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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1943)
The Portland Journal, In an ed itorial plea that the city of Rome with its treasures of architecture . and art, .precious vellum and parchment, be spared from de- . f m.in.. OifjUl 4Kfi HtT1ICtiOn Of the great library of Alexandria as en example of wanton destruc tion of the riches of ages. It at - tributes the burning of the li brary to the Arabs on orders of the caliph Omar, after -their con quest of the city in the year 640 A. D. For centuries the Arabs i have been accused of this crime against , civilization, -and the alleged words of Omar's order are quoted with scorn: "If the books be confirma tory of tne Koran, they are. su- " perfluous; If contradictory, they re . : - pernicious. Let them be burnt" Actually the charge is -without adeauate historical au thenticity. The first trace of it is in the writings of - Barhebraeus (Abulfaragius) a Jacobite Chris tian of Syria who lived and wrote in the 13th century. Gibbon, who is the earliest real historical schol ar of the period writes in his "De 'cline and Fall of the Roman Em pire": -" Sine the Dynasties tot Abulpharagius have been given to the world in a Lat in version, the tale has been repeatedly transcribed, and every scholar, with pious ' indignation, has deplored the Irreparable shipwreck of the learning, the arts, the genius, of antiquity. For - my part. 1 am strongly tempted to deny both the tact and the consequences. The fact is indeed marvelous . . . the uiifira- remrt of a stranger ' who wrote at the end six hundred years th mnfinea of Media Is verbal- - nMd hv the silence of two annalists of a more early date, both Christians, both natives of Egypt, and the tnost ancient of whom, the patriarch Euty chiua, has amply described the con quest of Alexandria . . . but if the . ponderous mass of Arlan and Mono physite controversy were indeed con sumed in the public baths, a philoso pher may allow, with a smile. that - it was ultimately devoted to the bene fit of mankind. (VoL V: pp 328-330.) . The article on Libraries in En cyclopedia Brittanica (11th Ed. v. 16: p. 546) says: ... The usual siaiemeni ui um" eat of the restoration of the Bru ciieum under Cleopatra - the libraries continued in a - f lourishlnn condition until they were destroyed after the coaquest of Alexandria by the Sara cens in A. D. 640 can hardly be sup ported. It is very possible that one of the libraries perished when the brucheum quarter was destroyed by Aurelian. A. D. 273. In 389 or 391 an edict of Theodosius ordered the de struction of the - Serapeim. and its books were pillaged by the Christians. When we take into account the dis ordered condition of the time, and ne glect into which literature and . sci ence had fallen, there can be little difficulty in believing that there ft1" but few books left to be destroyed by the soldiers of Aanru. ' .'. & C ;XM ' w ..... m adequate verification the - tradi ' tion persists that the Arabs de stroyed ;: the library - of Alexan dria, and generations of Christians have grieved over the loss, ignor ant of the fact that it was a Chris tian' emperor of . Byzantium who is the more responsible. , The truth is that the western world is in great debt to the Arabs lor their contributions tc learning, (Continued on Editorial page) Pol ice D imout W ere Earlier . . Salem city police, who have on ly one wish in connection witn . the lifting of the dimout-that it anight be lifted before Halloween, were Wednesday Instructed Dy Chief Frank Minto to show no leniency toward vandalism of any sort. -Extra strict enforcement of the curfew ordinance for this week xrlrr to Wsn vn - h policy of his department, Minto sa d . Salem youngsters, who last year performed fewer Halloween pranks than had been the custom in the history of the city, will be expected to keep their record clear, Minto indicated, but t the police are not to drop their guard. No manpower is available to do so much as replace one sign which has been unnecessarily removed, the chief declared. Lifting FDR A sks Congress Give Veterans Year at College i By WILLIAM T. PEACOCK WASHINGTON, Oct. 27-(ff) . President Roosevelt asked con ( gress today to provide now for ; one year's study in a college, or I other educational, institution, after