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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1943)
- I i ' V .. a , rm TiTi Vlmout Thur. Biinsct 7:39 Fri. sunrise 6:49 (Weather on Page 5) ' 1 Ik beuNDQD 1651 1 ! cVCi I III II I A. IJ i 1 1 F I I (''''..-' .'V 195; Navy" Men Will Basic, Pre-Medical ' Courses to Begin Ilere About July 1 t Willamette university. - ha teen accepted for the training ef 1 195 young men enlisted in the US navy, Dr. G Herbert Smith, president, announced late Wednesday afternoon. ' : The president said he had re ceived word from the bureau of ; personnel of the navy department .that the university would be asked to provide basic schooling for 135 - students and pre-medical courses for 60 more beginning about July L rWe are delighted." Dr. Smith declared. "This Is what we have ; been looking forward to. There has been an outstanding Inter est in the naval program here.' "We have 99 of our students in 'the naval reserve riht now. The university campus was in spected by a naval board a few weeks ago after the war manpow er commission had announced that Willamette was one of a large number of institutions eligi-: ble for assignment - to military training programs. -" The basic training students, rated as apprentice seamen, will receive four 16-week semesters, "the equivalent of 1W years, of broad college training, -with em phasis on mathematics and the sciences, Dr. Smith understands. On the basis of their records they may then qualify for further col lege training,; for officers' school, or go on active duty as seamen. The navy pre-medical courses will be similar to the usual medi cal school preparatory studies. The navy students will be in uniform, subject to naval disci pline, presumably supervised by a commandant assigned by the navy, and will receive the usual pay and L allowances for men of their grade. Plana have been made to house them in Lausanne hall and in the Salem YMCA. The women stu dents who would normally live at Lausanne probably will be hous ed in the homes now occupied by the off-campus men's fraterni ties. . The university has the equip ment and personnel to train even a larger number of naval student, since Its enrollment Is now down to 49$ from a pre . Wax.; peak LJOfC Members .of I : the Inspection board Indicated 'Willamette would train as many as-46 at one time. ; The regular university educa tional program for students not " stssociatecU with the armed forces ' will be carried on with no change other than a possible rearrange ment of semester schedules, Dr. Smith said. Italy Moves To Combat Invasion , BERN, SwiUerland, March 31 (P)-Italy took definite steps Wed nesday in preparation against an anticipated allied invasion from an African springboard, with disclo sure of a new mobilization law and with Sicily singled out as "the first bastion of Italy." The new law would, in the event f, or threat of, invasion,, place the entire nation under military rule, sending all men and women of 17 years or older into military detachments. Propaganda Minister Alexxan dro Pavolini, preparing his people tor looming axis defeat in Tunisia, warned in the newspaper II Mes eagero that the allies are fighting for a springboard for a continental -attack and to safeguard the Med iterranean for shipping, and as serted - that "Sicily therefore be comes a fortified outpost of the European continent itself against and and all attacks coming from the Mediterranean." ; (Perhaps heightening Italian apprehension in of icial circles was the statement in Washington Wednesday by Elmer Davis, office f war information -director, that be believed the battle in Tunisia could be finished in time to per mit a continental invasion v this year. (See story on page 2) ' Japan Softens China Policy WASHINGTON, March 31-(ff) Japan has inaugurated a "softer policy" ' toward occupied China, Chinese Foreign ? Minister T. V. Soong said Wednesday, in an ap parent effort to keep the Chinese quiet while new Japanese thrusts are prepared against British, and American forces. i - The Chinese statesman' told re- porters of this development alter attending i earlier in t the ; day " a meeting of the Pacific war coun cil with President Roosevelt at the White House. Soong said the Japanese are re i "ii:rg to various methods of mol ; : 2 the previously