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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1945)
nn UUXJ Yanks Cross Captured Rhihe Span NINETY-rOUBTH YEAR 22 PAGES Salem, Oregon Sunday- Morning, March 11, 1945 Price 5c. No. 305 9 :, 1 P 1 3 0 J3 . : ' . ' j IFOUNDHD 1651 - " , ". ; '7 r; - - u J n n Y n vr jlujUSJLm CRT The death ol Edna Christoffer son at Vancouver brings back into the news a name which was quite ' well-known for a good many years on this coast Her husband, Silas Christofferson, j was an early-day aviator. Some years after his death Mrs. Christofferson took up flying and became a familiar fig ure ' at air meets of the country (women fliers were quite rare then). ! But it is not of Mrs. Christoffer son, versatile and competent wo man that she was, of whom I want . to write. Rather I want to pick up that name, Christofferson, to dbt a belated tribute to the com , . pany of intrepid men who. did real pioneering in ... aviation. Silas Christofferson died in a plane crash at "Redwood, Calif., in 1916 He was one of these pioneers. Those past middle age will re- mmber the "stunt fliers" of the - poineer period of aviation. They were the chaps who went up in the primitive biplanes or '"crates" or "jennies" and thrilled the pub - lie at county fairs. Fourth of July celebrations -and Labor day pic nics. The fliers were not satis fied" just with straight flying. They indulged . in various kinds of stunts; loops, immelman turns, falling leaf, etc. Time and time and time again their planes crashed. The death ratio j among stunt fliers- was high, jvery high. Revolting from the frequent tragedies the general public; condemned this stunting in plane. Butthe practice contin ued. jThe aviators continued ' (Continued on Editorial page) 4 Wp Speakers Score at Meet Willamette university public speakers brought home a collec tion of second and third place rat ings jfrom the northwest invita tional! tournament at Linfield col lege. Friday and Saturday. Rich ard Wicks took second place in seniof men's .- impromptu and ex tempore speaking; Matthew G ru ber, second in junior men s iro promptu and extempore; Nevitt Smith, third place m oratory. Kay Kamopp, freshman, .made her way into the finals in after- dinner speaking. Willamette's con testants in interpretative reading took first and second place in ear ly rounds but did not make the finals. . Hitler's j 'Favorite' One Of July Conspirators LONDON, March 10 - (P) - The BBC declared in a German lan guage broadcast tonight that Mar shal Erwln Rommel, "Hitler's fa vorite general," was one of the "July conspirators against the Nazi leaders and would have masked the Allies for an armistice if the as sassination plot had succeeded; I The Germans on October lSan nrpd i Rommel's death , of uminrii suffered in France on July 17. L --: - . ' - Japs Laid Smokescreen for War oh U.S. Early as 1930 By James D. White", WASHINGTON, March 10 - (ff) As early as 1930 Japan spread a smoke screen of propaganda and diplomatic double-talk which may have helped to disguise her inten tions in Asia and the Pacific. . " This is suggested by the re lease today of state department papers relating to American for eign affairs in 1930, the year of the naval disarmamnt conference in London. ' " - e . .The papers show that the Japa nese at this conference were seek ing to get the prevailing naval ra tio (10-10-6 for America, Britain and Japan set by the Washington naval treaty in 1922) revised to 10-10-7. Japanese naval experts told American naval attaches of Tokyo that if Japan had anything less than 7 to America's 10 in na vol strngth she would inevitably lose any war in which the two powers might become involved. The" theory they spread was that ia the event of war, Ameri- Reds Roll Close To Half of Kuestrin Held by Soviets Germans Report By Richard Kasischke LONDON, Sunday, March 11-0P)-Russian troops began shelling the great shipping center of Stet tin yesterday and drove four ar mored spearheads close to bom barded Danzig, while the Germans announced that Red army shock forces had captured half of Kues trin, key Oder river fortress 38 miles east of imperilled Berlin. In a new invasion of Danzig territory across the Nogat river from j east Prusdaothe Russians drove to . within 17 miles of the former free city. Other columns were 12 miles from their goal on the south, within 10 miles on the southwest, and IS on the west. Soviet planes began attacking the city and port installations. A late German broadcast said the Russians had captured the northern half, or new city district, of Kuestrin, last big bridgehead held by the Germans on the east bank of the central Oder. Then the Russians founght their way across 'the Warthe river into the older section of the town on the south side. "Murderous battles are raging for every single house and every single floor of every house," the enemy broadcast said. ; The Ger mans said the Russians were striv ing for a quick clean-up, f the Kuestrin area to that they - could shift thousands of troops . north ward for the developing siege of Stettin, main port for Belin 67 miles northeast of the Reich cap ital. The Soviet high command ig nored the flaming battle around Kuestrin, where by German ac count the Russians also have bridgeheads on the west bank of the Oder above and below Kues trin, and are threatening to trap the Nazi garrison on the eastern shore. ' MosquitosRain Blockbusters Upon Berlin LONDON, March 10. -(-Berlin reeled under a shower of blockbusters tonight in a swift followup of heavy day raids on the reich and a spectacular air battle that put to flight German dive bombers trying to knock out the Remagen bridge and wreck the American's span across the Rhine. Swift Mosquitoes of the RAF bomber command gave Berlin its 19th consecutive raid by night and the German radio reported another formation over western Germany as the Mosquitos started home. The aerial battle. over the bridgehead at . Remagen was the high spot in a day of close vigil the Eighth and, Ninth airforces kept over that vital artery to the heart of Germany. V ca would seek a quick decision. because a war of attrition would use up American merchant ship ping; and lose American carrying trade to rivals. The American fleet, they the orized, would go immediately from jreari ttaroor to Manila 11 war should be declared, and, as counter measure, the Japanese would intercept them with a large fleet of submarines operating from the Marshall and Caroline islands. All this was reported at t the time to. . the state department by William R. Castle, jr, then Amer ican ; ambassador in -Tokyo. ' He further reported thai Masa- nao j Hanihara, , former . Japanese ambassador to the United States, had called upon him with a story about bow public opinion in Ja pan i feared an American attack because it was believed American naval plans covered the possibill ty of war with Japan to compel Japanese acceptance of American ideas regarding China. Danzi Tokyo Strike Described (is Most Devastating AifBloiv Handed: Any City in World By Elmont Walte i 21ST BOMBER COMMAND, Guam, Sunday, March ll-()-At a cost of two bombers, more than 300 Superfortresses laid, waste to 15 square miles of Tokyo's indus trial and waterfront Saturday- in a raid described unofficially by somej officers as the most devas tating single air blow evert dealt any city in the world. . S The raid "len nothing; I but twisted, tumbled-down rubble in its path," said Maj. Gen. Curtis May, whose B-29s only re cently wined out 240 city blocks of Tokyo in another devastating attack. II The prepared statement by the 21st bomber i command leader added that the devastating re sults were "incontrovertibly estab lished by , reconnaissance photo graphs taken on the afternoon of the atrike." ;, War Workers ini Oregon Get Loan , Of 17,000,000 I! WASHINGTON, March 10-V- Neary $17,000,000 has been loan ed to wa , workers In Oregon to build or buy homes, the federal housing administration has 'ad vised Repi! Stockman (R-Ofe). In ja letter to Stockman report ing on the status of FHA's busi ness j. in Oregon, Commissioner Abner H. Ferguson also said that, at the end of June, 1944, the agency had lent a total of S $21,- 018,614 to 59,964 Oregon families to ikaintain or improve 1; their properties.'" ' , I In addition, loans totaling $33,- 329,050 have been made to: 9387 lammes to buy or build homest For this same purpose, $16,925,950 has been lent to 3765 families of war workers. il '41 Germans Low 50 Generals il On West Front SUPREME HZAQUARTER Al lied Expeditionary ,Fbrce, March 10-53)-The war-has cost the? Ger man army . 