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Weather
yorecait! Gltartr tonlcht and
Thursday, but foi jy (n morn
ing; cold tonight; slightly
warmer Thursday afternoon.
Temp.
Highest yeitorday 48
Lowest this morning 22
, Thirty-ninth Year
Yanks Storm Last
GEI
DESPERATE FIGHT
Last Mile Promises To Be
Tough, Bloody . As De
fenders Throw In Troops
v '. Paris, Nov. 15 U.R) Amer
Y lean troops today stormed a
spiny ridge 2000 yards south of
'Metz, the last natural defense
line before : the city, and the
Germans threw reinforcements
Into desperate action to stave
off the fall of the massive fort
ess as long as possible.
Uniter Press correspondent
Collie Small reported from out
side 'Metz that the Americans
were so close to Metz on the
south this evening that they
could hear its five o'clock fac
tory whistles.
i Last Mil Tough -The
last mile to Metz, how
, ever, promised to be tough and
bloody, Small - reported, since
truckloads of German troops
came out of Metz to the perl
meter defenses under cover of
a swirling fog and joined the
showdown battle.
After Lt. Gen. George S. Fat
ton's forces had seized three
more major outposts of Metz and
i narrowed the Nazi escape cor-
ridor to seven miles, a 7:30 p. m.'
report from the front said the
situation was "generally un
changed." '
To the north the British 2nd
army advanced five miles from
its starting line In the new of
fensive in southeast Holland.
The British found only light
resistance as -the Germans fell
back to the last canal line cov
ering the approaches - to ' the
Maas and the German frontier.
. Withdrawal Seen
At supreme headqquarters it
began to appear, that Gen.
D wight D. Eisenhower's mount
ing winter offensive had moti
vated a German withdrawal to
the Siegfried defence zone along
a 200-mile front from Weert in
Holland to the Vosges.
Troops of the 10th infantry
regiment of MaJ. Gen. Stafford
L. Irwin's 5th division .tangled
with the Germans on' the ridge
a little more than a mile below
Metz. The Germans were de
fending it from an intricate
system of machine gun nests.
"This afternoon I drove into
the village of Pouilly, south of
Metz, by mistake, and found
myself looking down into the
smoky city," Small reported. "A
few hundred yards ahead of
Pouilly,. which was captured
yesterday but cleaned out com
pletely only this morning, Amer
ican shells pumped into a con'
verted factory serving as a Ger
man barracks and a strong point
holding up our advance."
Meanest Man Gives
False Death Notice
Evansville, Ind., Nov. 15
U,R) The meanest man in the
world was sought .here today.
He is the practical joker who
telephoned parents of service
men that their sons were re
ported missing or killed in ac
tion. ....
The hoax was - discovered.
Western 'Union Manager Walter
Schuler reported, when one of
the victims called the company
to see if there were any addi
tional details. ,
SIDE GLANCES
By ,
TRIBUNE REPORTERS
Gladys Rice deciding not to ask
any more questions about ar
ticles in antique shops.
Cole Holmes solving the dg
aret shortage by hunting up a
long-unused pipe, but wishing
someone else would smoke it so
he could enjoy the smell of the
smoke.
Maurice Spatx, the fruit ty
coon, revealing a hidden chapter
in his paw: (He was a newspaper
man in his younger days J -
Medford
United Planfull Uwd Wire
Closing the
. liiaiiilMMcMf i
w 74
amL MehUMJAAItlUCKIM ))
-Mmflf XJ- GERMANY j
tJM s' si Jf
iyifcj; (
FRANCE j rf'"
U. S. Third Army troops narrowed German escape corridor from Metz to
12 miles or less and ripped another bole In Nazi's Moselle River line.
Yanks are reported to have captured tint of .Mets torts rimming city.
Berlin savs Yanks have driven to Thlonvule, by-passed stronghold oa
west bank of Mosella.
KILLED IN LEYTE
Allied Headquarters, Philip
pines, Nov. 15-U.R) Frank
Prist, Jr., war correspondent for
Acme News Pictures, Inc.,, and
one :of .the .first. J 8. .newspaper
men to arrive in the southwest
Pacific . area from the United
States after Pearl Harbor, was
killed instantly Sunday by. a
Japanese sniper bullet through
his heart.