ruthlessly ; led inhabitants of Japanese r " . . ied areas. - - NINETY THIRD YEAR Santia : J ----- i- : To Reach -. f -i.r --, : ': :'- ... --r:- 16 Feet t i "i-; ., - I - -- No Willamette Points ; Threatened; Sewer Use Gets Blame ; PORTLAND, March 31-(P) The Santiam river will reach the 16-foot mark -three feet over flood stagef atf Jefferson Thursday morning, the Portland weather bureau predicted Wed nesday night, and minor flood ing will" ocoiralohg the Luckia mute and Yamhill rivers. Weatherman E. I Wells said the Santiam stood! at 14. feet late Wednesday at Jefferson but in creased flow in both the south and north forks Wednesday caus ed an upward revision of flood estimates for thai stream. Wed nesday's prediction was for a 14 foot peak.. : j , "" . , '.The YamhiU was up to 26.6 feet Wednesday night I at Suver Sta tion, a rise of S feet during the day, compared to an expected crest of 25 feet j The Luckiamute, which has a 38-foot flood mark at Whiteson, was up to 36.7, a gain oi 3.5 feet No Willamette river points were threatened the weather bareau said. The river was ex pected to rise slowly daring the next 24 hour, j The Willamette measured 12J feet at Portland Wednesday, up 8Vi feet since Friday. j Johnson creek left its banks at several low points south and southeast of here but did no dam age. Rainfall in Portland for the five-day period! ending Tuesday morning totaled 3.75 inches. Storm warnings continued offshore. March went oui like a sealion, residents of the j mid-Willamette valley agreed. Although army regulations forbade use of details as to Wednesday'! weather, rain fall upto JI;3; Tesrfar night had totaled 5.40 inches, of which4.76 had fallen in four days, .creating another period of threatened floods. Slow rises only were predicted on the Willamette but its swollen tributaries coursed over roads and made lakes of lowlands. Rains and not melting snowj were cause of the- i floods, authorities said. It snowed Wednesday in Detroit, state police said, i The Willamette had mounted to 15 feet at Salem but the rise dur ing the first half of the night was almost immeasurable. Use of sanitary sewers for storm drainage may be blamed for j much of the "high water" that backed Into basements and ! gardens in low i areas of Salem ) en 1 Wednesday, at least one ; member of the city's sewerage ; and drainage committee believes j (Turn r to Page j 2 Story C) Oregon Speed Average Low WASHINGTON,! March 3 Fifty three per cent of all pas senger automobiles still exceed the 35-mile speed limit on rural roads, the public : roads administration reported Wednesday, but a year ago 91 - per cent jwere over the limit. j j ' j The study showed that 22 per cent travel faster than 40 miles an hour, compared with 78 per cent last year, j Trucks' average speed dropped from 39 to 35 miles an hour, and busses from 48 to 37. ; j ; ' - ; j New Mexico had the highest average passenger! car speed 44 miles an hour followed by Mis-? souri with 43. North Dakota had the lowest average 30 miles an hour. Oother averages: ? Oregon, 37; Washingtea 4t. BeattMsksPjGERateCut9 Ban on Discrimination Portland General Electric com pany was asked to reduce its rates and to set aside inj a reserve fund moneys allegedly learned in 1942 beyond a fair return, in a com plaint filed Tuesday by Onnond R. Bean, state public utilities com missioner. -- - , Bean said a hearing before his department wouldi be called after the company jflled j its answer. ; In an accdmpaiiying statement the f commissionerj asserted the company's excess earnings in 1942 amounted to approximately $700, 000.: State law j provides' for ret capture of - earnings f . a utility above a fair 'return and for their disposition for the benefit of the concern's customers by rate reduc tions or other means. -"-. - 4 The complaint charges - that j !