50 generals , on the western front alone, 1 8 of ; them killed f and 32 captured. Allied headqtiarters disclosed today! In 'addition, the Wehrmacht has lost three colones in command of divisions, four admirals and one vice-admiral. Among the gener als captured were six full generals. 12 lieutenant-general and 14 maj or generals. ' V, The dead include two field mar shals, Erwih Rommel and Guen ther von Kluge, the latter a sui cide. ; Rommel, victim f an Al lied air attack in ' France ji was commander of German army group B.. Von Kluge was commander in chief in' the west. . : II x Allies in Hall Of Mandalay SOUTHEAST ASIA COMMAND ADVANCED HEADQUARTERS, March 10yHP)-Half of the; city of, Mandalay, including its north ern and eastern sectors, was in Allied hands today as the ,19th Indian division continued Its at tacks on Japanese defenses in the center of the town. If Resistance increased as the en emy apparently recovered '.from the surprise achieved by the j 19th in its southward plunge from Ma- daya, but it was unclear whether the Japanese action was merely a rearguard fight to cover a retreat or) whether the enemy intends to make a house-to-house fight for Mandalay. . - Sgti Walter R. Denton - KHled In War Action -.1. Sgt Walter R, Denton, whose wife, Canl L. Denton, resides at Lebanon, yas. killed in action in the European theatre, the War de partment revealed in a casualty list made public this morning. Weather Saa ft amdsce Enien Salem Portias Max. ....SI 5S -J Mini- ig Kala tract .4$ 49 h. 41 a J4 Sttl .SI WUUnctte river J ft. As the full extent of the dam age by the more than 300 B-29s, which struck the Japanese I capi tal shortly after midnight Friday (8 a.m. Friday, eastern war time), was being assayed, other Super fortresses lashed out from India at the Japanese rail supply line in Malay Saturday. j . Le May said the photographs confirmed earlier reports from the returning pilots that the destruc tion had swept beyond the 10 square mile target area in - the heart of the city. ; ; m The total of the ruined area was shown as 13 square miles, from which clouds of smoke had covered the. returning B-29S with soot. Fires were still burning at sev en points in Tokyo when the photographs were taken Saturday afternoon, hours after the night strike. ' ' lwo Japan ese Sliced Into 3 Parts for Kill U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD QUARTERS, Guam, Sunday, Mar. 1 l-OT") Overwhelming American superiority brought "the beginning of the end on lwo Saturday aft ernoon, 'with advancing marines cutting the sharply reduced Jap anese garrisons into three parts for the kill. The enemy's power to resist is crumbling. - , The largest portion of the ' foe is in a half mile square area at KHano point, northernmost lip "of the island. , i..,vY A communique today- reported that the fourth marine division which ; had been held back for days on the right flank, made big gains by 6 p. m. yesterday with patrols reaching the beach at Ta chiwa Point, easternmost point of Jhe eight square mile island. That point is almost due east of Moto yama town but well south of point where the Third marine di vision has spilled out onto the northeast beaches. EarlH.HiU Will Succeed Late L. Cutlip Appointment of . Earl H. Hill, Cushman, as a member of the state fish commission to succeed the late L. A. Cutlip, Curry county, was announced by Governor Earl Snell here Saturday. Hill has served as state repre sentative in the legislature; from Lane county since 1931, with the exception of the 1937 land 1941 sessions. He was born in- Lane county and has been in the mer cantile business at Cushman since 1915. Hill also served as commis sioner of the Port of Siuslaw for many years, is past president of the Oregon coast highway asso ciation and the Lane county Cham ber of Commerce, and is deputy coordinator : for the Oregon j state, defense council in western j Lane county, i ' , Cutlip died on his Coos county ranch a week ago as the result of a heart attack. More Carbon Black Will Be Produced WASHINGTON, March 10-4V A program to increase the produc tion of carbon black, used in the manufacture of tires, was announ ced today by James