the war for every qualified" man and woman who serves six months In the armed forces and desires additional education V i : ' i- A f member of the committee which prepared recommendations lor the president was Dexter M. Keezer, president of Reed college. Mr. Roosevelt sent to the legis lators a billion-dollar program de- y eloped J by a White House-ap- pointed committee of educators : , who proposed also that a limited group of service personnel with rpecail aptitudes be permitted to carry on their education at gov ernment expense for up to three years. ' r He appointed the committee last Xlovember when the draft was lowered to reach boys of 18 the tje- when the great majority are Just completing high school. i- 'With its report he sent congress a message saying the nation is KIT.ZTY TIIISD YEAH Blackout Mules1 .Not Effected : Workers Asked To Volunteer For New; Duties SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 27 0P)-The western defense com mand announced today that ef fective November 1 air dim-out restrictions on the Pacific coast would be lifted. ' j f It was declared; the move was in accordance with a" nation wide policy formulated and made known in Washington by the war and navy departments, the office of civilian defense and the war production board. - ' The announcement came from 14., Gen. Delos C. Emmons, commanding- general of the west- -era defense command, who said the dim - ont restrictions were subject to reinstatement in event of an emergency. jvi,;- j ' A formal proclamation sus pending the dimout restrictions, contained in proclamation number 19 of the J desterni " defense com mand, is being prepared. ; ? Laws V and .;. regulations ; rela tive to blackouts are not affect-' ed ; by the suspension of the dimout, the announcement said. ; General Emmons said he was joining in a request, made by the office of civilian defense in Wash ington, that civilian defense vol unteers who have been engaged in I dimout enforcement ma ke themselves available for volun teer '.assignments bf other : types, in prospectivejwr war services to relieve ine . increasinjgiy, jcougm shortages of volunteer manpower. Improved defense measures now in effect along the coast brought liberalization of coastal dimout re strictions on October 10. " V I ' The restrictions Went into effect a year ago in a move to reduce sky-glow that might silhouette shipping and make vessels tar gets for enemy submarines. The reduced sky-glow also les sened a glare which could have been a guide to enemy planes. Commenting on f the dimout re laxation Lloyd : M. Smith, acting director of the Ninth civilian de fense region, praised civilian de fense volunteers ifor their work in enforcing the dimout. They have done an excellent Job and will -remain prepared to resume these duties whenever military - necessity , requires, he said in a statement He added: J "I urge all members of civilian defense to keep in mind that this war is a long way from won. So long as the dimout is suspended, the importance of; prompt and ef ficient blackout technique cannot be overemphasized. It is hoped that arrangements, can soon be completed to permit test black outs in critical areas." Announcement of the impend ing removal of all dimout restric tions on November 1 came as j a complete surprise to Jerrold Ow en, state civilian defense coordin ator, he said Wednesday. , j ' The suspension I order, he said, apparently was based largely ; on the fact that channels for ocean going vessels are! now sometimes ; (Turn to Page 2 Story E) I i "morally obligated'' to provide training to equipi service person nel for gainful pursuits in peace time, and that moreover ; the na tion itself will have need for trained men and women. ' - " . j "We must replenish- our supply of persons qualified to discharge the heavy responsibilities ' of the poswar world," he said. "We have taught our youth how to wage war; we must also teach them how (to live useful and ( happy lives in freedom, justice and decency-" ' . .-Under the committee's - propos als, the government would pay the tuition and fees of each full-time student and also pay $50 a month living expenses for single per sons. Married students would re ceive $75 a month plus $10 for each child. I Part-time students would receive tuition and fees. The members estimated that out of an army and 'navy of 12.CC0 COO a minimum of 1,000,00 anight be expected to take advantage of the government's offer. . On this basis, they figured the program's cost at $1,C00,CC0,000. 