Gen. Patton
: Lightning ' B lows
A . TF TO 1
POUNDDD
Hums
a UU nt fl ; ' W U
ira.TTYrOUBTH YEAR
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SSKDQ8
The weekly news magazines
Time and Newsweek carry regular
sections on Canada. While this is
a bow to their Canadian subscrib
ers the publishers must feel that
there is sufficient interest in Ca
nadian news on this side of the
line to warrant including that ma
terial. This is just a sign of the
growing community of interest
between Canada and the United
States.
Without doubt the war has
drawn the two nations together.
Continental solidarity for military
defense was recognized early in
, this war and a- joint commission
established. Measures for defense
were closely joined. Canadian cor
vettes helped patrol the sea lanes
to foil the German submarines
The United States was permitted
to construct air bases for the
ferrving of war planes, the Alas
kan highway . to provide access
overland to Alaska, and the Canol
oil project to supply Alaska with
petroleum products. In war manu
f acture. also there was a coordina-
tion of effort and considerable
interchange of work.
Then the shock which Great
Britain suffered with the fall of
France and the Low Countires
made Canada snuggle a little clos-
er to its cousin to the south, just
as. Australia, feeling "a bit de
serted by its homeland in early
-; 1'942 leaned heavily on the United
States for . protection.
Canada has definitely become a
country winch faces in two direc
tions. It is a dominion of the Brit
ish Commonwealth and loyal to
the crown as the symbol, of im-
.perial unity. It is also
: (Continued on editorial page)
Allies Attempt r
To Halt Enemy
Blows in Italy
. By Sid Feder
ROME, Dec. 28.-;p)-Strong Al
lied air and ground forces were
thrown ' into battle "today in an
effort "to halt the German assault
on a six-mile front in the Serchio
river valley, where American
doughboys have been driven from
the important road town of Barga
In two days of fierce fighting.
,The Germans declared that the
U. S. 92nd negro division had been
knocked back "some kilometer"
by the stubborn drive, which evi
dently was aimed at the vital Al
lied supply part, of Livornon (Leg
horn) 33 miles sway. Barga is a
mile and a half east of the Serchio
river and about 15 miles north
of the provincial capital of Lucca,
v Field Marshal Albert Kessel
ring's forces hit through flatlands
and mountains on both sides of the
Serchio in the first action of any
importance in the Fifth army's
west coast sector in several weeks.
The attacking Nazis were sup
ported by artillery.
Nips Complete
Strait Tunnel
By the Associated Press
i. The Japanese Domei news ag
ency reported today completion of
the Honshu-Kyushu tunnel under
the strait separating these two
principal Nipponese .industrial
Islands.
"Following two years of steady
and strenuous labor," said Domei
In an overseas broadcast recorded
by the federal - communications
commission, . . the; boring of
the Kanmon underground nation
al highway connecting the main
land (Honshu) and Kyushu was
completed at 10 o'clock tonight"
.(Thursday).
' r The dispatch said the project
.was started in January, 1943, and
that 130,000 workmen had been
employed on it. : ;
, ;
prominent Soviet Trade
Union Leader Is Dead
, LONDON, Dec. 28.-H - The
London radio announced the death
today of Klavdia Ivanovna Nik-
elayeva, Soviet trade union lead
er. An "old Bolshevik." she also
,ivas a member of the central com
Mittee of the communist party and
at member of the presidiunvof the
supreme Soviet. A member of
several Soviet trade union dele-
I
lUons, she had travelled widely
troad.
14 PAGES
Armv In
Control
Of Firm
Store Chief Says
Order ; Violates
U. S. Constitution
CHICAGO, Dec. 28 Jp)- Presi
dent Roosevelt and Sewell Avery,
chairman of the board of Mont
gomery Ward and company, col
lided headon tonight on the issue
of the presidential powers in seiz
ing company facilities in seven
cities.
v. The army took over under pres
idential executive order in the
climax of Ward's long refusal to
comply with war labor board di
rectives tor employes' wage in
creases and maintenance of union
membership.