J". Byrnes, war mobilization director He authorized the war produc tion board to establish an inter agency committee with full pow er to act to remove - bottlenecks which stand in the way of in creased production. Congratulations Pour In to Gen. Eisenhower ' PARIS March lO-M-Congratu lations poured in to General Eis enhower today on Allied victories in t Germany and the American crossing of the Rhine. . v ! Prime Minister Churchill hail ed "the great victory won by the Allied i armies junder your com mand by whichTthe defeat or de struction of all the Germans west of the Rhine will be achieved., 10 Issues in Ballot Club Liquor Bill Lost; Legislature Will Set Record il By Wendell Webb Managing editor. The Statesman The 'legislature headed! toward its ninth week 63rd day) today wtih but one thing apparently cer tain regarding adjournment it will have set; a new record for length by thei time it ends.; The record to date is 60 days, set in 1939. ; Saturday brought passage and defeat of several major issues. The senate voted 16 to 13 to ask for; a constitutional amendment adding a new 31st member who would " represent district of Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson and Lake counties Klamath! county then would be in a district by it self.. ; Liquor Plan Beaten - The senate, too, defeated the plan to allow the purchase of liq uor by scrip in non-profit clubs. The vote was 15 to 15, with 16 necessary lor constitutional ma jority. .. ;:; , ; : The house approved 33 to 19 the proposal that I public- utility dis tricts must have the consent of new customers before serving out side their boundaries. To date, 762 bills have been in troduced (compared" to 730 all last session). The senate has passed 192 of its 326 and the house 296 of its 436 A total of 296 out of the. 762 have passed both houses. (The last session ended with 471 of the session's 730 bills passed). Special Election Set - The senate Saturday passed the house bill providing for a special election June 22, and thus appar ently assured a referendum on at least four proposals on -which leg islative action already has been completed (but some of which might be reconsidered before the session ends):! 1. Allowing Chinese to hold real estate and mining claims' in Ore gon (SJR 14), t 2. Permitting 22 cities ! to levy taxes for armories (HB 362). ' - 3. Adding, secretary of state and state treasurer to line of succes sion governor (SJR 8). ; 4. Allowing j legislators ! to hold office until their successors- as-i sume seats in the first session fol lowing an election (SJR 17). ..fi Other Issues Probable i Other issues which have passed either the senate- or house; and which would be on the June ballot if given final legislative approval, include: p '": : '" - ; . : 5. Increasing the number of sen ators from 30 to 31 (SJR 21). 6. Property levy of 5 mills for two years to raise $10,000,000 for state institution and high educa tion building programs (HB 415). 7. Providing for a 2-cent tax on each package of cigarets to raise $2,000,000 a year for schools (HB 417). i v ! 8. Creating rural school districts fori equalization (HB 80). j ' 9. Allowing bills to be read in legislature by title only (SJR 15) 10. Providing for a 100-bed psy chiatric hospital in Portland (SB 3). i - ' ; - -! The bouse Saturday laid on the table the bill for the Portland hos pital, so the possibility remained that this as well as other .meas ures not yet through both houses might not come up for vote. (Legislative news page ). Lloyd Johansen Killed in Action SILVERTON, March 10. Pvt Lloyd Johansen, U. S. army in fantry, was killed in action , in- Germany February 23. His par ents, Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Johan sen, were notified by the war de partment. , 1 - tloyd Johansen was 21 years old and was graduated from Sil- verton high school in 1942. Sur vivors are the . parents, a brbther, Neville in the' navy and two brothers, Clarence and Jentoff, at home. -:pr"-a - ' :-':hr':l- light'- , .Seattejed -. Showers . today in the mid-Willamette valley area, predicts the VS. weather bureau, McNary field, Salem. . j Foot soldiers and equipment ef the Ninth armored dlvisIon.'Vlrst army, move across the Ludendorff bridge at Remagen, Germany, alter capture