- , . - Scdom. e c iiii it i I i i i i i i i i ... i i i ii "II f i i "v i i . . ri i i i i i i i i i i i ii i i i i :- Crevasse r Reich Favors Catholic Leaders Hit IMarriages by Force, Immorality Growth BERN,' Switzerland, March 31 (JP) In -an ' editorial coinciding neatly with an Easter letter by important German Catholic lead ers denouncing forced marriages and immorality, the newspaper voice of Heinrich Himmler's SS proclaimed Wednesday that "we have need of children." Discussion of the question in the columns of "Das Schwarze Korps" hinged upon a letter from a Ger man woman to the effect that her acquaintances "declare openly they prefer to have a child to working ; in ; armament, factories' and all hoped their husbands would return soon from the front to facilitate the venture. Women married for a number of years and hithertoo childless especially want children now to avoid labor service, the writer de clared. The woman complained that the motives Of these women were un patriotic, but Das Schwarze Korps replied that children are import ant in the war effort and that a child "when grown will serve his people. , The Catholic international press agency said Wednesday that German Catholic bishops have spoken loudly and em phatically against the introduc tion of force to bring about marriages and immorality, es pecially among young women. The agency published a Lenten pastoral letter by bishops of Co logne and Paderborne which was the second protest this month against sexual immorality in the reich. - i (Turn to Page 2 Story D) 'Dunkerque9 Fleet Said Nazi-Ordered LONDON, Thursday, April 1 (if) The Daily Mall reported from Madrid Thursday that the Germans had ordered French ships lying in Mediterranean ports to be refitted quickly and sent to Genoa, Spezla. Sardinia and Sicilian ports. i "The obvious inference is that a Dunkerque fleet is being col lected for Rommel,' the Mail aid. y- Emergency crews of Italians would man the ships, the paper said. The vessels, totalinr 350, f Of tons, have been Immobilized since the-German occupation of Vichy,; France. " ! ' the power company maintains reduced rates m Salens, in par ticular, and also la Mfc I Angel, Silverten, West Salem,' Wood barmv 'Aurora, Donald.: Gervah. Habbard, St. Faal Scotte Mills and Turner, but refuses to grant eqaivalcnt rates unconditionally . to other incorporated towns and cities ! within lta service area. As a result, it is alleged, these , towered rates are "unjust and discriminatory. ..-1- By way of background, corre spondence on file with the com missioner shows that he - urged PGE late in 1942 to carry out ad ditional rate reductions as to other communities but ; the company in reply agreed to do so only on certain conditions, principally that : (Turn to Page 2 Story A ..-i .... i iVo in in',' !.' " 'jj i 1 ''' "4 n.-i i , fn,,,., i miiiiiw M jTiiiii' ii .ii i n Tl Jwii.p -i mil iiliii'ii Hill ' l.i lwm m a Kif- T- :- la Oregon. - i ' , .... j.;,. , . ' '" " " ": ' T v T :'r. ' A 'I.Ti .!- ' O AT Q -O I i V I I M I YTk : A TVOTrrvri tt ;OvsOi f : rm Ti Tv-n ;i:"-n .-TVTl -nn . , . , . ' ' ii . - l - . ........ . .. - ... . .... . Swallows Neivport Home 41 i .1' The Trick Of the Day ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, March! 31 (JPy- It was amateur night atan RAF station, and comedians, crooners and pianists wjrro waiting for the jury of slrmen to awara ine grana prize. 1 11 a . I I ; AIM WMKU fUVh I "Gentlemen," interrupted the master of ceremonies, "I hve the honor to Introduce Squad ron Leader Desmond Hashes. DFC and bar. of Belfast, tie Just shot down two Junkers 88s.'1 Amid cheers the Jury quickly awarded the prise a bottle) of whiskey to Hughes for"uie' best turn of the eveningj" j Hughes had gone up to have a look at the weather for other members of the squadron 4'h4 were scheduled for operation -4hat night, and within 2ttmin i utes he intercepted and destrpyt ed the two German bombers, j Davies Avers Russians Wi Keep Promis PHILADELPHIA, March Z1HP) Joseph E. Davies, former ambas sador to Russia, declared Wed nesday night "the Russians' word is "good" and they will keep pieir. promise not to make a separate peace with Hitler and not IJoJiiter fere "with our form of govern ment in any way. I I I "Some well-meaning people," Davies said, " . . .express fears that because she (Russia) is win ning she might not stop unti jsbe gets into Berlin, and she might, therefore, dominate the peac ;' ta ble .and project communism throughout Europe. j j j The soviet union, Davis said, "has earned and undoubtedly (Will have a powerful place at the peace table" but "it would neither j be their policy nor. their disposition to seek dominance at any jsiich conference." I ! ! ! In a two-column statement un der his byline in. the Philidalphia Record, written at the newspap