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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1945)
Ol7' to crocs Weather Max. iMIa. Baa PraadM Casta , ,, Salem - Pertlaad 4 SS as JI ... J M trace .52 Statu SI Willamette river . ft. . i" FORECAST: (from V. t. weather reaa, McNary field, Salem) Partly eloady with wMehr acattcraS Usfci skewers. Wanner iajttaam tempera tar. . i .. NINETY-FITTH YEAR 10 PAGES I Salem, Oregon. Tuesday Mornina. April 10, 194S Prlc 5c No. 12 Few of the episodes of the war have caused as mucjh interest and wonderment and satisfaction as the capture of the jserman. horde of gold which had j been secreted in a salt mine. Until finance -officers tally the amount in coin and bullion it Is impossible to say just what the tota is but early estimates were $84,000,000. Ac cording to Dr. Wen er Vieck, who was in charge for the reichbank. the pile represents ' he entire gold reserve of Germany. wnue eyes oi oisicers ana ui popped at the sigh of gold bars glowing dully in the dim light of the salt mine, and civilians at home exclaim over the quantity of gold thus seized! from the en emy, the real wonder is that this is all the gold that the reichbank had. If the Germans had captured Fort Knox they would find it its underground vaults over $20 bil lions in gold, well over 200 times as much gold as Germany had. Yet in spite of this meager sup ply of gold Germany was able to rearm, to build up a powerful army, a substantial navy, turn out enormous quantities of military equipment, and at the same, time to give fair subsistence to her peo ple. This success disproves com pletely the theory that- national fi nance must rest on gold. It used to be argued that the world could not carry on a pro longed war because of the cost. The finance of nations would col lapse under the burden. How could Germany, for example, wage war without a strong gold reserve? That theory has gone with the wind. On a gold "base which had dwindled before the war to $33 millions reported in 1935 Germany (Continued on editorial page) Jobless Fund Error Found; Total $216,000 A shortage of $216,000 was shown in the accounts of the state . unemployment compensation com mission today, due to a "tabulating error" in computing the payroll . f the Willamette Iron and Steel company, but commissioners said "there is no question whatever of ny loss to the fund." The tabulating error of $18,000, 000 gave the Portland firm a mer it rating . of 2 per cent, whereas the correct figures would have provided a merit rating of 2.7 per cent and added $216,000 to the company's .liability. It was de clared the company still was lia ble for the full amount The commission issued this statement late Monday: wIn the accounting of $80,000, 000 contributed by more than 10, 000 employers, and particularly under the war-time handicap of limited personnel, it is only human that an occasional error will be made. Accounting safeguards are created to reveal such errors and periodic audits safeguard the funds of the commission. "The current audit of the state division of audits revealed a tabu lating error in the annual compu tation of the experience rate for a subaccount of one of the Port land shipyards. Following routine procedure, proper adjustments have been made in the account and the employer notified of the additional contributions due. There is no question whatever of any loss to the fund." Quarantine in Reich To Stop Typhus Spread PARIS April 9 The U.S. army chief surgeon's office im posed a rigid quarantine on all Germany beyond the Rhine today to prevent ' typhus, now reported In 58 dif f erentreich areas, from spreading westward Into France and the low countries. Kenneth Grimets fHome After Long Years as Jap Prisoner Still below-normal in weight nd tanned by the tropic sun, Ken neth Grimes, whose last address was the' San Tomas prison camp .at Manila, was back in Salem to day in "the first "American home I've been in since the war." Grimes arrived by train Mon day from San Francisco to visit at the home of hjs sister, Mrs. H. B. Unruh of 490 N. 23rd st He was also greeted, in his first visit here In 14 years, by his mother, Mrs. Ruth Poole of Monmouth, a broth er, Dale Grimes of; Seattle, and several other relatives and friends. He arrived at San Francisco week ago in company with others released when American troops re occupied Luzon. There was no mistaking his satisfaction in hav ing returned, but there were but few details of his experiences he was at liberty to recount s " Grimes went to the Philippines with the army air corps, and when M(Bm timiE . ' - I 'I t - 1 ( - - : - - - . - . 1 ; .- . i 1 - "it- . v- v- -i- Prussian Fortress Captured Austria Capital's Fall Imminent as Nazis Collapsing By Romney Wheeler LONDON, Tuesday, April( 10.