10 PAGES LSTs t' As j . . .;vSKi. .wocJKvX ri-- A Lined up along the docks of a North African port, a flotilla of LSTs (land ship, tank) ingest a nun : moth menu of vehicles, supplies and men, which they will disgorge on enemy shores.' (AP photo from US navy.) . . Number of Wildcat In Coal Mounts Over Outlook for Peace in Industry : Becomes Increasingly Uncertain . WASHINGTON Oct. 27-P)-The outlook for peace in the coal industry became increasingly uncertain today as the -number of wildcat strikers climbed above 47,000 and John L. Lewis kept silent on the war labor board's proposed wage Compromise while YHbii the United Mine Workers' da.y fhe UMW chieftain let the , ' Germans Said : Losing Morale In Homeland By FRANK BRUTTO BERN, Switzerland, Oct. 27-JP) A new story of lowered German morale which is "gnawing at the foundations of the nazi regime" and a description of -a ' desolate reich where "the people no long er are1 interested in official com muniques and no longer listen to Hitler" came out of Germany to day. -' j . : i k-). :;! ' ;:';;'- A dispatch , to the Swiss news paper j Gazette de Laussane said the causes of the ' ."psychological collapse" we r e cumulative, in cluding the military reverses be ginning with EI Alamein and Sta lingrad, "but above alL the allied air offensive," .1 The writer said that Hitler had ordered the present German stand in southern Italy for propaganda purposes, acting against the ad vice of his high command, which recommended withdrawal to the north.' r .;i f u :r- s: ;w "Crermany does not yet , fully understand the depth of the crisis the Hitler regime now traverses," he wrote. "Even if it: were pos sible to announce some victory, it would not have the heart to cele brate it . . v: pessimism " and dis trust Suddenly have misplaced the unlimited confidence and unshak able faith that characterized' the (Turn to Page 2 Story F) Two Districts Go Over Top ' ef a, a ft. . - auwimiij i ana Aienama were the iirst districts over the top In tne Marion County War Chest campaign, it was announced Wed nesday. Mrs. Joe Lulay, chairman at Sublimity, reported a total of $1201 against a quota of $1125. Mrs. R. C. Branch of Mehama re ported subscriptions of $429. The quota there was $400. The total for vthe county cam paign, .including ll territory ex cept Salem and the 25 adjacent school districts for which': Salem United War Chest is responsible. rose Wednesday to $18,432, ' ap proximately 57 .per cent of the $29,117 goaL . , ; St. Paul's total had risen to $S57 and Silverton's to $5000. The county campaign t is proceeding more slowly than did Salem's which was concentrated Into one week but solicitation continueand S. Parzy Rose, county campaign chairman, Is encouraged by. the totals turned in in the "districts which have been fully covered. Salem, Orecon. Thursday Kcrrln?, Octcber 3, Shoio Their Teeth policy commaiee to meet Mon- day. pass without any open new pmove to get the strikers back to work despite the WLB's warning that unless they .return by tomor row morning their cases will be referred to the , White house, a move possibly preliminary to gov ernment seizure of idle mines and sanctions against the union. . The UMW policy committee nresumabbr was called to discuss the WLB's action in rejecting last night a proposed contract between the UMW and . the ; Illinois op erators which : would ; have in creased miners' earnings ; 1.50 a day while increasing their work ing hours and paying for under ground travel. The WLB proposed instead a : basis of wage calcu lations which would boost earn ings a minimum of $1.124 a day. Lewis call simply "said: ; "International policy committee will assemble headquarters Wash ington eleven a. m. November L Each district will notify its par ticipating representatives to be present." " Possibly significant is the fact that the - day of the meeting is just past the deadline set by the policy committee last June for a stoppage of work unless there is a contract.:-. rv,,;.: Ending a June strike, the com mittee told the miners they should go back to work until October 31 unless 1 the government