Avery Sticks On
' Avery, remaining at company
headquarters throughout the day,
asserted the presidential order
violated the constitution and the
company could not "accept or
obey."
'Army public relations officers
said no restrictions were placed
on Avery's movements but the
military position was that author
ity now rests with Gen. Joseph
W. Byron, not Avery.
Roosevelt Angry
President Roosevelt in an ac
companying statement declared
Avery guilty of "consistent and
wilfull defiance" of WLB deci
sions! threatening the struction for
impartial adjuicatio&toX disputes.
He said the government "can not
and Will not tolerate any inter
ference with production in this
critical hour" and that Ward's
would not be allowed to set aside
government wartime policies "just
because Mr. Sewell Avery does
not approve of the government's
procedure for handling labor dis
putes." There was no physical or out
ward opposition to the army tak
ing control' in Chicago, Detroit,
St Paul, Denver, Jamaica, N. Y.,
Portland, Ore., and San RafaeU
Calif.
Casualties in
Battle Grow
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. (JP)
Casualties in the armed forces in
creased 65,873 during the two
weeks ended December 14,'boost
ing the total losses to 628,441, the
army and navy reported today.
The army's killed, wounded,
missing ana i&Ken prisoner ac
counted - for 547.823 of the total,
an increase of 63,866. These fig
ures, however, do not include the
losses in the current German
counteroffensive which Secretary
of War Stimson said have been
"severe."
Navy casualties amounted
80,618, an increase of 5,107.
to
GOP Dinner Planned
NEW YORK, Dec. 28H)-Her
bett Brownell, jr., Republican na
tional chairman, today invited Re
publican members of congress to
a dinner in Washington on Janu
ary 4 in honor of the new Re
publican members of the senate
and house.
Normandy Invasion Selected
Biggest News Story of '44
By Charles Honce
AP Newsfeatum Writer
"Flash, clattered the news tick
er. .
"LONDON Elsenhower's head
quarters announce Allies land in
France."
That - electrifying news came
early on the morning of June 6.
It was the news the American
public bad been .expecting for
months. '
And it was the news which
American editors of Associated
Press newspapers (including the
Oregon Statesman) voted the big
gest story of 1944 (on the basis of
news up to December 15.)
A total of 176 ballots was re
ceived. First choice rated 5 points,
second 4 points, third 3, fourth 2,
fifth 1. Here is hof the votes were
cast. -. . -
1. Normandy Invasion. 87$.
2. FDR re-election. 527.
S. Philippine Invasion, 42l14.
4. B-Z8 bombings. 187M. .
Solem, Oregon, Friday
Yanks Rip Clark Field on LiJizon Island
W&s.&tfr: y.l'.S.... ..
Jap air power gets a jolt--Carrier-based planes of the Third fleet ripped Japanese ground Installations
in a strike on southern Luzon, Philippine islands Enemy aircraft destroyed in this strike numbered
440. This photo shows the burning, bomb-blasted hangars of Clark Field, Luzon. In addition to the
destroyed hangars, three oil storage tanks were set ablaze. (International) -
Stimson Confident Germans
Will Reap Only 'Disastrous
Consequences9 From Gamble
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28.-P) -Secretary stimson, though describ
ing the present situation on the European front as "critical,'! expressed
confidence today that the Germans will eventually reap Tdisaiirou)
consequences" from" their gaiibling counter offensive. I
."War is not an easy game to play and you can't .always win
every battle," the war secretary told -a aews conference, but I am
Crosby Leads
In Box Office,
Cooper Next
HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 28.
Bing Crosby wins, Garyv Cooper
places and Bob Hope shows by
a nose.
Der Bingle sold more . movie
tickets this year than any other
star. These 1944 star ratings were
announced by the motion picture
Herald, which annually polls the
men who know which stars are
the most popularthe exhibitors.
Bing was in fourth place among
the 10 box office leaders last year.