Prist, who had covered almost
every campaign in this theater
and who had photographed Gen.
Douglas MacArthur more often
than any other camera man. had
gone into the front lines in west
ern Leyte to picture the advance
of the 24th division south along
the Pinamopoan-Ormoc road.
After taking a series of photo
graphs, he climbed into his jeep
narked beside the road oniy
about 300 yards behind Ameri
can forward elements and start
ed the engine to return to Mac-
Arthur's headquarters. A single
shot rang out and Prist crumpled
over the wheel, -the jeep turn
ing backward into a muddy
ditch.
BOL
" Rome, Nov. 15 (U.R) British
troops of the 8th army battled
through increasing German op
position today to reach within
five and a half miles of Faenza,
the next important junction
point on the main highway to
Bologna.
The British were moving on
both sides of the highway in a
converging drive on Faenza and
a communique noted that the
Germans were putting up stiff
resistance as they backed to
ward the road Junction, 30 miles
east of Bologna.
Convention Seeks
.Establishment Of ,
Irrigation Policy
Denver, Nov. 15 U.FD The
13th annual convention of the
National Reclamation association
here was asked today to esiao
lish a sound policy that would
ha "eaually applicable" to all
reclamation projects throughout
the west.
The reauest was made by F.
O. Hagie, secretary-manager of
the association, after ne poimea
out that a "difficult" technical
question had developed on the
Central Valley reclamation pro
ject in California.
Hagle told the convention that
the question was whether the 16
acre land limitation clause of
the federal reclamation act
should apply to supplemental
water projects in areas where
farm pattern nas long been
established.
MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1944
Ridge Before Metz
Circle
. MANfcHEIM
(Acme Telephoto)
Herder Grabs Tail
Of Cougar; Lives
To Tell About It
Riggins, Ida., Nov. 15 ttl.R)
Harvey Arbuckle grabbed a
cougar by the tail and lived
to tell the tale.
A sheepherder on a ranch
in the wild Salmon river coun
try, Arbuckle came upon the
cougar unexpectedly and shot
4t three times. Thinking it was.
dead, he grabbed his axe and
prepared to skin the critter.
But it turned on him, knocked
the axe from his hands and
battled the sheepherder until
he regained the axe for the
knockout, blow. The hide
brought a $15 bounty. .
TO BUY SANELY
Washington, Nov. 15 (U.R)
Government officials, dismissing
as "completely impractical" the
rationing of cigarets, today urg
ed harried smokers to "buy
sanely"' and help assure more
equitable distribution of short
civilian supplies. -
OPA Chief Chester Bowles
said that "scare reports" of short
ages, rather than an actual scar
city, were largely responsible
for the dearth of cigarets that is
reaching alarming proportions
in many sections of the country,
Washington, Nov. 15 (U.R)
Adm. Jonas H. Ingram today re
lieved Adm. Royal E. Ingersoll
as commander-in-chief of the U.
S. Atlantic fleet in a ceremony
at the Washington navy yard.
Ingersoll has been appointed
commander of the western, sea
frontier.
Decision Expected Soon On
Trials For Kimmel, Short
Washington, Nov. 15 4U.R)
Rear Admiral Husband E. Kim
mel and MaJ. Gen. Walter C.
Short either will be cleared of
charges in connection with the
Pearl Harbor disaster or ordered
to face a court-martial some
time before December 7, relia
ble congressional sources said
today. -
Secretary of War Henry L.
Stimson and Secretary of Navy
James V. Forrestal already have
received detailed repore from
boards and, according to au
thoritative information, will be
ready to announce a decision in
the next few weeks.
The decision, it was said,
either will order court-martial
trials for Kimmel and Short or
clear them of any responsibil
ity for failure to take proper
precaution in the attack which
cost 3000 lives and severe losses
to the American fleet '
- In either case it might be
unnecessary for congress to ex
tend the time limitation under
which . tha two officers, who
E SOFTEN!