returned control of the mines to private operators. Except for the rela tively small percentage of men now on strike, - however, the : re turn ol the mines to private own ers October 30 was without Inci dent and there Is a question whether the October 31 deadline now has any signficance. . A survey - shows Alabama - has 19,000 men out, Illinois 5000, West Virginia 4554, Virginia 4700, Ken tucky 8100, Indiana 6000, Tennes see 600, Arkansas 400. During the day, three public t (Turn to Page 2 Story G) Congress to Put Dads Low on List WASHINGTON, ' Oct 27 -( The senate and house, determined to put fathers at the bottom of the draft list, turned over to conferees today , the job of reconciling mea sures aimed at achieving that goaL The conf erees probably will begin their . work tomorrow. The - house bill calls upon the selective service to induct all available single and childless mar ried men before -drafting fathers while the senate measure tightens occupational deferments in indus try and government with the idea . -i i . . .. . f a auunung more non-iatners in to the armed forces. Both have approved the crea tion of a medical commission low ering army . and navy physics! standards to obtain men now de ferred as unfit. n 1 Strikers 48,000 Missing r Li.' Virgil A. Ilagaa, above, sea ef . Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Hagan, 1315 North Cottage street, has been reported missing lav action since October 17 by the war de partment la a telegram received by the parents, lie was la the racwi as recently a October 14 when he was credited with shooting down a Japanese plane. . He ! was servtag ia- the New Goiaeav area as pilot ef aa amy fighter plane. A 1M9 gradaate ef Salem high scheel, Lt. Hagaa received his eemmlsslei as a lleateaaat la the air force May . 29, ' 1943, - at Wmiams Field, . ArfaL, and went overseas about .September L - . : Battles Rase : In Yugoslavia By RICHARD G. MASSOCK ' LONDON, . Oct. 27-JP-Heavy fighting on widespread fronts in Yugoslavia, and nazi mass slaugh ter of non-combatants In fresh drives against the forces of both Gen Josip Broz (Tito) and Gen. Draja . Mihailovic were reported today. Tito's free Yugoslav radio told of a German offensive against his partisans In Slovenia near, Italy, attacks near Vrgorae in Dalmatia which were said to have been beaten off, and more heavy fight ing ' oyer toward ; Belgmde , near Brcko on the Sava , river, . where the Germans brought up , troop reinforcements from Serbia. , The Germans offensive in Slo venia was launched against thou sands of square' miles of territory liberated by peasant patriots in recent weeks, with guerrillas de stroying, fortified positions behind the attackers, the broadcast com. munique said. . The partisans for their side re ported successful operations in the Croatian province of Slavo nia along the . Hungarian fron tier, with four bridges blown up, two near Chachincl end two near ZdencL , But they admitted their troops had been forced to with draw from Andriyevka la llonte- nero after .hard fighting with German troops aided by Albanian quislings. - - 0 Lr Allies SMi Forward ; In Kaly , Nazis Entrencli; Decisive Victory Looks Far Off ' By NOLAND NORGAARD ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Algiers,, Oct. 27-P-The allied armies in Italy recorded rela tively minor gains today as the last grand-German rear guards were withdrawn into the "Mon dragone Vasto mountain line, entrenched - certainly for i a strong 'defense of the approaches to Rome . and perhaps based to mount '-iv spectacular counterof fensive. - '' ' " " " - ; The British Eighth army 'ad vanced from . three to "six miles and occupied the towns of Civita Campomarano and Acquaviva Collecroce, both about seven miles below the Trigno river a score bf miles inland from the Adriatic; the American Fifth army on its front occupied . two" stretches of high ground facing Massico ridge, one in the Francolise area and the other, wnown as "Mad. Drg hill," near Raviscanina. - f The allies faced a difficult job ' as they palled up before the ' Germans new line, and. regard-' less ef the plans .ef Hitler's geaeral staff, one fact stood eat la bold relief: The allies can hardly hope for anything ap preaching a decisive victory ; ever - the Basis la Italy before ' the snow falls la the