beardsley RumL chairman of the Federal Reserve bank of New York, which would by-pass one tax year. However, the Ruml plan sup porters were not downcast, and privately expressed confidence be cause of the support it received in the committee. The ways and means members were pledged to secrecy as to the number of votes each plan received. One committee source said "the (Turn to Page 2 Story B) Toulon Placed Under Siege NEW YORK, Feb. 19-()-A state of siege has been proclaimed in the German-occupied French naval base city of Toulon on the fediterranean coast, the Russian agency. Tass said Friday night in a Moscow broadcast heard by the FCC. The Dakar radio was quoted by the FCC as saying earlier that 700 persons had been arrested by the Group to Find ra-fgestapo and Vkhy police during "German authorities are preparing the. civil evacuation of the town and port" -- ' -::-- The Berlin radio in a broadcast recorded by the .Associated Press said that reports of clashes In Tou lon where the . French navy scut tled its ships last November were "devoid of any foundation. The Germans presumably were taking measures at Toulon simi lar to those taken at Marseille recently. Amos, Andy Leave Air HOLLYWOOD, ' Feb. 1W Amos and Andy quit the air Fri da night after 16 years of con jjuous broadcasting with the in the same characters. Since March; 1928; when they broadcast their first program as Sam and Henry from ' Chicago, Freeman . - F. Gosden,- 43, and Charles J. Correll, 52, have ap peared in some 4000 programs, five nights a week."!;:.-: V: Correll, a one-time bricklayer, wrote all their : sketches on his typewriter.' Gosden formerly was a tobacco and later an automobile salesman. "Their radio audiences were estimated aS high as 40, 000,000 persons weekly, . Bombers nash Ships Four Ships Struck; Two Left Blazing;. Airdrome Raided By MURLTN SPENCER -ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, Saturday, Feb.' 20-()-Striking at Japan's vital merchant marine off Buin in the Solomon islands, Gen. Douglas MacArthur's heavy bombers Friday damaged four cargo ships aggregating 27,000 tons. Two of the vessels, one of 9000 tons and the other of 7000 tons, were left blazing from the shat tering force of 500-pound bombs. Two other Japanese ships, a 5000-ton merchantman and a small troop transport, were attacked off Gasmata and ; Cape Gloucester, New Britain, in the face of a Jap anese fighter escort and the re sults of the attack were not ob served. . The. Fortresses dropped down to a low altitude despite heavy fire to carry through their daring at tack on the ships. A Consolidated B-25 heavy bomber . stirred np a hornet's nest in the attack on Gasmata, bat returned without getting stang. It found a 5000-ton mer chantman In the harbor and at tacked 'In the ' face of heavy ack-ack Are. from : the ship. Then 12 Zeros snddenly Jamped en ft and a vleiens f lght ensued -w!th the result that two Zeros were seen falling In flames Into thejsea and a third was claimed downed. The 'bomber, retnmed safely.- .- . ;r ' : ;" . ; "Our, heavy and medium bomb ers struck in a coordinated night attack i on , enemy ; shipping and airdromes," said , the noon com munique' from . General MacArth ur's - headquarters. "Attacking from extremely low altitudes in the face of strong anti-aircraft fire," our heavy units scored direct hits with 500-pound bombs on four enemy cargo ships aggregating 27,000 tons. One ves sel of 9000 tons received two di- rect hits and was left burning from bow to stern; another of 7000 tons was struck twice, result ing in fire and heavy smoke pour ing from the side; a third of 8000 tons was attacked twice, a bomb entering the side and another ex ploding 10 feet away; a fourth of 3000 tons - had a direct hit and was damaged by other bomb ex plosions within ten ' feet of the hull. In addition, ships and searchlight positions were heavily strafed. Our medium units bomb ed the airdrome supply dumps and dispersal bays at Kahili and the balance of the island and the sea plane base, causing heavy explo sions and fires visible for 30 miles. There was no attempt at interception.-All our planes returned." ."Lack' of aerial opposition possi bly could be explained by the fact that prior to Friday night's raid, Catalina bombers were over the Kahili airdrome on Thursday for more than two hours in a heavy raid which started fires that leap ed 500 feet high and. could be seen from 50 miles away. Camelback Ration To Close Today CLEVELAND, Feb. 19-(P)-Ra-tioning of grade. E camelback, for recapping passenger car and. light truck tires will be discontinued Saturday, the regional office of price administration announced Friday, night. Clifford J. Houser, regional OPA executive, said elimination of rationing, originally scheduled for March, would not permit mo torists to exchange a recappable tire for one already recapped, ex cept on. a 'certificate issued by a national board. Eclipse of Moon Slated 57ell? - SEATTLE, Feb. If - (JP) -Astronomers said an eclipse af the ' anooa orer the Padfle .Northwest Friday night was to blot rat 77 per cent of Its face, bat whether or not It was vls ftle Is something yon will have to ask your neighbor, hi ease yea didn't take a look yourself. Any report ef whether er not the moon was visible wor'J in volve military . tnfor m a 1 1 o n aboat atznoepheiie conditions ; Ship Survivors ; Drift 81 Days RECIFE, BraxiL Feb. 19-OP) -One American and two Dntch snrvlvors ef an allied ship have reached here, - weak and thin, after SI days in a lifeboat from which two , of their shipmates were washed te their deaths by waves.. The boat contained a few rusted fish-hooks they had used with strips of their clothing as lines to catch enough .fish to prevent starvation. : . . When rescued by a warship they had gone five days without water. One of the Dutchmen had lost 70 pounds In weight. - The amaslng story of the sur- vlval of this trio for SI days In an open lifeboat sarpasses that of two British seamen who were rescued in the Bahamas In No vember, 1940, after being adrift for 70 days. . - Soviets Sweep Oboyan Surrounded ; Reds Take Towns In Orel Sector By The Associated Press LONDON, Feb. 19 The red army, has cleared the last German soldier from the Kursk-Kharkov railroad and highway with the seizure of Oboyan, and has push ed on 12 miles due west of Khar kov, in its continuing sweep to ward the Dnieper river, a special Moscow communique recorded by the soviet monitor said Friday night . - .' - Oboyan, 35 miles south of Kursk, I was surrounded and its nazf garrison either wiped out or taken -prisoner. Thus "the Kursk- Kharkov railway and highroad have 'been completely cleared of the enemy," the communique said. ' LuboUn. 