er's request to discuss the! polit ical effect upon Europe and! the world of a Russian victory tolver Germany, the former ambassador added: . - i jjj j "As a matter of fact, - anyone who knows his Europe knows that Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Rumania,' Hungary and countries of Europe would other never accept communism, anyhow. no matter what happened. Lebanon Man War Prisoner WASHINGTON. March 3l4tfPi The war department Wednesday announced the names of 118 Unit ed States soldiers held prisoners of war by the Japanese. The name or their prison camp was not siat-ed.::-c-,: ;-. M The names included for Oregon: ; Pvt. Charles A. Bruner; moth er, Mrs. Katherine Bruner, n tario. - . it..- . Pvt. Charles' J. Bryant: moth er, Mrs. , Mary Bryant, ireule three,' Lebanon. i ' ' Pvt Alvin E. Craine; father, John Roy Craine, Cottage Qrov. PVU Joseph E. . Deffenbaugh; mother, Mrs. Ennal Deffenbaugh, Nyssa. . - - . j Pvt. Robert M. Devereux; j fa ther, Thomas Devereuxy Hauser; Pvt. Milton S. Elmore; lather, George Elmore, Glenwood. j . Pvt. Norman B. Griffin; iathjer, Phillip S. Griffin, lone. j ; j I ' i; i Thuradoy Mornlnc. April I. 183 An unexplained earth movement baa opened a wide fissure la the suburbs of Newport, causing one house to topple Into H. The photo shows the wreckage of the fallen structure and one of several houses balancing on the brink. Associated Press Photo. Ocean Floor Crack Blamed Homes Threatened by 50-Foot Wide Hole; Sand Thought Washed NEWPORT, Ore., March 31-iJP) Army engineers theorized Wednes day that a crack in the ocean floor offshore was responsible for an eartn cavern which dropped a Newport home into a 25-foot cre vasse and threatened others. ' They believe tides may be wash ing away sand from beneath the beach. The theory was supported by reports that sand bubbles up in the sea close inshore .when heavy tides are running, and fey a test drill which showed a shifting sand formation at a depth of 30 to 40 feet The crevasse Wednesday mea sured 50 feet in width and about 25 feet in depth. A house owned by Ben Cleland rolled into the crack and was buried in debris. The homes of Hattie Smiley and H. W. Her were moved to safety. The homes of Roy Halverson and Mrs. Kate Cook rested on the edge of the chasm. The ground started sinking sev eral weeks ago. Pay-as-Go Tax Lies Dormant WASHINGTON, March Zl-iM Democratic leaders, victorious in their battle against the Ruml skip-a-tax-year plan, showed no enthusiasm Wednesday for a re publican suggestion that the house devote itself immediately to a compromise pay-as-you-go system that would abate a large portion, but not all, of one year's taxes. The indications were that the pay-as-you-go issue might lie dorW mant in the ways and means com mittee, perhaps for several months. . -M Speaker: Rayburn, who took part in a conference of legislative leaders at the White House Wed nesday, said President Roosevelt seemed happy over the defeat of the Ruml plan. J Allied Parachutists Said Ready, Norway LONDON, Thursday, April 1JP) Stockholm dispatches . to .London morning newspapers said Thurs day that allied parachute troops have set up headquarters in the mountains of western Norway.' ' . Quoting a Berlin radio f report, the Daily Express identified them as British and Norwegian. j The dispatches said they bad established an elaborate base, complete with meteorologist sta tion, among the snow covered heights and have already begun to make raids on industrial plants In the valleys. - -k Income Taxes High LONDON, March 31-(P-Bri-tain's income tax alone brought in more than .1,000,000,000 (ap proximately $4,000,000,000) dur ing the financial year ended Wed nesday night. The chancellor of the exchequer budgeted for 913,000,000, but the taxpayers came through with s 93,000,000 more. . , . .-. Russians Take City, Caucasus Anastasevskaya Falls; Soviets. Hurl Back" . Donets Attempt By The Associated Press .LONDON,. Thursday, April 1 Russian troops captured the "important German defense point" of Anastasevskaya in the western Caucasus -Wednesday in a renewed drive to eject the , - - .