Carrier Planes Destroy 14
Jap Vessels And Many
Planes In Latest Bombing
By United Press
Another major blow In a !
campaign to soften up Luzon for
ultimate American invasion was
seen today in a carrier aircraft
raid which destroyed 14 Japan
ese vessels and 158 to 168 enemy
planes in the Manila area.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz an
nounced that fighters, torpedo
planes and dlvebombers from
Pacific fleet task forces struck
at the main Japanese base in the
Philippines Sunday, blowing up
two destroyers and leaving 11
cargo vessels a n d oil tankers
sinking or aflame.
. Tokyo Unconfirmed '
Tokyo reported that American
carrier planes attacked the Ma
nila area again Monday, but
there was no official confirma
tion'. American invasion forces In
the central Philippines 350 miles
to the south threatened to en
velope 35,000 desperately resist
ing Japanese troops on north
west Leyte with .a pincers drive
about the enaW's ; sea ButiaiX
base of Ormoc. -
The task force raid on Manila
was the second this month and
presumably others will follow
on a mounting scale as the in
vasion draws nearer.
In addition to -destroying the
ships, the attackers torpedoed a
floating drydock and scored hits
On docks in Manila and at the
Cavite navy yard.
Impress Civilians
Tokyo, recognizing that Luzon
soon may become a battle
ground, announced that all Ma
nila residents between 18 and 50
years would be compelled to de
fend Japanese military installa
tions, harbors, roads and fac
tories in the capital area when
the "necessity arises."
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's air
forces set fire to a 4,000 -ton
freighter northwest of Minda
nao, started fires at Cebu and
droDDed 36 tons of bombs on an
airfield on Negros island. Other
American planes sank a small
vessel in the northern Palaus,
bombed a Yap airstrip and raid
ed the Bonin islands.
SHAKESPEARES DIVORCED
Reno. Nev. 15 (U.R) William
Shakespeare was divorced in the
Washoe county court here today
but records failed to reveal
where there was any connec
tion, other than similarity of
names, with the bard oi Avon
Mrs. Dorothea Shakespeare was
granted the Nevada decree on
the ground of extreme cruelty.
were in command at Pearl Har
bor when the Japanese struck,
may be ordered held for trial.
The present extension of the
statue of limitations In their
cases expires December 7 and
a renewal had been looked upon
as one of the "must" pieces of
legislation to be considered in
the short congressional session
opening yesterday.
.Prior to adjournment in Sep
tember, Republican house mem
bers charged on the floor that
the administration was afraid to
make -public the whole story
of the disastrous attack because
President Roosevelt was to
blame. They declared that Kim
mel and Short either should be
vindicated or tried.
In almost dally speeches, Re
publicans demanded that the
story of Pearl Harbor be brought
out and the blame fixed. Sev
eral charges were made that
Mr. Roosevelt would not be
elected to a fourth, term if the
people knew what had hap
pened. , -
Lad Admits Trunk Story
7 ,
David Bourbonnals, 8 (left) Is shown In a Long Beach hospital following 'zeleaia from
a trailer trunk In which ha claimed ha was locked for seven days by a playmate. Ha later ad
mitted his story was a hoax to cover up his "bumming around" arid abience from school.
Oh right, little James Bourbonnals crawls Into the trunk showing how his brother was sup
posedly confined. i.
German Reins
Hitler Raving
"London' Nbv'.IS-ttm Re
ports from the continent said to
day that .Gestapo Chief Heinrich
Himmler had become undisputed
leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler
was a raving madman at Berch-
tesgaden, and an incipient anti
war revolt had been halted at
Cologne. '-' ' -
Informed . sources in Madrid
said Himmler apparently had
seized the nazi party reins from
the hands of Hitler, who was
given to pacing the floors of his
Berchtesgaden retreat "like mad
lion," ranting with tear-filled
eyes that "Germany will win the
war," "
Nerves Shot
Non-Spanish diplomatic
sources in Madrid believed Hit
ler's mind was gone and his
nerves shot as a result of the
crisis in the war and the report
ed rise of Himmler to power.
A welling tide of reports re
garding Hitler's infirmities and
the change in leadership of the
nazi party lacked official con
firmation . and German propa
gandists gave no definite hint of
crucial developments in the
reich.
Travelers reaching , Switzfer-
FATAL FOR BOY
New York, Nov. 15 (U.R) A
2V4-year-old boy died early to
day as a result of what police
said was a brutal pummeling
last night from his father, an
A. W. O. L. sailor, who told de
tectives he was annoyed because
the child "dirtied" the floor.