-(iP)-Russian assault forces swiftly overrunning rapidly-collapsing en emy resistance in Vienna late last night captured the 2000-year-old inner heart of the city, while So viet forces in the north conquered the long-beleagured east Prussian capital of Koenigsberg. The Soviet war bulletin, which was delayed three hours beyond its usual time, said early today that the center of the Austrian capital had been captured in wild street fighting that has engulfed more than three-quarters of the entire city. The fall of Vienna, second great est city of Adolf Hitler's greater Germany and the Red army's big gest potential prize, appeared im minent Moscow announced that Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin's third Uk rainian army troops had captured Vienna's houses of parliament, the town hall, the central police head quarters, the main telegraph and post office, the central European bank and the opera house. All lie either within or on the edge of Viennais famed Ringstrasse. Koenigsberg, ablaze and In ruins from concentrated Russian artil lery and aerial bombardment,' fell little more than 24 hours after Marshal Alexander M. Vasilev sky's third white Russian army began storming the city in an all out assault Sunday. U-Boats Sink Fewer Ships During March WASHINGTON, April 9.-yP)-German U-boats sank fewer al lied ships in March than in Feb ruary, the monthly Anglo-American statement said today. The undersea raiders continued to increase their effort, the state ment added, but casualties inflict ed on them were again severe. The prolonged and extensive bombing and mine-laying policy of the allies "has undoubtedly de layed the introduction of the new type U-boats," it was stated. "In a similar manner the capture of Danzig by the Soviet arms helps to cut off the evil at its source." Grumman Makes 658 Airplanes During March BETHPAGE, N. April .-() Grumman Aircraft company an nounced today production of 658 combat airplanes during March, claimed a world's record for one month's production at one plant. The total included 605 Hellcats, 105 more than the company's quo ta, and 53 new type fighter planes. war broke out he was a civilian foreman-mechanic at the U. S. navy's air base at Cavite. He re mains under navy civil . service, subject to return to duty, but ex pects to : have several - months' leave. . ' ' 1 " .' The former Salem man, who at tended high school here, weighed around 185 pounds normally. How much he lost in the prison camp he doesn't knon because when the weights of prisoners dropped so low as to be depressing the pris oners stopped weighing them selves. He has gained, since bis release, . but still weighs . only slightly over 140 pounds. Relatives and friends describe him as "much quieter than, when he, last was here. As for Grimes himself, he says he doesnt ever expect to get excited about any thing agat. K ..:.. :-x Grimes' wife, to whom he was mairied while in the Philippines, still is listed as missing. ' r Plays Trick X - -rv:.. V ... J x.--.y.-.:.. v ; j . ' '. w ? . - v s y - yrt'niinriiwai mm v -wvn-sh ' f i I'm -in ihim v.; I I I I '' Jt - - - , f " r i 'v. , - V a!&iiv--j nai :. j First L4. i James A. Lucas, h. (above)jf of Assonet, Mass, new at army's' Thomas E. England General hospital, Atlantic City, N. J, captured tha town ( Bingsheim, Germany, while ac tually a badly wounded prison er of war. The tale he told his captors ef their Impending "an nihilation? caused them to sur render. (AP wirephoto) U. S I iAmericas ... f i . 5 - gentina WASHINGTON, April 9-UP) Argentina was welcomed back into the American family of na tions today;! 13 months after she was excluded on the grounds that her government cooperated with the axis, f - ' i The United States and 19 other republics resumed what Secretary of State Stiettinius called "normal diplomatic relations." This fol lowed Argentina's recent declara tion of wa on Germany and Ja pan and her adherence to the In ter-American agreements for se curity and cooperation in this hemisphere' which were adopted last month by the Mexico City conference!" For the. United States .this meant recognizing the regime;: of General Edelmiro Farrell which came in power in March 1944 and which the hen Secretary of state, CbrdeU Hull, declined to recog nize on the charge that it was working against the interests ji of the allied cause. Delay Seen In Opening of Alumina Plant WASHINGTON, ' April 9 i-G The new alumina reduction plant at Salem, Ore., may not be able to begin operating. June 1 unless a war production board decision is revised to allow the plant sup plies of ammonium sulphate, i Senator .Cordon ' (R-Ore) said the WPB Jchemicals bureau has agreed to -review the earlier re fusal for ammonium sulphate on May 15 two weeks before the plant is scheduled to go into pro duction. : lr .v i War Food! Administrator Marvin Jones told Cordon no special al