12 miles west of Kharkov, and Merefa, 15 miles soutBwest ef Kharkov, also fell '.to the Russians as they cleaned ut an entire north sonth ser ies of springboards to faclUUte their posh toward the Dnieper river, considered the next best German defensive line In south-' era Russia. Oboyan had been by-passed by Russian units driving to the west. One soviet ' column already ; had captured Lgov, 40 miles 'west of Kursk, and 50 miles northwest of Oboyan. Another red army group had taken Graivoron, ; 60 miles (Turn to Page 2 Story . E) Death ToU 29 In Bomber's Crash, Fire SEATTLE, Feb. 19-(P)-As the probable death toll in the Pacific northwest's worst aerial disaster rose Friday to 29 possibly 30 Boeing field officials told of the tragic suspense that gripped the tower control room Thursday as a : burning Boeing four-motored bomber tried desperately to reach the field for an emergency land ing. ;r'v--L: v -' V- There were a tense 10 minutes after the. bomber radio operator first coolly reported trouble with fire in one motor. . ' - Then came a final, cry tic warn ing of impending disaster: ."We're coming in with a wing on fire!" As that last sentence of doom went through the air, the falter ing aerial giant was dropping to ward housetop level oyer Seattle's southend. Suddenly the tower's radio went dead in a mute warning that the worst had happened. - The big ship had sheared through two high ten sion wires, . A moment . later the tensely awaiting field attendants heard the distant explosion as the bomb er crashed Into the five-story Frye & - company ; packing house , to shower flaming death and destruc tion. vw-v,-o r - . Twenty six bodies have been recovered at the scene late Friday, most of them burned beyond rec ognition In the holocaust that fol lowed the crash. Eleven of the bodies were those of the ship's crew members on the test flight. Twenty three of them bad been identified. ; '. . -C- An army air force board of in quiry opened an inquiry into the disaster Friday at the scene. Another J casualty,, was added when a fireman was asphyxiated while fighting a fresh outbreak oL. the fire during the - night. . southwest of Oboyan. A spur rail Railway Clear 8th Am Advances lii South 1 1 60-Mile Loss Ends In Light Skirmish Losses Diminished ' By DANIEL DE LUCE I ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Feb. 19 (JPy American armored ; forces stabilized their new line on the Tunisian mountains near the, Algerian frontier Friday j while the violent drive by Marshal -Erwin Rommel that had carried him more .than 60 miles slacked off to mere skirmishing. The announced withdrawal of French' troops from Pichon, about 40 miles . north ' of the Faid pass area where Rommel began his thrust on Sunday, indicated that the central section of the allied front was being moved ' back to stronger defensive positions on the west side of the Ousseltia valley. This would deprive Rom mel of opportunity for a quick thrust northwest behind the al lied forward units. ' LONDON, Feb. 2M)-The Vichy radio said Saturday that German and Italian troops had resumed offensive operations af ter clearing the Gaf sa and Faid areas of Tunisia and had breached allied positions, be tween the western outskirts of the Chott DJerld sink and the Atlas mountains southwest ef Gafsa. . -. The new line runs along moun tains, as high as- 4 000" feet Which flank the pass leading from Ferl ana to Tebessa, the latter in Al geria, r. ported no action of consequence j during the day. The French high command, speaking of an action .: ana area, announced that French Moroccan troops southwest ef ' Pont du Fahe had taken 45 axis prisoners in a local attack and that In another and unspecified northern Tunisian sector British and French troops had "inflicted serious losses on the enemy and captured prisoners and arms." f A later supplemental French communique said Our Moroccan mounted troops, with the fieroe ness which is characteristic , of them, made a successful attack in a valley west of Kebir" and took 50 prisoners, including officers. In connection with their "volun tary withdrawal" from Gafsa last Tuesday, the French high com mand disclosed "our troops at the same time received an order to establish liaison wy'th the allies on a - general line , on dominating heights west of OusseltiaJ Sbeitla, Kasserine and Feriana." The com munique said French troops are now installed in these new posi tions. ? , In southern Tunisia, this com munique continued, "operations are related to the approaching ar rival or. ine uriusn uguiin army. Additional information from the front indicated that earlier estim ates of American equipment losses in the heavy fighting now ended might be reduced as much as a third. For example, it developed that one unit of American tanks previously believed lost had in fact fought its way back. Kemmel was assumed to have suspended hi drive toward the Algerian plateau In part because . ef the threat being offered by the British Eighth army of Gen. Sir Bernard L Montgomery which, moving up from south eastern Tunisia, was disclosed during the day to have captured Foam Tatahoume on the Mat mata range along the southern flank ef the Mareth line. " Dispatches from Cairo indicated that this point had fallen without much fighting. . Thirty miles to the north, however," more enemy resistance was being encountered; Montgomery's artillery batteries were exchanging fire with the Germans in the Medenine outpost of the Mareth line. It was be lieved that a heavy attack on Rommel was coming very soon. - (The German radio reported that axis . troops had withdrawn from the mountain area near the southern end of the Mareth line, perhaps indicating that no all-out resistance was planned in that area. The nazis said Montgomery was attacking with both artillery and strong infantry forces.)