A single picture "Going My Way,"
was responsible for putting him at
the top. Following Crosby, Cooper
and Hope in the list of 10 box
office leaders are, Betty Grable
(she was first last year), Spencer
Tracy," Greer Garson, Humphrey
Bogart, Abbott te CostelJo, Cary
Grant and Bette Davis.
Japanese Urged Not
To Keep Money at Home
By the Associated Press
Tokyo radio last night - urged
Japanese not to hoard their money
at home in fear of air raids but
to put it in the bank where it
would be safer.
The broadcast, ' heard by the
FCC, said a number of Japanese
had lost their money through fire
in American Superfortress raids
and in the December 7 earth
quake. S. Assault on Hitler, 103.
C. German V-l, V-2, lftL
7. Hartford circus fire, 86.
S. Russian drive, 70.
. WUlkie death, CL
10. Balkan crackup, 43.
Other stories were rated in this
order: CIO-PAC in politics; re
call of Gen. Stilwell; postwar par
leys; Marshalls and Marianas
campaigns; fall of Paris; capture
of Rome; air attacks on Europe;
Jap resurgence in China; Cleve
land fire; eastern hurricane; cas
ualty list.
. The "ten top individuals" of
1944T were rated as follows: man of
year. President Roosevelt; war,
General Eisenhower; polities,
Roosevelt; woman of year, Clare
Booth Luce; industry, Henry J.
Kaiser; labor. Sidney Hillman;
science, Dr. Alexander Fleming
(penicillin); literature, Ernie Pyle;
sports, Luke SewelL St. Louis
Crowns; entertalsaent, Bob Kept.
Morning, December Si, 1944
1
lunuueni uiai we are winning
and that time will reveal that this
German throw of the dice will
have disastrous consequences for
him." I -
The secretary acknowledged
that American efforts to stem the
German drive have cost us "se
vere" casualties but asserted that
the Nazi army, too, has "taken
hard blows" in personnel and ma
teriel losses. i
Rely on Planes i
Indicating that the Allied high
command is relying heavily on
air superiority to throw back the
German thrust, he said that aside
from the fighting spirit of our
troops "no other factor in the
present situation means so much
to us as flying weather.
In the five-day period begin
ning Saturday, he reported. Allied
airmen destroyed 483 German
planes and 507 armored vehicles
and . destroyed or damaged 3177
motor vehicles. In addition, Stim
son said, the enemy's marshall
ing yards are "being blown to
bits.
Allies Advance
He emphasized the continuing
advance of Allied flanking troops
attempting to narrow the German
offensive corridor in Belgium.
; It is too early to " predict, he
said, what additional power the
enemy may be able to throw into
the salient and added that as long
as any Nazi column progresses it
would not be "appropriate to say
that the Germans have been con
tained or that the danger is over."
RAF Follows
Up Day Raid
LONDON, Friday, Dec. 29 HJFy
A big fleet of RAF heavy bombers
blasted ' railway targets at Bonn
and .Muncheon-Gladbach in Ger
many last night after a great day
light blitz by more than- 3000 allied
warplanes from Britain had poun
ded rail lines, supplying Field
Marshal Von Rundstaedt's western
salient.
While tleet cut off the erupting
battlef ront from close areial support-
for the first time in six
days, a lengthy skytrain of up
wards of 1200 Fortresses and Lib
erators of the U.S. eighth air force
escorted by 700 Mustangs and
Thunderbolts dumped S600 tons of
bombs on 10 targets between the
German salient and the Rhine.
our American bomberg were
lost, but all the escorting fighters
returned safely..
7ealher
llaxlmnm temperature Thurs
day CD degrees; minimum 35 de
grees, Jt5 Inch rain, rfrer -2 ft
1 Price Se
aDDfldki
,:
'.t
1
. . ...
i '
Nip Navy Blow
Did Not Screen
Troop Landing
GENERAL- MacARTHUR'S
HEAD QUARTERS. PhiliDoines.