lotment of the chemical could be allocated to the Columbia Metals company plant because earlier allocation already exceed avail able supplies. ... - , ' ' Irr Hunt Food Co. Might 1 Increase Stock Shares' : A plan o change the company's corporate name to Hunt Foods, Inc., to exchange three shares of a new --mmon stock for each two shares of the; now-outstanding common sfock and to more than triple the authorized number ? of shares of such stock will be sub mitted to i stockholders of i Hunt Brothers. Packing company at the May .23,mejeting. Directors of the company : which maintains large operations i in Salem authorized reference of the plan to stock holders when they met Monday in Los Angeles. (Details on Market page 8). : Resume Links WithAr Chamber 1 -"; I Eyles City Of I Future Long-Range Sur vey. Approved kt Animal Meeting Salem's, 1300-member chamber of commerce the largest organ ization of' its kind, for per capital population, of any city in ( the country -4 was formally launched on a long-range program for civic development today. j By a standing vote, amid an artistic array of panels portraying the potentialities of the mid-valley area, the 1 hundreds who jammed the chamber quarters for its an nual meeting Monday night gave enthusiastic approval to the or ganization's new plan. ! Fund to Be Raised ! The program will entail !the raising of a minimum of $65,00, with estimates of need ranging to $100,000, for the procuring of sur veys of population expectancy and distribution; the general needs of transportation of all kinds; 'anti cipated city, county and private buildings; parks, playgrounds and civic center areas; public services; industrial possibilities; zoning, and a coordinated plan of financing. Presiding at the dinner meet ing, over which the green light of a traffic f go" signal cast a; con stant glow, was the chamber's president, Loyal Warner, who ire viewed the organization's growth; cited its assistance in assuring adequate Wartime transportation to Camp Adair and Portland work centers, told of the work in con nection with the $5,000,000 alum ina plant, and declared 13,000 persons under an $80,000,000 ap propriation would begin comple tion of the Willamette project im mediately after the war. Tribute Paid Carl Hogg . I Warner I also paid high tribute to Carl Jloggi immediate 1 past president and now a director. and chairman of the group's planning commission committee, who was credited with bringing the i long- range planning program to I its present stage of development! It was Hogg who disclosed he program to underwrite the series of surveys, by engineers still to be announced, and who declared that 10 to 15 per cent of the $65,000 minimum already had been pledg ed. He also urged that members aid in emphasizing the. need for years-ahead planning and said that a desire to help on the part of every citizen was essential) to assure success. 100,009 -Conservative" V Warner.f who pointed out that 1945 is the 50th anniversary of the chamber and similar preced ing groups, declared that a popu lation of 1 100,000 "before many years was a "conservation esti mate," and that "whether we de sire it or hot we must anticipate the present trend.1 I Congressman James Mott, who returns td Washington on April 14, congratulated the chamber i on its program, declared the "future of the . Willamette valley" is al most unforeseeable, and said that completion of the Willamette pro- Ject was assured, with the plan holding "highest priority." i . The possibility of "ironing but objections? to city " acquisition! of Bush pasture and - resubmitting the plan to voters was mentioned by Paul Wallace, planning , com mission member, who also sug gested . as a. slogan' for future piannmg: s"i win urt mine eyes unio ut nuis. i (Story also on page 2.) : Liberty Bell Opens Drive PHILADELPHIA, April 9 An Mayor Bernard Samuel struck the Liberty Bell In Independence hall seven ; times tonight, officially opening the nation's seventh War loan drive: for $2,500,000,000. I: : As the 'deep tones , of the iell carried over a nation-wide radio hookup (Mutual), Mayor Samuel said! ' i" ' - ' . "I am proud that Philadelphia, the workshop of the world, has been chosen to launch ; this sev enth war loan program. f- The firsi phase of the drive will be devoted to industry. Sales to the general public will start May U and continue through June 30. .. -,v . .-. .... - . Tokyo Says Jap . Navy Unit Looking For Yankee Fleet SAN FRANCISCO, April 9.