VI
mi-'
Weather
t
Mas. 1Mb.
-. .
4 tl
Baa Fraacisce
Eastae , ...
alm
Portlaae
Seattle ,.,
IHDOEiUtg
Willamette river 1 ft. S la.
v n -w .x i a Y 1 I I I ' I I I t I I - I X 1 I ' I I -1 I II Mil
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-VI
t The voters in Tangent school
i .district south of Albany voted 48
to 22 to continue their high
echool "although the attendance is
ionly 15 pupils and the cost runs
I to $2 per day per pupil. Many
' ether communities over the state
struggle to maintain high schools.
At Rickreall the attendance
down to about eight pupils, with
two teachers employed.
Tangent is on one of the finest
highways in the country, one kept
open in all weather. Its pupils
could easily be transported to Al
bany seven miles away. Rickreall
Sis connected with Dallas four
! miles away by a paved road, and
icould conveniently send its pupils
there. : - -
L . These communities retain their
I costly high schools as a matter
'of local pride. But the rest of the
"slate has an interest when these
and other districts come asking
for state support Thenvthe cost
is passed on partly to the -remainder
of the state. The method
of dividing state funds in pro
portion - to teachers employed in
effect subsidizes these small dis
tricts with few pupils per teacher.
In view of these appeals for state
funds the state has a right to de-
roand district reorganization to
end this extravagance.
. There is more to the matter
than equalization of taxes. There
Is also the eaualization of educa-
innai nniwdmitT a pnmmnnit 1
can't properly maintain a high
school of only 10 or
(Continued on editorial page)
His Son Elliot
To Be General
i WASHINGTON', Jan. 25 I
Col. Elliott Roosevelt was noroin-
a ted by his dad today to be a
brigadier beneral and several sen-
ators said his dog's sky travel
won't becloud the issue. ;
i The nomination of the 34-year- I
ciia air iorces oiiicer went auto-
matically to the senate military
committee on a routine list of army
promotions including 77 other
colonels to one-star grade. ! '
i This is the committee which set
up a subcommittee of three to in- j
quire into army priority practices J
which permitted Blaze, young I
Roosevelt's big bull Mastiff, to j
travel by transport to Hollywood J
nfter three service men were tut
cff. -
, Chairman Stewart (D-Tenn), in
charge of the subcommittee, said
the 'inquiry, relating only to prl-
, crity practices, did not involve in
cny way the right of young Roose-
Velt to a promotion. Senators
Bridges (R-NH) " and Maybank
(D-SC) agreed on that score.
Task Force;
orts
Hammer 1WO
: VS PACIFIC FLEET HEAD
QUARTERS, Pearl Harbor, Jan.
5P)-Anj American naval task
Xorce shelied Iwo island in the
Volcano Tuesday while Super-
jonresses ana uoerator DomDers
aiso auacKea me eigm-square-
. u.BBW wilo mrc un
"'r.. ' "T,-
W. Nimitz announced today.
' It was : the third time in two
months that, the Marianas based
B-29s had joined ships of the Pa
cific fleet in "a coordinated sea
and air blasting! of the fortress
. Island 750 miles south of Tokyo.
' ') The , attack was the sixth sur
face force shelling of the steadily
hammered island in the Japanese
defense system guarding the
southern sea approaches to the
homeland. '
Pressure Put
On Switzerland)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25. -ff)-
The United States applied eco
nomie pressure to Switzerland to -
day for its continued dealings with
Nazi Germany.
The state department announced
that President Roosevelt is send
ing one of his own administrative
assistants, Lauchlin Currie, to re
sume negotiations with the Swiss
In an effort "to shorten the war,'
Currie will seek two objectives
mainly:
.. n To persuade the Swiss to
close their railroads to shipments
of coal and other goods from Ger
many to northern Italy;
(2) To cut off continuing ex -
ports of some machine tools nd
Superf
a lew strategic mexais ana xooa fte on man and smaU busi
upplies from Switzerland Into nes :
Germany.
Partly Qoudy
today with morning valley fog.
In the mid-Willamette valley
txti, predicts U. S. weather
boreaa at McNary field, Salem.
KCIETY-rOUHTH TEAS
40 Miles
To Manila
For tl S.
Victory Avenges
Major Setback
In December '41
By C Tales McDanlel
GENERAL MacARTHUR'S
HEADQUARTERS, Friday, Jan.