Apennines. Since the fall of Naples October 1 the attacks on the road to' Rome have netted - harrjp - an. average gain of a mile per day, and the going will : not be any easier in the remaining 95 airline miles. On the basis of the best infor mation here," the nazis have been using roughly 1100,000 troops in the line, and official sources re ported . that possibly 20 German divisions (perhaps 300,000 men) were in Italy at the time of Italy's capitulation. ; Thus regardless of whatever re inforcements are . subsequently sent from Germany or Frande, Marshal Rommel would appear to have forces not only adequate 4o man the strong mountain defense line but even to attain sufficient superiority for substantially heavy counter-blows at selected points. ' Certainly the ' . establishment f the new German defease line dees net necessarily mean that the Germaa plan Is simply te try 1e held It. A terrific eeuter effeaslve fa possible, aad la the pmlea ef seme allied leaders there are many reasons why the aaais may make a big gamble ea sack a-'aaevei'-. These include Hitler's pressing .... (Turn to Page 2 Story C) Housing Sign-up For Adair Tilen'a Families Sough . la . anticipation ef - aeed for heasing fa Salem the fajndes eg a eeaslderable : aaaber - ef officers and enlisted mea newly arriving at Camp Adair, a clear ing hoase for rentals will be established today at the Saleta chamber of cemmcree. ". . A commissioned officer and two clerks assigned te deal with this problem - win be at the chamber efflees for the next several days. Persons whe have houses or apartments which are er soon will be available - far rental are asked te register them at the chamber, either la person or by telephoning 9229. Naples Expects Badoglio, Giraud NAPLES, Oct 27-35-Premier Marshal Pietro Badoglio Is ex pected to come to Naples soon for his first public appearance here since his government was formed after the - deposition of Eenito Mussolini." - . - - He probably will t confer with Italian political leaders and ap point a prefect for the province of Naples. .- - He is expected to discuss with leaders of the national liberation unicn tht question of putting the Italian army back into the field. It is understood that Gen. Henri Giraud will come here ia a few C2jx also, slors with Count Carlo Zlom, former Italian foreir-i rr.;.i ifter. - - .1 1 Prlcw Ic TTD ' 1 ' o 150-Mile Front Nazis Abandon Heavy; Arms. In Retreat; Soviets Open . New White Russian Drives : . LONDON, Thursday, Oct. SMflVRussian army forces chased retreating German army . in the southern Ukraine yesterday through towns 48 miles west of Melitopol and 27 miles west of Dnepropetrovsk as they killed 3000 Germans and captured guns and stores along a J 50-mile front, Moscow said today. "'The fighting termed by Berlin a "super-battle' saw the Russians capture a total of more they surged behind the Germans from Goreloe on the Sea of Azov to Krinichiki, west of Dnepropetrovsk in the Dnieper river1 bend.- ' Goreloe is on a tip bf land jutting out into the Sea of Azov 20 Allies Continue 'Smash RabauF Air .Campaign - By C. YES McDANIEL . ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Thursday, Oct 28H-ContInu- ing a "smash Rabaul campaign, a strong force of Liberators . and Lightnings hit that key Japanese New Britain base Monday for the third successive day with 151 tons of bombs, destroying 21 aircraft on the ground and knocking 37 out of -the sky. . . ' It was the fifth raid ef the month ea Kabaal daring which more than 10a , enemy - planes , have "teen" destroyed ' or ren dered anflt for flying. . In the 'Monday raid, announced today by , General MacArthur's headquarters, six Or more waves of ; high-flying . Liberators swept over Rabaul within 10 . minutes. Heavy anti-aircraft fire and 70 intercepting fighters were em- (Turn to Page 2 Story B) Ration Signup TotaU 10,042 On First Day Registrations for ration book four ia the eight elementary school buildings of Salem on Wednes day, first day of the sign-up, num bered 10,042, officials . reported. Persons ' whose surnames ' begin with the letters H to N are ex pected to register today, the hours being 4:15 to 1:15 pjn. Regisbrations of the A to G group at the various school build ings . Wednesday totaled: Bush 1376, Englewood ISIS, Garfield 1269. Grant 1072, Highland 