-The Japanese navy has sent another "special attack unit" toward Oki nawa in search of the U. S. Pa cific fleet but apparently has not yet joined battle, Toyko radio said tonight in a broadcast recorded by Blue network. "A special attack unit (suicide corps) comprised of a battleship, cruisers and destroyers left its base determined not to return and dashed into enemy waters in order to carry out close-in as saults," Tokyo said. Bombs Saturate Ground in Path Of 8th Army ROME, AprifX-W-The bulk of allied air strength in Italy was thrown into a terrific bombard ment today of an eight-mile wide strip in the path of the Eighth army in the direction of the Bo river toward Ferrara. A portion of the US 15th air force joined the US 12th air force in the terrific saturation bomb ing, which at first reports ap peared to exceed even the dev astation wrought at Cassino In the great assault of 1944. Within the area was the town of Lugo, ten miles northeast of high- Way No. 9 and one mile west of the Sepia river that has been the frontline ' boundary for many weeks. The limited locale was literal ly soaked with high explosives by relays of American planes. 1 500 Liberated Yank Soldiers Arrive Home BOSTON PORT OF EMBARKA TION, April 9.-!p-Fifteen hun dred American soldiers came back to their homeland tonight with tales of hungry months in German prison camps. Advancing Russian troops liber ated them as the nazi fell back in Poland last January too rapidly to move the prisoners. The returning men were the first large group of liberated American troops to come home from the European theater. They told of meagre meals in nazi prison camps. They talked of their escapes. Soldier after soldier enthused about "those Red Cross packages that kept us alive." They said of the Poles "they didn't have much, but they shared with us what they had." 7 Will Lift Pertraying the Salem chamber "'h" JSfUWtrWf . . ' p v --. " . . : ..... V. " - : '. J . . I ; ,: y . 'V.; ;----v ; '. .r.:: . ... ' . .. .. .ti. : h - : i. . .v .' ,..:- .. .. -,i"'i..,(v ... ii ; -t ' y:.-:--'Z" .4. 'V.,..r. :. ! v., f , .- . .. . . . 3-. i t i . i u, .v- . . . , .....j, ... -v. !- v J : - :. . . ; -. a -? - .. . .. V. ' -- " , ';:- ;.-"" ... .. ' ,. v V i- ...... s ' ! j r , f - ' - - ' fc j planned and execated Hr Eossell Frost, Salem designer and artist which formed the setting for the annual chamber dinner last night 'Studying charts, maps and specifications at the table In the fore ground are (left to right) Clay Cochran, chamber manager; Toyal ; Warner, chamber president; Car! Hogg. Immediate past. president and ehairmaa ef the chamber's planning commission committee, and C B. MeCnlloagh, assistant state hlfhway eagineer and ehalrmasi at the Bdanninar commlsciaB. (SXcEwaa photo) Japs Hit Back on i j. Tvl awa i Enemy Launches 3 Counterblows But 2 Repulsed GUAM, Tuesday, April 10 Under cover of the heaviest ar tillery duel of the Pacific war, Japanese made three counterat tacks Monday on American posi tions fin southern Okinawa. Two, by 50 Nipponese each, were re pulsed, but the third, by 150 en emy troops, was still engaging 24th rmy corps troops in fierce fighting, the Associated Press Cor respondent Robbin Coons reported from Okinawa. The: infantry was held to small local gains all along the southern front, ; running from just north of the capital city, - Naha, to Yona baru on the east coast However, the 184th regiment of the Seventh division recaptured Red hill,' an east coast position which the Jap anese 'had seized from the Yanks in i a bitter close range battle fought with tanks, bazookas, small arms and grenades. Coons reported the " Japanese laid down a two-hour artillery barrage, indicative of the stepped- up tempo of the battle. He also reported the Japanese are en trenched in - depth along ,. the southern front in positions which they had been preparing for prob ably a year. He predicted the Okinawa cam paign! may last 60 to 90 days making it two or three times as long as any previous central Pa cific Island conquest Iwo Jima, previoiis longest, extended over 28 ! days. 1 I' Gas Explosion, Blaze Fatal To 3 Children PORTLAND, Ore, April 9.-i& Three small children were burned to I death and two others may die asi the -result of a .gasoline explo sion and fire that destroyed a trailer! house here tonight Dead are Donald, 3, and Lois, 5, children of Bert Cumpston, a widower, and Victor, 4, son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor L. Jaeger, also residents of the trailer camp. Bar bara Cumpston, 9, and Shirley Jaeger, 6, were critically burned. Two! other Cumpston children, Eugene, 11, and Charles, 7, es caped. Fire investigators said Eu gene attempted to start a fire in wood heater by pouring gaso line from a can. Flames caught on the can and he dropped it ' UK1I1 : i Mine Eyes Unto the Hills9 of commerce' theme el lone-range fftf DIH) i Hanover Entered; British at Gates of Bremen; Krupp Works " Seized; Mysterious Fires Rage! By Austin Bealmear I I j PARIS, Tuesday, April 10 (AP) Allied armies struck yesterday for the Elbe river - - last big: stream before Ber lin - - fought into the outskirts of Hannover and to the gates of flaming: Bremen, and cut off 80,000 enemy troops in Hol land with 1 push within 20 miles of the north German coast. Mysterious fires raged in Hamburg-, Hannover and Brunswick, indicating that the German armies, stricken by the loss of a half million men in 10 terrible days of combat, were putting the torch to the cities which they seem unable to save from the allied onslaught. ! ' American troops fought into virtually encircled Essen, Europe's greatest armaments city, and captured the ruins of Allied Planes Destroy 159 Nazi Aircraft LONDON, Tuesday, April (V-Allied ' planes destroyed o.