Police said the sailor, Leon
Youkowskl, 27, first told them
the child had fallen through
manhole, but later signed
statement that he had beaten
him with his fist and thrown
him in a closet.
The child, Francis, was one of
two children by Youkowski's
common law wife. Betty, 25,
who was held as a materail wit
ness.
LANCASTERS PLASTER
SYNTHETIC OIL PLANT
London, Nov. 15 (U.R) A
force of British Lancasters
bombers attacked a synthetic oil
plant at Dortmund In Germany i
Ruhr valley today.
RECORD SALMON RUN
Sacramento, Cal., Nov, 15
(U.P.) Officials of the U. S. bu
reau of reclamation today re
ported a record salmon run in
the Sacramento river with ' a
total value of (1,400,000.
Tribute
United Press Full
Now in Himmler's Hands.
Madman, Travelers Declare
iand-fronv "Germany- said' that
part of the residents of heavily
bombed Cologne came out pub
licly, against Germany continu
ing the war. The gestapo struck
swiftly, and hanged 21 persons
"yesterday alone" as a warning.
The Swiss dispatches said the
entire Rhineland was in a state
of dangerous tension, with its
transport system in "complete
chaos" and workers getting out
of hand.
Control Chang Seen
The authoritative British Press
Association said official circles
in London were convinced that
control of Germany had slipped
from Hitler's faltering hands into
those of Himmler with the result
Long Beach, Calif., Nov. 15
(U.R) Nine-year-old David Bour
bonnals was a fallen hero today,
his story of having been locked
in a narrow trailer trunk for
seven days without food or water
an admitted hoax. .
But the true story of how he
spent the week "bumming
around" was almost as incredi
ble as the fiction he Invented
about his ordeal Inside the trunk.
He spent the seven days In
the vicinity of his home in the
Los Cerrltos trailer camp, vlr-
tually.under the nose of tne navy
patrols, police and Boy Scouts
who were searching for him, he
said.
They thought maybe I'd been
drowned," he said at Seaside
hospital naval clinic where he's
still living in the lap oi luxury.
But his 48 hours of glory was
over and Juvenile authorities had
only the problem of a reprimand.
Couple Had Power
To Cast Deciding
Ballot At Mariel
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pad
dock, now visiting in Medford,
had the power to swing the
presidential election in Mariel,
isolated settlement on the Lower
Rogue River, a precinct of twenty-two
voters.
Instead, they chose to cancel
each others' vote.' leaving the
i results the same, with Roose
velt winning by one vote. The
final count was Roosevelt 10,
Dewey 9. There were three non
voters. Mr. and Mn. Paddock are
visiting Mrs. Pansy Calder of
107 King street.
Uuid Wiit
- 1.0. 201.
Invented
Mem. Telephoto)
that the yelcb, will fight to the
"last gasp, regnrcuess oi me
cost.
Officials who have sifted all
reliable evidence reaching Brit
ain from Germany see little or
no chance of a revolution with
in the country and no prospect of
an early surrender, such as oc
curred in 1918, to preserve the
reich from destruction, Frank
King, the agency's diplomatic
correspondent, said.
The diplomatic correspondent
of the Time, frequently used as
a- sounding board for govern
ment opinion, also said there
"no longer seems any doubt"
that Himmler is acting leader of
Germany.
"Hitler has been shut off from
active work through illness," the
Times said, "and Himmler has
extended his great power and
now there is none to challenge
him."
The Times said Roichsmarshal
Hermann Goerlng, Hitler's desig
nated successor, also may be' ill,
John Dallaire
Wins Promotion
On Battlefield
John Dallaire, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Adalard Dallaire, 926 Park
avenue, has received a battle
field promotion from 1st sergeant
to second lieutenant, according
to word received here. Lt. Dal
laire, an artilleryman in the 91st
division, was promoted for put
ting in a battalion survey while
under fire of enemy small arms
and self-propelled guns. He has
been in Italy for the past six
months and took part in the cap
ture of Rome.
Lt. Dallaire was employed at
the First National Bank in Med
ford, prior to entering the serv
Ice. He was stationed at Camp
wnite when the 91st division
was in training there.