- . . - .. . . - enemy from his last major, foot hold at Novorossisk, 33 miles to ttie, south, M o a e o w announced early Thursday." , . ; Anastasevskaya is on the road running 55 miles westward to the Kerch strait opposite the Crimea, and is only 10 miles from a high' way junction leading south to Novorossisk. Another ten -mile advance by the Russians would cut off sizable German troops an chored in Novorossisk, former so viet port for the Russian Black sea fleet. A tank-supported German In fantry battalion also was hurled back in trying tobreak the red army's defensive line along the northern Donets in the Ukraine, said the midnight communique recorded by the Soviet Monitor. The enemy left 150 dead and two burning" tanks on the battlefield in this sally, it said. ' On the Smolensk front in cen ral Russia there was little :hange in an area where flooding rivers and clinging mud has ham pered military operations, but the Communique said another nazi defense point was knocked out and 100 Germans killed. ! West of Rostov along the nor thern shore of the Sea of Azov, the communique said the Ger mans had attacked Russian posi : ttons but were forced into "a hur- Lried retreat" by soviet artillery and mortar fire. This was the first time in weeks that fighting had been reported in this between Rostov and Taganrog. Plane Wrecks Jap Bridge In Guinea ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, Thursday, April 1. UP-Striking at the important Madang-Wewak highway running 200 miles along the New Guinea northeast coast, allied planes Wednesday hit a large new bridge and bombed the road at various points in blows to disrupt this strategic Japanese artery of sup ply. " A heavy bomber scored , a di rect hit upon the bridge recently thrown across the Timper river by the enemy, leaving a 30-foot gap in the structure, the noon communique of the" allied com mand reported. The bridge is in the Madang area. " 'Allied attack planes and long range bombers also gave theSal amaua area to the south , one of the most thorough poundings yet attempted. Reconnaissance in the area of Finschhafen, on New Guinea's Huon peninsula, established that the allied planes . which raided that town Tuesday starred wa terfront fires which burned for eight hours. . . US Merchant F met May Exceed Britain tin Year : WASHINGTON, . March ; 31-iFt The United States merchant fleet, for the first time in history, may exceed Great Britain's before the end of. the year. " . .' . ."' It's smaller now, but officials here believe : the vast - American shipbuilding program ,wiUeverse the situation sometime" in 1943. This w a s disclosed: officially Wednesday by the combined ship ping adjustment board, formed In January, 1942. to effect maximum : utilization of United Nations ton nage. :-. : i Ji i VihSlt the prospective tannage totals far the two fleets t the year's end were . net disclosed, the report revealed for the Xirst time the exact 1943 goal of the United States in new construc tion ef merchant ships 1S.228, Arm Changes '-; . I 3 i ? ,x s - ) 1 LT; GEN. BEN LEAR maj.; gM l. R. FREDENDALL 00 Liear ToBKRetired Fredetidall Leaves - Africa to Head Secarid Army : -,. II MEMPHIS, March 3 1-(P)-Lt Gen. Ben Lear, commander of the Second? army, told the Com mercial Appeal Wednesday night that he would leave active army service liay 31. . Lear will be 64 years old May 12, .the lg: at which 'retirement is computsoTr under statutory law. The n$onncement followed by a few I hours the disclosure that MilJ.Gen. LJoyd R. Fre dendall here of the . American landingai Oran and until re cently la command of the Amer ican forces in central Tunisia, had arrived in Memphis t be come dpity commander ef the Second arniy. . :': ' .There wai no official announce ment of 1 General Lear's successor but speculation pointed strongly to FredftidL Lear aiid Kredendall were in con ference hrdughout the day. i Lear has been a soldier .45 years, rising frmB private in the Colo rado nattonjl giard. i Lear has won distinction as a great tramef of men a strict iis ciplinarian, a stickler for perfec tion vftoi open has asserted "no mistake Should go uncorrected." In W&ldfwar I Lear rose from captain to, najor and finally to temporary rnk of lieutenant colo nel, gi 'i ' ' ' ;.' " Lear gabled national publicity In a -yoo hoo Incident in 1941, touched off when members ef V (Turi " to I Page 2 Story ; B) 09 deadweight tons. This com pared with 8.90,00t tons ' earn- - pletedJtn 1942. , -3 This year' goal heretofore had been listed officially as about le 000. 