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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1944)
Weather Use Th ; MAIL TRIBUNB Want Ad Way Oulck Results At SmaU Cost Portcutt Continued forty night and morntnc: clearing In th . afternoon; littl chxnf la temperature. RIBUNE Temp. 4t 1 Rlrhsit yesterday Lowest Uils morning , United Prat Full Leased Win United Press FuU Leased Wire r Thirty ninth Year MEDFORD, OREGON, MOND q, DECEMBER 11,-1944 NO. 222. ran Aixnro. (J nS 7fl ix A U ULziL-dU J lk f A A mm f I I 1 I J su uu u DOUGHBOYS GAIN BEFORE COLOGNE, PERIL KEY CITY Eighth Air Force. Pounds : Frankfurt Villages Tak en In Rain, Snow . Parli. Dee. 11 U.R) The .American third army captur- ad th big Saarland border bastion oi Sarregueminei to- I I . - II A1 XI . - any ana xo xne norm tnv army gained up to two milei ' Roar river, beyond which Ma jor German forcei withdrew . under cover of a delaying ac tion. Lt. Gen. George S.Patton's third army pounded out small gains despite fierce resistance along his entire front and drove the last of the Germans from the section of Sarreguemines northeast of the Saar. The other two-thirds had been in Ameri can hands several days. r .The collapse of the Saaregue $nes defenses laid open the flank of the fortifications stud ding the approaches to Saar brucken, capital of the Saar basin 10 miles northwest. : Paris, Dec. H U.R) The American First army slugged eastward up to two miles' on a 10-mlle front today in a close-in against the Roer river line be fore Cologne, beyond which major German forces withdrew under cover of a delaying action. Lt. Gen. Courtney HV Hodges' forces, storming the outposts of the Roer river line through rain which followed a blinding snow storm, captured the villages of Schlicht, Echtz and Dhorn, clus tered in a tight arc two to three miles out from Duren, key bas tion of the Nazi defenses. United Press Correspondent Jack Franklsh reported from the First army front that the with drawal of major Nazi forces eastward across the Roer had been established, and was re flected in the lack of counter- i attacks in the 36 hours of a full dress smash toward the Rhine land. The United States Eighth en force sent a record fleet of more than 1600 heavy bombers and 80C fighters roaring out of Eng land against the German rail net work at and around Frankfurt, in the Rhineland southeast of Cologne. . Supply Point Hit " . The massive air force dropped more than 4000 tons of bombs on Frankfurt and nearby Hanau and Giessen, through which roll vast quantities of army and sup plies for the Nazi forces contest ' ing Gen. Dwight O. Eisenhower's grand offensive. British Lancaster! and Mosquitos joined in the daylight onslaught against the Nazi war potential. They hit rail yards and benzol plants at Osterfeld. Meiderlch and Bruckhausen in the Ruhr ahead of the American Ninth and British Second armies. On the- Roer front, Hodges' left wing battled into Merken and occupied most of the west ern part -of the village three miles northwest of Duren, the eastern outskirts of which lie only 100 yards from the Roer. Other infantry units, after clearing Echtz, less than two miles northwest of Duren, ad vanced toward Hoven and Marid weiler, Just northwest of the city of 39.000 astride the Roer The doughboys were fighting inside a half dozen villages and hamlets along the front between Schnnhoven and Gey, the whole lencth nf which was sagging back within easy striking di tance of the Roer. The battle swayed through , the streets of Merode, Pier and Schophoven, the latter of which had been bombed with "excel lent results," a front report said. At the lower end of the First army front, the troops were fighting eastward from the area of Gey and Strass, with armored units pushing to the immediate environs of the Roer itself. London, Dec. 1 1 (U.R) The government announced today that 716 civilians were killed or missing and believed dead in "enemy air action" V-bombs gainst the United fUngdom in November, Battle of irTlbr)1S? MANNHEIM MHj5k: GERMANY " (Acmt TtUphcto) General Pattern's Third Army poured across the Saar River at at least four more points northwest of Saarlautern and to the south Broke Into outskirts of German border fortress of Sarreguemines. Troops are clos ing In on both Saarbrucken and Merzlg. LEADER OF PEARL HARBOR ASSAULT SLAIN AT SAIPAN By United Press Tokyo : reported today that Vice Admiral Chuichl Nagumo, whose death in action on Saipan was announced last July 18, was the commander-in-chief of the task force which led the attack on Pearl Harbor. ' Nagumo's leadership in the Pearl Harbor attack was report ed