17C9. McKinley SIS. Richmond S04, Washington 1083. , Registrants are required to take with them to the school buildings the No. S ration books of all per sons for whom they, expect to ob tain the No. 4 books. The schedule for registration by alphabetical groups is not ironclad; persons. who find it inconvenient to regis ter on the indicated day may sign up on one of the other days. The registration will close Friday night Wallace Says Everyone Could Have Poslivar Job CLEVELAND. Oct. 27 -VPi- Vlce President Henry Ar Wallace declared tonight there can. be postwar jobs for everyone, but we must Plan to produce 40 per cent more peace time goods than we ever did before." - - - Warning "It will take much more ingenuity to defeat Lieuten ant General Unemployment than it will to overthrow Hitler." Wal lace' asserted "Each worker to day turns out 25 per cent more than in 133. Unless we use this in creased productivity to produce much more than we did before the war, 10 or 12 million workers, will be without jobs . -..; . The vice rresidenfs address wes prepared for blue network broad cast from the national consumers food conference of food for Free dom, inC M ? '.I' . , "When peace comes, as we hope lt will next year, the' problem of reconversion will be on us at ence, flrit in industry and - a year cr two later Li s;riculture," TUlace sild.; "Within a few wecls tcr.s . pi - ; than 120 towns and villages as ;. O miles from a narrow Isthmus joining the Crimea with the main land. Other gains on the flat steppe land, which the Germans found difficult to defend, brought the Russians west from ruined Meli- A V TV . UCABUUl VVAsl - which' is but 30 miles from the lower Dnieper. The 79mile railroad from Za poroshe seath te Melltepol was cleared ef Germans and the ad vance went 24 miles farther south to take la Akimovka, said tne Moscow midnight racie com- maniqae . Three secondary roads were cut west of Melitopol in the drive to Novo-AIexandrovka, cutting off many Germans from further re treat. Twenty German tanks and 120, field guns were captured. were taken from the Germans and more than 10.CC0 Russian civil ians;' who were being herded Vest ward to labor camps by the nazis were released by the Russian ad-' vance. : "Retreating under the blows of our troops the enemy is leaving behind him artillery, mortars, am munition and military equipment, the communique said. Ia the r Dnieper river bend heavily i reinforced German armies failed to halt the Russian eleanap. Earlier the German ra dio had ' anneal) ced large . withdrawal movement" In this . area. .- Trom Dnepropetrovsk the Rus- . sians fanned north and south in the eastern end of the river loop to capture 39 towns and hamlets including the railway town of Sur koye, 10 miles southwest of Dnep ropetrovsk and the district center of Krinichkl 27 miles to the west. A regiment of German infantry fell in the' battle. Another Russian drive to flank the German bend defenders was nearing Krivol Hog as several populated places were taken. Previous reports had placed Rus sian troops on the outskirts of this -Iron mine center the buckle hold ing together, the whole German line in south Russia. t Stiff German opposition was ov- ercome in the red army advance. The nazis hurled heavy tank forc es into a counter-attack but mass ed Russian artillery and mortars pounded them back. Soviet bombing planes attack ed the railway Junction of Apos tolovo, 24 miles southeast of Kri vol Rog and 35 miles northwest of Nikopol, day and night, wreck- (Turn to Page 2 Story A) of billions of dollars of war con tracts will be cancelled and the factories will scramble to get back to work producing auto, radios, re frigerators and washing ma chines." " "There can be jobs for every one provided there is the closest cooperation between labor, tidi ness and government. ; Eut . we must plan to produce 4D per cent more peace time goods than we ever did before. . We will have at least three million ne? wcrliers, even after wives return to t .cir homes and students to their schorls. ' "We ' must I'it both our tew workers 'and cur rrv f - i c f.i- ciency to work irc-.c' widerr-resd lizr.S.. rd . and hsrrc'S f :r V..s rt here ia the United Ctr have never known t'' "The troul!e U tv t t Sre too will!--: t- : trnt C. .i:.. I. t Ccme bullae: i 1 (Turn to r. : ; 2 : a