ef the spaa intact March 7. (AP wirepffoto from signal corps radiophoto) j - . Germ Wesel Gollapsesf AHies M Ifp Pockets in Yankees Gains in Hills East of Manila MANILA, Sunday, March 11- (P)-Hard-hitting Americans scor ed gains on mountainous battle- fronts east and south of Manila while their airf orce dealt heavy blows southward against Mind anao island and northward against strategic Balete pass on Luzon, headquarters disclosed today. Gen. Douglas MacArthur re ported a strong force of Libera tors dropped 300 tons on Zam boanga, on , Mindanao island, Thursday and Friday. It was the heaviest strike yet in that area, which the ' Japanese said was in vaded Friday. "T Elements of the First cavalry, liberators of Santo Tomas, thrust into . Antipolo in ' the foothills 13 miles east of Manila against sur prisingly light resistance, j - A headquarters spokesman said the town was not fully secured. 0 j . Byrnes Might Stay onfter iiits WASHINGTON. March 10.-JPr-War Mobilizer James F. Byrnes may reconsider his decision to quit when the European war ends and stay on the job until the sen ate acts on the projected world security, organization, friends said today. i 1 - Byrnes tried to resign several months ago. When President Roos evelt persuaded him to stay on, he announced he would remain in office until after the German military collapse. He said he wants to enter private law practice, bis profession before he became a member of the house, the senate and the supreme court With signs pointing to a possible early termination of European fighting, former j legislative col leagues predicted Mr. Roosevelt will ask his No. 1 home front as sistant to keep the government post and help jockey the i league treaty through the senate.; - 26th Prep Hoop Set for Takeoff With all eight class "A"!, teams now across the inter-district play offs, finish line, Oregon's 28th an nual state high school 'basketball tournament is set for takeoff time next Thurday .afternoon, March 15 af Willamette university. The quints, representing the cream of the . state's prep point-pitching flock, will battle off the champion ship Thursday, Friday and Satur day with the title game set for 8:45 o'clock Saturday night Meanwhile, . the, four class BH district champions will start their private hoop '.War Friday ' after noon. - Three of the "B" teams are known Clatskanie of district B-l, Arlington of B-S and Grant Union of,. John Day of B-4 and , the fourth will be joining up after Pleasant Hill and Reedsport finish their - belated playoff Monday night i- r : Class ,,A" teams ticketed for the tourney are Baker of district 1, Medford of 2, Eugene of 3, New berg of 4, Hillsboro of 9, Oregon City of 6, Veronia of 7 and Wash ington of Portland of 8. Salem, up until last year automatically the host team, was eliminated this year in district play by Woodburn high. Woodburn in turn was de Germany Q an Bridgehead i By EDWARD KENNEDY! SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITION- 1 ARY FORCE, Paris, Sunday, March 11 (AP) American troops gained almost a mile in of the Rhine yesterday while bank bridgehead opposite Wesel and the mopup of trapped pockets inthe Eifel region dealt new blows to the apparent ly fast-ebbing German defense which may foreshadow an early-end of the war in Europev f 1 : The. Yanks across the Rhine at Remagen made their advances deepening and lengthening their already power 100 Donors Slill Needed For Tuesday ; An opportunity for .100 Salem persons to save 100 lives of serv icemen now fighting overseas op ened today : with, the announce ment that j 100 "more registrants are needed, if the maximum blood donations are to be made here Tuesday ,,whettthe Red Cross mo bile unit calis. , ' " Persons . who . believe they are elgible .to donate may call 8277, Marion county Red Cross chapter offices, Monday to' be listed for a Tuesday i donation and to get details as to. when they are to appear, what they may eat before giving blood, etc. The mobile unit operates each Tuesday hert at the First Methodist church. It will be in ML Angel on Fri day, March 30. Provisions for Dimout Can Be Eliminated . Gov. Earl' Snell announced Sat urday that authority had been granted for removal of all dimout devices and installations which previously