000 tons, -but with predictions it might be Increased to as much as 20,000,0004 ii ; -.;.. 1, (As ol January.l, 1941, 4he Brit ish ; merchant , marine was more than twice as large as that of the United State4 These were, the last figures published before statistics became secret because of the war. ' (On that date, the British Em pire had ' 2654 merchant 1 vessels aggregating i 6,808,378 gross tons, counting only vessels of 2000 gross tons or mor. The United States had 1150 vesiels of 7,078,909 gross tons and Japan 838 vessels of 4, 754,699 gross; tons.) : L j - v : I- - i I I . . - .-y-i J II - ti -' . J j I'-" i 17 , 4 lOOItl No. 4 Sedjenane Captured' In North 1 ? Americans Advance. V Within 45 Miles Of8thAnny By EDWARD KENNEDY : ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, March 31 (-The British Eighth army fanned out over the coastal plains more than 12 miles above Gabes Wednesday in a steady pursuit of Marshal Rommel's L bomb-ridden troops,' while the British First army in the north recaptured Sedjenane and pressed on to a point only 35 miles south west of the big axis-held naval base of Bizerte. An allied communique also said that the American army of the LONDON, March Il-pj-The Algiers radio said Wednesday night that fighting of "extraor- dlnary violence was In progress north ef captured Gabes In the Gafsa and Maknassy sectors of . Tunisia and th a t American troops there made a further ad- ij vance against stiff enemy re- 1 sistance. The broadcast was re- re corded by the Associated Press. center had bored farther into the flank of Rommel's coastal belt. The southern wing of the troops under Lt Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., was believed to be only 43 miles from a coastal Junction with the Eighth army. - 1 "".(, ''.!'' !-- -i . Rommel's maja forces appeared, to be making a hurried flight m open "country northward, toward Sfax, 70 miles above the onrush ing British vanguards, and tha coastal road was reported strewn with many enemy bodies and wrecked machines victims o( ceaseless shuttle - bombing! by American and British airmen.! The Eighth arm y captured Metouia and Oudref, the latter 19 . miles north of Gabes, early Tues day morning and advanced units swept on to contact-"hastily pre pared enemy defenses, the com munique said. . ( " V; ; - Oudref is a junction of the road leading northwest about 45 mileg to connect with General Pat ton's! southern American wing moving down from EI Guetar. Italian rear ' guards left by Rommel In between these two allied armies appear to be cut off unless they make precipitate withdrawal through mountain trails leading northeast ward out of the pocket. . The progress of the. US troops was hampered by extensive mine fields laid in the mountain passes. The Americans were reported to have bagged another .-200 pris oners in their sector, however. Ltl-Gen. K. A. N. Anderson's First army en the offensive In north Tunisia captured Sed jenane, 49 miles southwest of Bizerte, and Moroccan Goumiers ; had 1 penetrated ja farther six miles to the east, (The German radio in a broad cast recorded by the Associated ; Press said General Anderson's right wing, in the Medjez-El-Bab sector 35 miles below Sedjenane, also had begun an offensive. ; Even the axis positions at Sfax ' and Sousse farther north are men- . aced by American and French troops now within - 20" miles of Kairouan. Kairouan, an axis air base, is only about 35 miles east of Sousse, another coastal point, through j which, - Rommel must '. withdraw to join Von Arnim's - northern forces. . (German bread casts recorded by the Associated Press stressed the numerical superiority ef the allied forces, and one said that American treep strength was "gigantic" b Its flanking threat to EemmeL The- Berlla radio ' said Bemuse! meanwhile had erected " new coastal ' positions above Gabes. It spoke ef posi tions between the Predjedj salt , ' marsh . and the coast, an area which the British , Elabt army . . ' reached early -Tuesday.)" A dozen axis planes were de dared destroyed' In battles.' throughout Tunisia,' compared to allied losses of seven aircraft -(The admiralty in London an nounced that four British sub marines had sunk six more enemy ships and seriously damaged four others in the waters between Sicily and Tunisia). 1 : . . v.- '