in a broadcast recorded by the FCC in connection with a Tokyo-disclosure- that six more Japanese admirals and another general were dead. Today's report boosted to 73 the number of admirals Tokyo has reported dead since May 7, with the deaths of generals since May 23 mounting to 18. ; Nagumo. was among the re cipients of posthumous awards. In reporting his death last July,, the- Dorhel New Agency identi fied him only as commander-in-chief of Japanese naval forces based at Saipan." The agency said he and other officers died in a suicidal attack against American invasion forces. STRONG QUAKE IN: SOUTH SEA NOTED Pasadena, Cal., Dec. 11. (U.R) A strong earthquake, probably in the New Hebrides Islands of the Pacific and' "heavy enough to ause considerable cLmase if 1' center was in a populated area," was recorded yesterday on the California Institute of Technology seismograph, it was disclosed today. The New Hebrides quake, its center 6,00( miles west of Pasa dena, was registered at 9:48.10 a.m., about 11 minutes after a similar shock in about the same area that scientists said was of greater intensity than the disas trous 1933 temblor that hit Long Beach. A third shock, also described ai strong, was recorded at 10:31 p.m. Saturday, centering in the western Indian ocean, about 12,000 miles west of here.' , OPA RENT SUIT Sacramento, Cal., Dec. 11 (U.R) Louis M. - Rossle and Charles B. Hamilton, operators of the Western hotel, jlarysvllle, today were sued for $13,300 by the office of price "administra tion, which alleged rent over charges and "other infractions of the federal rent regulations." New York, Dec. 11 (U.R) Domestic corporate bonds push ed forward today to further new highs since early 1937. SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS George Carter a little bewild ered at a streak of good luck which descended upon him Sat urday. Al Flora thinking up new nickname for a friend. Harry Holmes and Frank Far rell braving the "unusual" weather Sunday for fishing trip. the Saar SLUSHY CHILLY EN DIXIE By United Press Moist, slushy snow, 10 inches deep in some areas, covered the midwest today and extended as far south as Birmingham, Ala., and eastward as far as upstate New York. - The snow storm was centered in Illinois and moving eastward, but the weather bureau at Chi cago said snow in the northeast ern states-will change to rain during the day. - ' The weather man forecast in termittent snow flurries and moderate temperatures until Tuesday night when there will be a general drop in tempera ture across the nation. ... In the midwest, . the storm caused "extremely hazardous" traffic conditions and delayed arrival of trains by as much as six hours. : - At least IS deaths were at tributed to . the midwest and western snows. Four tot the deaths- were in ' the Chicago area, two in Michigan, and four in Missouri. Accidents on icy highways caused three deaths in Indiana and two others in Colo rado. . ' Birmingham had its first snow of the year, eight-tenths of an inch, and snow fell in Atlanta, but melted rapidly. Atlanta ex pected temperatures in the low 20's tonight. Freezing weather extended into the Texas middle gulf coast area today, with local ized snow flurries and near-zero .temperatures in the lower Rio Grande valley fruit section. ' Wadsworth, HI., Dec. 11 U.R) Three hundred and eighty pas sengers were marooned for more than two hours during .the sea son's heaviest snowstorm after nine coaches of the Olympian, crack passenger train of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, were derailed early today. Only one coach remained on the tracks but despite that none of the passengers were seriously injured. Eight were treated for minor injuries and shock. BOMBING CRIPS NAZIS OIL POOLS London, Dec. 11 U.R) The strategic bombing offensive now being waged against Germany's dwindling oil resources may well prove the conclusive factor in the defeat of the German armed forces, according to Brit ish Air Minister Sir Archibald Sinclair. - v Sinclair told the United Press in an exclusive interview that the luftwaffe was reduced to im potence by last spring as a re sult of allied inroads on the Ger man fighter force and the de struction of its aircraft manu facturing centers. The current bombardment, he said, is intended to finish oft the remaining oil production centers on which the remnants of the luftwaffe and ' the nazis, me chanized ground armies depend. Chicago, Oee.