High School Boy
Gridiron Victim
Rock Island, 111., Nov, 15
(U.R) Don Gregg, 17, died today
of injuries received in a football
game Monday between the re
serve teams of Rock Island and
Davenport, la., high schools.
Gregg, an end, was carried
irom tne Held after he was
struck in the stomach during the
opening play of the game.
British Submarines
Get 24 Jap Vessels
London, Nov. 15 (U.R) Brit
ish submarines have sunk 23 Ja
panese supply ships and an anti
submarine vessel in far eastern
wators, the admiralty announced
today.
CAPITAL'S DAYS
Germans Reported Resisting
Frantically Baltio ' Rem
nants Being Finished Off
London, Nov. 15 (U.R) Tha
Soviet high command report
ed tonight that Marshal Re
dion Y. Mallnovsky's forces
had captured Jassbereny, big
rail and highway center 31
miles east of Budapest.
Bulgarian and Yugoslav
troops captured Skoplje, main
transport hub in southern
Yugoslavia 95 miles south of
Nii, a Moscow communique
reported.
London, Nov. 15 (U.R) Rus'
slan storm troops drove into tha
southern suburbs of Budapest
today and Moscow dispatches
said the assault on the Hungar
ian capital appeared to have en
tered its final, decisive stage.
Soviet front reports said Mar
shal Rodion . Y. Mallnovsky's
forces were pushing In over the
northern and eastern approaches
of Budapest to Join in the siege
and were in full control of tha
entire corridor between tha
Danube and Tisza south of tha
capital. '
Swarm" Across Danube
The Russians were reported
swarming across the Danube be
low Budapest to Invest the city
from the west, Moscow reported,
adding that "the days of Buda
pest again seem numbered."
A front line dispatch relayed
by Moscow reported the resump
tion of violent fighting in East
Prussia, where "the earth is
quaking from explosions and tha
sky is. aflame."
The red army is marching
forward to raise the victory ban
ner over Berlin," the dispatch
said. The Germans were report
ed resisting fanatically, but there
were signs of softening of re
sistance in some sectors.
Farther north, the soviet gov
ernment newspaper Izvcstia re
ported, the remnants of SO Ger
man divisions pinned against tha
Baltic in Latvia and Lithuania
were being finished off-rapidly.
Laggards Sabered
Soviet accounts of the closa In
on Budapest said Cossacks of
the Don and Kuban Steppes ham
mered at the heels of routed
enemy units, chopping down tha
laggards with sabers and throw
ing the survivors into the Dan
ube, already swollen with tha
bodies of hundreds of Germans
and Hungarians who sought to
escape to the west.
Dispatches told of Cossacks
dismounting at the water's edge
and sheltering behind their
horses which were trained to lie
down as their riders machine
gunned foemen trying to swim
across the Danube,
STAINLESS STEEL
Washington, Nov. 15 (U.R)
An indictment charging 18 ma
jor steel producers with con
spiring to monopolize the na
tion's $175,000,000-a-year stain
less steel industry was returned
today by a Trenton, N. J., fed
eral grand Jury, the justice de
partment announced.
Six steel industry executives
also were named defendants and
eight organizations and one in
dividual were named co-conspirators,
the department said.
The defendants included tha
Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp.,
Pittsburgh, a subsidiary of tha
United States Steel Corp.; Alle
gheny Ludlum Steel - Corp,
Brackenrldge, Pa.; C r uclble
Steel Co. of America, New York;
Republic Steel Corp., Cleveland,
and Bethlehem Steel Co., Beth
lehem, Pa.
Manufacturer Taken
In Heavy Dice Game
New York, Nov. 15 (U.R)
A dice game early this year in
the apartment of Leo (Lippy)
Durocher, Brooklyn D o dger
manager, in which an airplane
parts manufacturer lost $18,500
to a top flight movie star Is un
der investigation by District At
torney Frank S. Hogan, it was
learned today.
The inquiry was started when
the wife of ona of the players
told Martin Shurin, Jr., presi
dent of Hudson Aircraft com
pany," that the screen star had
swindled him on an unusual run
of 13 straight passes with load
ed dlca