26.-P)-Clark field, whose lS'air-
strips constitute one of the rich-
est prizes in the Pacific war, .was
captured Thursday by southward
driving Yanks along with ' ad j a-
cent Fort Stotsenburg while pth-
er columns pushed even deeper to
within a scant 40 airline miles of
Manila.
This climax of a campaign which
has yet to run into any concentra
ted Japanese opposition during a
push of more than 70 miles from
Lingayen gulf avenged one of Am
erica's major setbacks of the Pa
cific war. ' ' j
God Land Air Base .
Clark field, where Japanese
dive bombers wiped out Gen
Douglas MacArthur's main; air
strength in the Philippines in ear
ly December, 1941, thus facili tat
ing Nipponese conquest of the ar
chipelago, gives the Americans j
land air base to help blast open
landing beaches on the coast of
China,
Maj. Gen. Oscar W. Griswold's
14th army ; corps, moving so fast
that the Japanese were unable to
mass, defenses in ridge areas
where they had-la bor difor
months, shot motorized "columns
well beyond Clark field,
Yanks Stack Japs - .
Moving for quick use of the! air
center, Griswold sent patrols into
the nearby hills .from which Jap-
anese could impair the field's us
lability. 1
Today's communique supplied
other details which made clear
the drive toward Manila is on in
earnest While planes blasted
Corregidor and Cavite naval base
in the Manila area to soften' up
the capital's defense zone, columns
I moving south on the left of Clark
field flanked Mt. Arayay on the
west. That mountain is the only
good defense barrier 'for the en
etny down the c e n-t r a 1 Luzon
plains on the shortest route; to
Manila.
Scorch Earth
Of
I lay 1 k 1
S&ZIS UrCiCr
LONDON.' Jan. 25 Adolf
HiUer categoricany order
d German Commanders on the
eastern front to scorch every inch
of German 1 soil they abandon.
While Germany was forced j to
clamp a state of siege on popu
I UonJ ,of odw f8tern
Czechoslovakia Cities rebelling as
the red army approaches, the
Moscow radio said
The "scorched earth" order and
other signs ! indicated the nazis
ny be despairing of stemmhii
the Russian uae, now reponea
only 125 miles from Berlin ot of
making an j early ' return to the
yielded territory.
As hordes of homeless Germans
trudged miserably back to trench
digging Berlin, Propaganda Min-
Icfer Paul Jnasrth fnKKo1a wait.
ed his old cry that the reich "now
stands deserted and alone against
1 Russian masses, surpassing all
previous imagination."
Germany
Wallace Challenges Congress
To Investigate Jones9 Work
By Tern Seedy
' WASHINGTON, Jan 25
Km rr A- Wallace challenged con-
1 resa today to find out if Jesse
Jonea-adminstered the govern
ment's giant lending agencies for
Lv. f n Tnr himslf. Wal-
I said he would do. the job for
: Without naming the man presi
dent Roosevelt wants him to suc
ceed as secretary of commerce and
head of the multi-billion dollar
RFC, Wallace lashed back at Jones
who yesterday -Called him unqual
ified to preside over such ; big
business matters.' v " ?
Wallace did it this wayhe
It PAGES
Killed
Cons tan tine Onmansky (above).
soviet . ambassador i to Mexico
and one of Rnsda's ablest dip
lomats, was killed In the crash
of Mexican arnay plane at
Mexico City. His wife also was
killed. (AF wlrtphoto)
Soviet Diplomat
To Mexico Dies
In Plane Crash
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 25 -(P)-
Soviet .ambassador Constantine
Oumansky, his wife and seven
others were killed! today in the
crash of a Mexican military plan
jukt as it took off for Costa Rica.
Of the six in the embassy party
and the five in the crew,, only two
escaped. They are Mrs. Leo Troy
nensky, wife of the Russian em
bassy secretary, and a heroic Mex
ican lieutenant, a mechanic on the
plane, who pulled her from the
burning wreckage' although hi3
arm was broken. ,.
Oumansky. and his I party were
bound for San Jose where the am
bassador was to present his cre
dentials as minister .to that big re
public ' ' ! ;- -
The plane, a ; C-60. Lockheed
twin-engin "Lodestar, took off
shortly before 6:00 ajn. It 5 rose
from the runway slowly, failed
to gain height and suddenly crash
ed, 500 yards from the strip.
Walker Keeps
Postal Position;
StiU In
WASHINGTON, i Jan. 25-(JPy-Taijc
of more cabinet ch a n g e s
subsided tonight 1 after President
Roosevelt nominated Frank C.