Dec J 29.-(Friday)-VP-American
liberation forces on Mindoro is
land ascertained today that the
Japanese did not use their Tues
day hight naval attack on Yank
positions there to screen the land
ing of troops on other portions, of
the island. , :
The Nipponese task force which
fired i erratically on the US beach
head area disappeared into the
China sea, pursued by American
planes, and enemy ground and air
activity on the island was lacking
Wednesday, Gen. Douglas , Mae
Arthur reported today. .
It jwas thought at first that the
Japanese naval units had taken
the great risk to draw American
attention while putting their
troops ashore at some other point.
One reason for this suspicion
was that ' the shelling itself not
only was ineffective : but . came
only 'from light guns 5-inchers
although the task force Included a
battleship and a heavy cruiser
which could have used much big
ger guns. -
More Nurses
Needed Here
In
Paid Work
If Inactive nurses of this area,
ineligible for military . service,
would volunteer for paid work,
several graduate nurses in Salem
hospitals alone could be relieved
for rtulitary service they would
be willing to ' undertake. Red
Crossl workers made this declara
tion Thursday night after they
had received an urgent appeal
from i their national chairman,
Ratd rVrVtnnnr tn nrmrirl0 niltttMt
to meet a situation "unprece
dented in this war.
Eleven army hospital units now
being set up overseas have no
nurses!, O'Connor notified Marion
county Red Cross chapter by tele
gram Thursday afternoon. ,
Immediate registration of now-
inactive graduate nurses either
with hospitals, their own registra
tion setuper the Bed Cross was
urged! by Red Cross chapter rep
resentatives, who declared also
that more volunteers lor Red
Cross
work
nurses' aide training and
would also . be needed to
meet the emergency..
Churchill Headquarters
At Greece Battleship .
' By the Associated Press
The! British Broadcasting com
pany said last night that -during
his visit to Greece, Prime Minis
ter Churchill "had his headquar
ters on a British battleship with
in ange of an ELAS battery, and
a shell fell :C3 yards from the
ship on the afternoon .after Mr.
Churchill's arrival
No. 143
Budape
st
Suburbs
Other Russians
Race Within 58
Miles of Austria
, By W. W. Hercher .
LONDON, Friday, Dec. 29 Wr
Russian troops, tightening their
trap on invaded Budapest, yester
day hurled the enemy out of 12
eastern suburbs two to four miles
from the Hungarian capital as
other mobile columns ra c e d
through the Danube valley to
within 58 miles of Austria and 92
miles of Vienna.
Budapest was partly in" flames,
shelled heavily by Rusian artillery
and its installations dynamited by
an enemy which Berlin admitted
had retreated into the capital's "in
ner defenses."
Street fighting
Soviet troops, fighting street by
street through Buda, western half
of the Danubian capital, were with
in nine mile of a crosscity Junction
with other units slowly closing
in on Pest, the eastern part of the
city. i
At times Junker transport planes
attempted to fly in supplies as
they did when Field Marshal Von
Paulus's army was encircled, and
smashed at Stalingrad, but Soviet
dispatches said that- Red . army
planes dominated the skies over
the doomed city.
On the eastern side of the capi
tal the Russians were within two
miles of the city - limits, within
six miles of the capital's heart.
and also only four miles from the
eastern end "of Vasuti bridge, one
of six spans across the Danube
connecting Buda and Pest.
Other Soviet units which had
invaded the western part of the
city apparently were in control of
the western approches to Vasuti
bridge in the Kelenfold district.
Counties Seek
20 of Road
Group. Funds
Oregon County Judges associa
tion executive committee voted
here Thursday to present to the
!l945 legislature a bill providing
that counties shall receive 20 per
cent of the state highway com
mission funds with a floor of
$2,800,000 a year.
' Currently counties receive 15.7
per cent of these funds with a
floor of $2,000,000.
. A proposal that the public wel
fare commission reimburse coun
ties which operate poor farms at
costs In excess of the monies
occupants would have received
under the public assistance pro
gram. OPA Predicts Redaction
In Retail Ceilings ; "
For Shoes, Repairing -
WASHINGTON, Dee. !$.-()-The
OPA tonight predicted a cut
in retail prices for shoes and shoe
repairing, but said it : could not
estimate the extent
Lower ceiling prices are ex
pected to result, the agency said,
from a reduction of producer and
wholesale prices for leather, ef
fective January 29.