- at least 159 enemy aircraft yesterday as' American heavy bombers and fighters pounded airfields between Hannover and Munich and the RAF- dropped- its tremendous 11 ton bombs on U-boat shelters at Hamburg. ! The German air force made lit tle, effort to interfere with the great armadas of allied bombers sweeping over the reich during the day, and consequently . scores of enemy planes were caught parked on the ground when allied fighters and fighter-bombers drop ped down in strafing romps, f These successes brought the three-day cost to the German air force to at least SSI planes, j Another bitter day for the luft waffewas no sooner ended than the German radio began flashing new warnings of bomber forma tions attacking the reich by night. The - frequency of the warnings indicated the RAF was out again in force. j Movie Bores Him So He Sets Fire to Theater LOS ANGELES, April 9 - JP) -He got so bored watching a cer tain motion picture he went back stage and set fire to two pianos, Frank J. Russell told Judge Ben Rosenthal today. I The court ordered him held for trial on arson charges. planning- is tbu artistic baek-drep f . .. . - ' i. ; (SOD M . . .. .'! -; - - , ' t - : - i ' - - II (In eD-mniaini eafled E'k.DDaoicS the famed Krupp rauniti o-n s works, idle since an RAF oblit eration bombing in March. The nearby Ruhr city of Geisenkirch en feU without a shot, j The British Second army and the US Ninth, First . aid Third armies were hammering toward the Elbe, which' runs within 60 mile of Berlin, shoulder-to-shoulder along an arching front of 200 miles. i .- -j,, ,., !. X ' While the British j joined lines with the Ninth army for'the . as sault on Hannover, the main weight appeared to be swinging northeastward where vanguards on the Weser river were. 50 milea from the Elbe at Hamburg, Ger many's second tity. i They were battling a marine division hus tled down from ' Haaabnrg and Geijnan troops from Denmark. Reports Differ S I The Paris radio said the Brit ish, also had entered Bremen, but the last reports from the fronts said they were locked in hand fighting five miles from the city. The US Ninth army threw five divisions into its eastern push, led by the motorized 83rd infantry di vision, which broke into the pro vince of Brunswick at a point less than 70 miles from the Elbe and 137 miles southwest of Berlin. The Ninth army's Fifth armored division also broke loose north of the Second a r m o r e d I division, which was erroneously y reported to be 20 miles from Brunswick Sunday. It was the 83rd which was 20 miles from Brunswick. . Flange 20 Miles The US First army plunged nearly 20 miles eastward on the south flank of the Ninth army to within 135 miles of the reich's capital. On its south flank, the US Third army moved its lines up 128 miles from Berlin. A field dispatch said the First and. Third armies now were 150 miles from the Russians and close enough to cooperate tactically in cutting the reich in half. There was no official hint, however, that such tactical teamwork had actually begun,' although it i was possible. j Vaughn L. Olson Dies of Wounds Pvt. Vaughn (Ole) U. Olson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. E. Olson of 861 South 13th st, Salem, died March 18 'of wounds received while fighting with the First army in Germany, his parents have been informed. j . ' . . j Private Olson also is survived by three brothers, Leo Olson of North Hollywood, Calit, and Thaine L. and O. Dale Olson, both in the navy,! and a sister, Patricia Olson. .: : ! Willamette Basin Group Can Promote Irrigation The Willianiette river basin commission has authority to ex pend, its funds for the promotion J of irrigation and drainage dist- ricta within ' the Willamette val- ley, along' with an j educational program. Attorney General George ' Neuner held here Monday. ' : ' : The opinion -.was requested by . George Aiken, ' state j budget ; di rector. The commission received , an appropriation of $10,000 from the recent legislature covering the next biennium. ' ' ; s. Germans. Sent Home STOCKHOLM, April 9.-P)-All ; German civilians who have fled , to Sweden in recent days 5 will be sent back to their own country immediately, the Swedish minister. -of justice announced today. .,