Walker for another term as post
master general. . i - .j ' Zli-.S
Customarily, that, cabinet post
has gone to the democratic na
tional chairman following a suc
cessful presidential campaign. And
while; Robert E. Hannegan had
announced that he intended to
remain chairman and not enter
the cabinet. . some ; people heard
him with skepticism.
,The Walker nomination made
it apparent that no change is con
teraplated at this time. ;
In addition, Interior Secretary
Ickes announced that . the presi
dent had written him a letter re
jecting his offer to resign. Ickes
always offers to quit every four
years, just in case the chief ex
ecutive wants to make, some
switches.
proposed to the senate commerce
committee that congress, invest!
gate! .the ; administration of the
lending agencies to : determine if
they should be stripped from the
commerce department
The r committee is; considering
such a divorce in a 'proposal .by
Senator George (D-Ga).
The day's proceedings wound up
In an executive session after which
chairman Bailey (D-NC) announ
ced the committee would vote to
morrow ' afternoon on the - George
bilL . - -
After that vote, lie said, feny
committee member ran move to
take up the Wallace nomination
itself. -
'
II mi Il-ni rim mil llllTMfc
Salem, Oregon, Friday
nrn
LlJ
raft! Act
In House
Ballot 42 to 16 in
Liveliest Day of :
43rd Legislature
! By Wendell Webb
Managing editor, Th Statesman -
The' Oregon" state house of rep
resentauves was back to more
prosaic business today after vo
ciferously deciding, in effect, that
it didn't want to petition the na
tional congress either for a' labor
draft (limited national service) or
total conscription (of labor and
capital (. 1 ' ' -
The liveliest scene of the 43rd
session was precipitated Thursday
with the entrance of Rep.; Warren
Erwin's memorial ; (HJM 1) ask
ing; congress for immediate enact
ment of the so-called labor draft
or "work or fight"; plan. '
Defeated 42 to 1C
The final vote (with 42 voting
"no," 18 "yes") was on an: amend
ed rnemorial calling for the total
conscription. i 1
It followed roll-call refusal to
lay the memorial, on the table; a
voice-vote refusal yAo re-refer it
to committee; ana; a xmai state
ment by Erwin that he did not
object to the amendment but that
he regarded the measure's oppo
nents as "insurrectionists against
the war movement,"
Erwin said there might be oth
er than " purely military treasons
behind efforts-of army and navy
leaders to obtain limited national
service; commented that perhaps
it was thought the move was nec
essary to show America was unit
ed at contemplated peace confer
ences, and declared it was possible
Russia would demand that the
western allies not proceed beyond
the Rhine - "Stalin 'may be more
ambitious than we know anything
about" f
?
Bill i Called "Insult
Opponents included Rep. H. H.'
Chindgren (r), chairman of the
house resolutions committee which
made no recommendation on the
measure; Rep. Carl H. Francis
(r); Rep. John Dickson (r); Rep.
Phil Brady (d), who termed the
proposal an "insult" to Oregon
residents in regard to the war ef
fort, ! and others. - Labor - leaders
were; quoted as saying: such
service act would be a violation
of the 13th amendment barring
involuntary servitude.
The amendment in regard to
totalj; conscription . was proposed
by Rep. Vernon Bull (d) of La
Grande. - I it
In the final vote on the amend
ed memorial, Bull was supported
by three other democrats (Erwin,
Gleason, Semon) and 12 republi
cans s (Barry, Condit, Heisler,
Hendricks, J. O. Johnson, Lieu
allen, Ni&kanen, Peterson, Snell
stroni, Snyder, Steelhammer, Van
Dyke).
Two Not Present
- Against the memorial were 38
republicans and four democrats.
Rep. W. T. Johnson (d) of Ben
ton county and Ev C Allen (d)
of Multnomah county -were not
present - '
Another house joint memorial
(HJM 2), requesting congress to
include the national guard in post
war military, policies,, was passed
quickly, RepC Vernon Bull chalk
ing up the only "no" vote on the
measure. .i . . ,
(Additional details page 12)
MacArjthur Celebrates
65th Birthday Today
WASHpTGTON, Jan. 25--Saluting
tomorrow's 65th birthday
of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Brig.
Gen. Cartos P. Romulo asked the
house of ! representatives t o d a y.
"where in history has one man
done so much with so little..
Romulo, resident commissioner
of the Philippines, declared, "Gen
eral MacArthur's body 'and soul
belong to "America, but we in the
Philippines lay claim to a share
of his heart"1.