' Action to bring retail prices In
line win be taken subsequently,
OPA saidY
Captured
1 - - - V. ! -
73-year-old Woman Burned
To Death at ScottsMilh
SCOTTS MILLS, Dee. 28-Vrs.
Mary Sloan, - 73, was burned to
death about 7:30 tonight when the
two-story house in which she lived
was destroyed by fire of unknown
origin. ' .
Mrs. Eloan had lived In Scotts
Mills for several years,- and occu
pied the second floor of the house
which belonged to the Scott estate.
The first floor was occupied by the
L. F. Hills and Jheir two children,
Nancy, 11, and Jimmy, 8.
The children were alone in the
Hill apartments when Nancy "saw
fire falling from the ceiling and
ran for her parents who were at
the service station a half a tlock
away. The Hills got Jimmy out but
- -At, i&nemy jf orces
- German Spearheads , Withdrawn;
One Force Cut Off With Many
- Prisoner Taken; First Strikes f
- By fSDWARD KENNEDY I
PARIS, Friday, Dec. 29 (AP) Deep hacked by light
nings blows from the! US Third army tinder Lt. Gen. Georgt
S. Patton, toughest and most ruthless of the American fieli
commanders, the Ge rman winter offensive appeared today
to have had its back broken: ,
' The German, radio announced that Field Blarshal Vol
Rundstedt's western ind southern spearheads had been with
drawn "according to plan" as the result of furious count er
attaclurhy both the American First and Third armies from ,
the nortn, west and south. v ' '
Forward elements of the German northwestern tip were
cut off from their main body by Americans in that sector,
where 1000 .prisoners were taken and heavy losses inflicted.
Long lines of prisoners also were being marched down
roads on the Third army front,
snouung oraers io nis sqiaiers as
he directed the battle. "
Hammering gains up to 16 miles
in six days through the wooded
hills of Belgium and northern
Luxembourg, P a 1 1 o n's powerful
mobile army, punching up from
the south, rescued the heroic Am-
erican garrison at Bastogrje and to
the east beat back, the German
wave after it had swept tp within
13 miles of Luxembourg's! capital.
Patton Gets Job
The hard-driving Patton, Am
erica's No. 1 tank general was
given the job of stemming! the en
emy's surprise offensive three
days after Von Runstedtj struck
December 18 and tonight, Associ
ate d Press Correspondent Haw
kins declared, it apeared the back
of the German drive was Ibroken.
Simultaneously, the U$ First
army hit back savagely from the
north, carving out gains of almost
a mile and a half in the northwest
corner of the German j salient
pointed toward the fortress of
Liege and the allied feeder high
ways to the port of Antwerp.
Reports Still Lag ,
These twin developments,
fraught with peril for the German
plan to split the allied armies and
slash across their lifelines, pre
sumably were up to noon I yester
day, and subsequent developments
shrouded in a security blackout
may have marked up morje gains.
' One thing was clear. Today, the
13th since the Germans rolled out
of the reich and through the thin
held American lines in the Ar
dennes, was the first that no en
emy gains were reported.)
Naxls Driven Back j
On the contrary, the three Ger
man armies committed to jthe win
ter offensive were either being
held or driven back along the en
tire 200-mile perimeter o its sal
ient in western Belgium and nor
thern Luxembourg. j
Reports indicated that jthe bulk
of Von Runstedt's two ! armored
armies were being haujed back
from the deep salients pear the
Meuse river 35 miles or more
northwest of Bastogne.
Associated Press Correspondent
Edward D. Ball said thai Patton,
the slashing 5 hero of the Sicily
blitx knd the race acrosi France,
swung Into action Immediately
after being handed the fateful
task of stemming the German of
fensive. 1
The pistol - packin three-star
seneral s i x e d up the situation
quickly, and "in record iime men
and armor were rolling v in a
swelling tide toward the critical
front;' Ball declared.