were required under proclamation. , Maj. GenJ H. C Pratt, western defense command, San Francisco informed Governor; Snell that the possibility of hostile enemy action which would require renewal of dimout restrictions is considered remote., .1"., j :v .; The governor made it plain the new order does not affect . the "blackout requirements that all lights visible from out-of-doors be extinguished immediately if an air raid alarm sounns. Tournament Thursday feated by Oregon City, the 26th tourney's 'official host quint Thursday pairings in the "A" division send Washington against Eugene, Newberg against Baker, Medford against .Veronia and Hillsboro against Oregon City in that order starting at 3:00 pjn. Friday's B" pairings see Grant Union try Clatskanie in the open er and Arlington vs. either Pleas ant Hill or Reedsport in the nightcap.-- ".; -! '. V ; Tourney Director Leslie Sparks of Willamette announces that ear ly indications point to a record breaking attendance for the blue ribbon classic : (Additional details on sports pages H and 15). - ; For the most complete, up to the, - mlnula corerage ol this week's stats basketball tournament ; read YOUB HOIS tTEWSPAPER. . "The World at Year Door Each JLIeninz - mri ttUJMt 1 Opposite op Eifel Area the Remagen bridgehead east collapse of the German west ful bridgehead against the des- $ -- - perate opposition of enemy armor and infantry pushed there in a frantic effort to prevent the U. S. First army forces from rolling up the entire German Rhine line from the rear.' "'- ; " v f- '- On the basis! of Associated Press front; dispatches from Remagen early today the Americans are punching inland and along tht river. The Germans, beset by bat tered communications; and'lowf ered morale, thave not et brought sufficient strength into the bridge head area to halt the attackers. A dispatch from the U. S. Ninth army front said that a spearhead regiment of the 35th infantry di vision had cut off the last remain ing escape route from the Wesel pocket late last night and had reached the approaches of a rail road bridge which reportedly was blown out. I May &ave Holland . From the Netherlands front came reports -by reconnaissance pilots of extensive eastward movements- of j German troops north of the Waal Rhine. This may . indicate that id the face of heavy reserves and ' possible naval at tacks on the Dutch coast, the Ger mans have decided to 'abandon all of HoUand south of the Zuider Zee in order to fall back on the Ijssel U river and a better defen sive position. J M Such a withdrawal would mean the abandonment by the- enemy ' of Holland's main cities of Am sterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht The Americans were striking out for the commanding hills some six miles east of the Remagen crossing as both sides massed men and tanks for the crucial battle at Germany's inner threshhold. Only seven miles east of the river (and apparently a mile or less from the Americans' advance) runs one of Adolf Hitler's new superhighways I to Cologne, an ideal avenue I for a northward charge towards the Ruhr indus trial, basin. ' Nails Report Boats The Germans said American shock troops were storming across the Rhine in assault boats in a bid to broaden v the bridgehead. Supreme headquarters did not confirm this, but a field dispatch, said enemy resistance was stiffen ing and at least one armored di vision was deployed against the American advance. It was said at headquarters that the original bridgehead was being enlarged steadily. The Germans had not yet tried to seize the initiative, more than three days after the Americans first crossed, jand . had not yet made a major counterattack As sociated Press Correspondent Hal Boyle wrote- sfrom east ' of the Rhine. -L This was , the Ardennes In re verse, with Field Marshal Karl von' Rundstedt forced to- make , heavy commitment of reserves " against this threat to the heart of the reich at an hour when four other allied armies were lined up 1 on the Rhine in position to cross.' . Still on the defensive, the Ger mans were building up artillery, in a desperate effort to knock out the Lundendorff bridge at Rema gen before the; advancing Ameri can infantry and tanks drive their guns beyond reach ef . the cross- in . -1 .