Ambassador Confirmed
WASHINGTON, Jan. IS-iFY;
The senate confirmed today the
nomination of Edwin C. Wilson
Defeated
of ilbrida as. ambassador to Tur
key. . i . , '
Morning. Janraary 28. IS45
mm
American Public
Hangs Up Coffee ;
Drinking Record ;
NEW; YORK, Jan. 25.HF)-The
American public hung up a new
coffee Ndr inking record last year
28 J per cent greater than ever
before, ,
Carlos M. Canal, secretary-gen
eral of the Pan-American coffee
bureau, said the nation consumed
18,812,071 bags of coffee, as com
pared to J4.663.953 bags in 1943.
This is a per capita (including
servicemen) consumption , of - 18
pounds. The 1943 figure was 14.2
pounas. . : ...
Big Troopship
Sihlis With 765
Dead, lissing
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25. -tfPV-
Along with a report bf 36,456 new
army casualties, Secretary Stim
sbn revealed today the recent
sinkings in European waters of a
ship ; carrying. American troops,
with 765 dead and missing. "
No detail was given in the loss
of the troopship, beyond the 'fact
that she was sunk by enemy ac
tion, 'while1' carrying more than
2200 soldiers, of whom more than
1400 were saved. The casualties
were divided; 248 dead and 517
missing. ' j - '.
Heavy losses had been reported
in two previous troopship sinkings,
both in the Mediterranean last
year. Losses in those cases totalled
1498, Neither ship has been re
ported Jby name nor : have : the
sinking dates been given. r
;r'Stimson said the new transport
sinking! was made public , in ac
cordance with "the "established
policy; of stating all losses in regu
lar course, even5 though some of
the details may not yet be made
available. - i
. Stilwell
' ' ' j,. , - :.
Will Command
Ground Forces
. WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 -3V
In; a move weighted with meaning
for Japan, the war department
today named Gen. Joseph
W. Stil
well to command army
forces.!' h -' -
ground
Stilwell is the American gener
al f with the longest experience in
Japanese military methods. ' He
assumes command of j the ground
forces at a time when ithe task
orireorganizing and training them
for a major assault against Japan
either on Japanese or Chinese
soil or bothappears to be press
ini for attention. i
Stilwell replaces Gen Ben Lear,
who has been assigned as deputy
commander in the European thea
ter of administrative matters con
cerning American troops. ;
Rlaiies Smash
Nazi Hideout
ROMEj Jan. 25-OP)-An Island
hideout of German "human tor
pedo crews in the northern Adrl
a tic sea has been demolished by
rocket-firing allied planes, an air
force announcement said today.
Not much has .been said about
the '."human torpedoes' since they
first appeared near Anzibra year
ago, out ; ine airiorce i announce
ment revealed they had headquar
ters In a hotel on a Lussin island
cove in an area which has been
a hideout for midget submarines
and motor patrol boats.' ,f i
One pilot returning from the
raid said Beaufighter rockets blew
the hotel "to smithereens.". .
General Wo Told
Germans- 'Nuts' -Up
for Promotion
:s --".-"-." 1 "'-I":vi. " :-"V -- - - ; A'Z'--7,' y.y-:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 Ji)-
The general who told the Nazi
"nuts" when they demanded that
his surrounded division surrender
was1 nominated for promotion to-
day. . j i . , J
President Roosevelt recommen
ded to the senate that Brig. Gen.
Anthony: C McAuliffe be advan
ced to the rank of major general.
McAuliffe carved a spot for him
self in history with his one-word
reply to a surrender ultimatum
when the 101st division was hold
ing out : at beleaguered Bastogne
during. the battle of tSe Belgian
bulge. ; .
Savage Attack of 7th Army
.Checks Major
Designed to
Enemy Push Termed
Major; Effort; Threat
To U. S. Lines Eased
, . . By : Austin Bealmear '
PARIS, ' JarL 25.-The Ger
mans opened up in northeastern
France today with what may be
their last offensive ' in the , west.
but it was checked by savage U.
S. , Seventh army' counterattacks
after it had broken across the new
American Moder river line at four
points. ::H ' . .' M :".':
The? attack rolled out at dawn
along a 20-mile front, with three
crack armored divisions pacing at
least three others in an! assault
which ! nowhere, gained as much
as two: miles. A front dispatch said
hard fighting raged tonight with
the Americans inflicting punsning
osses. ; ' ' 1 Y:" '
-1- - ' 7- K .i.-
Nazis Smashed Back
All along the front, late dis
patch said, the Germans were
checked or smashed backl i
The j threat to American posi
tions at pivotal i Haguenau, prob
ably an initial German objective,
was eased by . doughboy counter
attacks which shoved the; enemy
back across the Moder river east
of this town, 15 k miles north of
Strasbourg. ! r
Three German crossings , of the
Moder in considerable force from
two to five miles west of j Hagu
enau, and 15 miles deep into Al
sace, also were under attack and
the enemy was being driven back
across the river.'