That's How They
Make Decisions
i
In Washington
tJ. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD
QUARTERS, Pearl Hafbor, Dec.
28 VP) Vice Admj Marc A.
Mitscher unwrapped i package
and rolled six dice on the table to
open his press conference today.
Ha called out mysterious di
rectlons such as "go ! sea" and
"scram. j
"That's how they make decisions
tn Washington,'' he said as a smile
wrinkled his face.
quarters, reached by a stairway
from the hall. Nothing w saved
from the house. ;
-. The fire departments !from 51
verton, Mt Angel and Monitor re
sponded to the ' alarm.! Because
the house was so completely de
stroyed It was difficult ito deter
mine the cause of the fire. Firemen
expressed -the opinion H started
around the cookstove j la Mrs.
Sloan's living rooms. -;
Mrs. Sloan had lived; here lor
several years. Survivors include
two sons, Paul Sloan of Kellogg,
Idaho; and Seifert Sloan of Eu-
Ccne. The body was ! taken
" . " -.i .. i .....
charge by Ekmans- Mortuary
fvertcs. ' i
in
of
where Patton was personally
Regency Plan
Will Be Urged
On Greek King
ATHENS, Dec. 28.-)-Prim
Minister Churchill and Foreign
Secretary Anthony Eden left for
London today to recommend to
King George II, exiled Greek
monarch,' that he consent to the
immediate establishment of a'i re
gency in Greece as the first essen
tial step toward solution of j the
country's political problems. !
A statement issued by the Brit
ish ambassador here tonight said
that the archbishop of Athena,
acting as chairman of the peace
conference which began two days
ago at Churchill's request, i had
told Churchill and Eden there was
an "overwhelming desire for an
immediate establishment of a re
gency." c , , . ' , j j
"Churchill and Eden undertook
on behalf of his majesty's gov
ernment to recommend acceptance
of this course to the king of The
Hellenes," the ambassador Ijsaid.
adding that the conference j had
been adjourned pending develop
ments. . i! ;
Rehabilitation
Post Goes to I ;
Harry Palmer
Harry E. Palmer was elevated
to position of asistant supervisor
for the staff of the vocational re-,
habitation service by the i state
board of education in session hero
Thursday. Dr. Lewis D. Clark, di
rector of the : crippled children's "
division. University of Oregon, was
appointed administrative medical
consultant and will serve part time
in developing the physical restor
ation phase of the rehabilitation
service.
That service, now undergoing
enlargement because of veterans
needs, will have two other in
creases in staff in the near future,
the board decided. It approved
plans for appointment of a physical
restoration specialist and a re
habilitation agent
Palmer will be in charge of the
Portland district pffice of the ser
vice. Operations of r the service
there are especially v needed be-:
cause of the greater number of
returning disabled veterans and of
the , existing manpower ' shortage,
board members saldJ j
Stickers Must
Be on Jan. 1
New windshield stickers i vali
dating 1945 motor vehicle regis
trations are required by law to
be affixed to vehicles on: and af
ter January 1, Secretary of State'
Robert ' 8. FarrelL Jr, warned
here Thursday. j ,
' More than 250,000 motorists
must , obtain those stickers , be
tween . now and the first of the
new year to comply with the law,
he declared, pointing out that
165,376 applications had been re
ceived. Motorists retain 1942 li
cense plates. ' " j , ; i ' ' "
Oregon Goes Well
Over Its E Bond
Goal in 6th Loan
PORTLAND Ore, Dec, 28.HT)
Oregon reached and passed - its
goal for E bonds in the sixth war
loan drive tonight : Edward C
Sammons, state, chairman; announced.-
' i ' : i
Sammons said $34,785,000 in
bonds cleared the federal reserve
bank In San Francisco, $785,000
over the quota. Also, the state was
Well over, the top in its quota
for bonds of all types, with $150,
CC0.CC0 against a $107,000,000 quo-