New Line Set Up
It was along the Moder that
Lt Gen. Alexander M. Patch had
set up a, new line after pressure
forced a withdrawal farther north.
While late reports said the Ger
mans were being "contained.
mere was not attempt to minimize
the force of the push and a U. S.
staff officer declared it was a
"major effort" to try to recon
quer all Alsace, which Hitler had
incorporated into the reich in 1940.
In the shattered remnant of
the Ardennes salient, . the U. S.
Third army-was hounding the
Germans back into the Siegfried
line." - r A : ' f ;
The U. S. First army attacked in
near zero weather and pushed
more than a mile east and south
of St Vith, where the Americans
were less than three miles from
the German border. I
Carl Peterson
in Action
INDI2PENDENCE, Jan. 25
Staff Sgt Carl E. Peterson; was
killed - in ' action tin Belgium i De
cember 31, his wife, Julia A. Pet
erson, has been -notified by the
war departmenL' i ' : ';.; ;
Besides' his wife, survivors are
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. CV C
Peterson, 1 336 Seventh street; a
daughter, ; Judith, 1 two years ! old.
and a sister, Margaret Truitt '
Staff Sergeant Peterson I went
overseas! in November after he
had been' In the ' army for two
years. "Ti'. - .''vrt;? ' t (.""
Salem Coldest
Spot on Coast
Salem was the cold spot of the
coast Thursday with a minimum
temperature of 21 degrees, and
cold' fog and. frost very, much In
evidence : in the . morning. Next
coldest was Eugene with a mini
mum of 24 degrees. - . !
No rain, was reported in Salem
Thursday, i Maximum' temperature
for the day was 44 degrees. I '
Two Salem Members of 41st
Division Win Silver Stars
HQ, 41ST DIVISION, Far (Pa
cific Within recent date i two
Salem servicemen have been dec
orated" with the 'coveted Silver
Star for ; performances . of , valor
on the field of battle -with; the
famed 41st infantry division. U '
i" The decorations were presented
by Maj. Gen. Jens A.' Doe, Com
mander of "Oregotfs Own" divis
ion, at ceremonies held at this far
Pacific outpost
The recipients of the awards are
T5 Forest M. Andrews, 1310 N.
Prlca Sc
Nazi Smash
Re-take Alsace
Promoted
WASHINGTON, Jan. Z5-)-BrIg.
Gen. William C. Donckei for
mer artillery commanded (
Camp Adair's Thnberwolf divf-
' sion, was among 22 j brigadier
generals . nominated a tempor
ary major generals today by
President . Roosevelt, j Although
slightly wounded in an air raid
the day before, he commanded
.the American task 'force which
invaded Mindoro, in the FbH
fpplnes.' '
French) Want!
jTeri
Along Rhine
PARIS, Jan. 25.-ff)-Gen.' De
Gaulle told a press conference to
day that France does not intend
to - finish this war without the
assurance that the French army
will be installed permanently
along the length of the Rhine from
one end to the other." i A -4
The head of t h e provisional
French government said regret
fully that France . had i not been
invited to the Roosevelt-Church
ill-Stalin conference. 'He also ex
plained that France does not in
tend to recognize the"Lubin com
mittee as the provisional govern'
merit of Poland at least, not im
mediately. '..'.' I
De Gaulle declared that French
troops must be placed along the
Rhine after the war ."not only for
French security,' but for the se
curity of western Europe and even
the security of the world.' j
Swedes Interne Nazi
V-Rocket Scientist
LONDON, Jan. 25-ff-Swedish
internment of a scientist who di
rected German experiments with
a V-4 rocket for use against New
York was reported tonight in a
Stockholm dispatch by Reuters,
The name of the scientist was
not reported. I I
The dispatch said the scientist,
until recently head of a V-bomb
experiment station in j Jutland,
fled, to Sweden posing as a Dan
ish refugee.
Eisenhower in Contact'
With Marshal Stalin I
NEW , YORK, Jan. ! 25-(flV
Merrill Mueller, NBC j reporter
who. has Just returned: to . this
country : from supreme allied
headquarters at Paris, said In a
censored broadcast tonight that
"Gen. Eisenhower has established
contact with Marshal Stalin."
Winter street and Lt. R. A. Sweet
nad, 105 Mason street - j - v
The bemedaled pair came over
seas with the slashing j 41st . In
March, 1042. The division was the
first to enter this zone, of comba
and since has become the mds
jungle-veteran outfit in this thea
tre of warfare, with a record of
six invasion-assaults. !
. With a grand total of 1217 dec
orations won by its men in the
swirl of battle, this Oregon Nat
ional Guard unit tops all other
divisions in the Pacific . .
No. 2S7
WMM
Russians
Close On
Breslau
i." ." . . 1-
v Other Red Units k
Stab Into Oder
J River Defenses
t By W. W. Hercher I ,
LONDON, Friday, Jan. 2.V
The red army cut the trunk rail
way escape route out of half-con '
quered East Prussia yesterday,
sealing off perhaps 200.P0O Ger
man troops, while Berlin announ
ced that" other soviet units had
pierced the upper Oder river de
fense line on a 125-mile front on
both sides of besieged Breslau, Si-
esian capital. ; r - - e
The German news agency DNB
said the Russian invaders of East
Prussia, totalling more than 2,
235,000 men, had driven a wedg
to the Baltic coast at Ebing in one
of the greatest encirclement op
erations in history, and had bro
ken into Elbing itself, 30 miles
southeast of Danzig.
Briensdorf Falls
(While Moscow did not Official-
y confirm this report the soviet
communique did announce the
capture of Briensdorf, nine miles
east of Elbing, and Baumgarth, 12
miles to the s 0 u t h. In taking
Briensdorf the Russians cut - the
last Berlin-Konigsberg trunk rail- .
way. , , .i-
Capturing more than 1500 towns
and villages on the 14th day of
their gigantic push toward tha '
heart of Germany, the Russians
drove to within five miles east Of
Poznan, western Polish strong
hold and "gateway to Berlin,"
with the capture of Swarzedz. .,
Murowana-Goslina, 10 miles north '
of Poznan, also fell as the Rus
sians surged up to the Warta riv-
er and prepared to cross that bar-
rier in a flanking movement on
Pozhan.
125 Miles Away
With the capture of Swarzedz ,
the Russians now were 142 miles
due fast of Berlin, the closest an
nounced point on the 'direct road
4 .1 ;a rn -
iu uie men cupiuii. iae soviet
army newspaper Red Star, how
ever, said some units were about
125 miles from the nazi capital.
presumably to the southeast
Pushing westward . across tha
base of the Polish corridor north V
of Poznan the Russians in a 10
mile advance seized Keynia, 22
miles from the German Pooeran-
ian frontier and 125 miles south-
east of the Baltic port of Stettin.
Units of two soviet armies sei
zed a total of 700 towns and vil- .
lages in East Prussia as they
closed in steadily on Konigsberg,
East Prussian capital and central
base for the outnumbered Ger
mans who have Iosf approximate
ly half of the 14,283-square-mile
easternmost reich province. :
Defenses Smashed i
Starkenberg, 17 miles southeast
of Konigsberg, was seized by the
Russians, as were Gross Schar
lach, 20 miles on the northeast,
and Goldbach, 21 miles to the
east ' Berlin acknowledged that
the "first line" of defenses guard
ing Konigsberg had been breached .
and stressed the numerical super
iority of the attacking Soviets. :
Soviet "front dispatches said
thousands of Russian, French and
Polish civilians, - Impressed into
fortification work by the Ger
mans, had been liberated, and .
that whole trainloads of tanks,
munitions and other military sup
plies had been captured intact by
Gem Ivan Chemiakhovsky's Third -White
Russian army.
Trapped Japs
Mowed Down
T MYTTKYINA, Burma, Jan. 25
-)-- The American mars , task
force road block on the Burma
road began paying off today as
scores of some 700 trapped Japan
ese were being chopped down by
rifle fire and artillery fire in a
30-square mile area between Nam
kham, Wanting and Namkpakka. ;
Elements of four Chinese divls- '
ions were overtaking the fleeing
Japanese seeking to escape through
the Junble around the road block. '
In one enemy pocket alone Chines
troops killed more than 80.
It was too early to determine
the total number of enemy cas
ualties as many Chinese squad .
engaged in mopping up this north
Burma area have been . out of
touch with headquarters for many
hours. - :
I ,
" ''-
.1