-ll U.B Grain futures onened generally steady. ORMOG CAPTURED, ON LEYTEENEMY Pocketed Japs Face Destruc tion by Yankees Advance Planes Aid Troops . By United Press ' The battle for Leyte island moved swiftly toward a climax that promised only extermina tion for the strong forces com mitted by the Japanese high command to the defense of the central Philippines. Ormoc, main gateway for Ja panese supplies and reinforce ments on the island's west coast, fell to units of the U. S. 77th division yesterday, only 72 hours after the surprise American landing on the beach three miles to the south. The 77th fanned out quickly north of Ormic into the rear of the main Japanese forces, which already were hard-pressed by an American 32nd division attack in the Tolibaw area, 18 miles above the port. At the same time, units of the 77th swung south toward a junc tion with the 7th division and another American force moving across the inland mountains from the east. Between the three American outfits thousands of Japanese were pocketed fn a narrowing triangle, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur's communi que reported they were '"being destroyed with little opportunity for effective retaliation." American fighter planes sup ported the ground troops, shoot ing down five enemy planes, while other warplanes pounded Japanese airfields on the neigh boring Philippines islands and sank . or damaged x five enemy freighters. The Japanese high command broadcast another elaborate, but unconfirmed, claim of American shipping losses, asserting that its air force sank two American cruisers or large destroyers, two transports, and two barges in the Surlgao strait, southeast of Leyte. SENATE APPROVES 5-STAR OFFICERS Washington, Dec. 11. (U.R) The senate today passed and sent to the White House a bill to create four five-star "admirals of the fleet" and four five-star "generals of the army." Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Er -et King, and William D. Leahy, and Gens. George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry K. Arnold, and Douglas Mao Arthur are believed to be slated for the new ranks, which are designed to put the officers on an equal footing with field mar shals or comparable foreign officers. Gen. John J. Pershing, world war I commander (will continue to be America's top-ranking offi cer, since his title as "general of the armies" conferred by law is above the newly created "general of the army." PUZZLES WALL ST. New York. Dec. 11 (U.R) The stock market climbed to a new high today since September 9, 1937, in one of the -most ac tive sessions In several months. Trading topped the million-share level for the seventh consecu tive session. The advance carried all sec tions of the list above the pre vious closing levels. Wall Street quarters appeared at loss for a real explanation of the current "boom" that has added more than $1.500,000,000, to market values tine December 1. , SFORZACHARGES New Cabinet Victory for Britain Claim Deny Plot to Oust Badoglip Rome, Dec. 11 (U.R) Count Carlo Sforza, excluded from the new Italian cabinet as a result of British opposition, today ac cused Prime Minister Winston Churchill of trying to force King Victor Emmanuel on the" Italian people. Sforza denied Churchill's charge that he had conspired to overthrow the armistice govern ment of Marshal Pietro Badoglio in violation of a pledge made to the Allies before his return from political exile in the United States last year. "Churchill attributed Bagol glo's expulsion from office to-my intrigue," Sforza said. "Instead, it was the committee of national liberation in Rome which, after the liberation of the capital, unanimously demanded with ex treme frankness and no intrigues the elimination of Badogdio and his replacement by Bonomi." "I took no part in this epi sode," Sforza added in a flat con tradiction to the charge made by Churchill in the house of com mons last week. Sforza asserted that in h I s two-hour conference with Churchill In London on Oct. 11, the prime minister devoted most of the discussion', to "pressure that we accept victor Emmanuel regardless of his heavy responsi bilities for fascism."' He added that Churchill was well aware of his opposition' to the king and that he had reaf firmed his "definite ' repudia tion" of Emmanuel before and after that conference." r ' On his return to Italy, he said. he suggested to Badoglio that the king abdicate and that the child prince of Naples be pro claimed king, with' Badoglio as regent. The new cabinet list an nounced by Premier Ivanoe Bo nomi today revealed that either Sforza nor any other, member of his action party had been granted a cabinet post, a pointed omission which observers re garded as a triumph for Great Britain and the Italian royal family. ' I ' CAUSE OF FREEfOR-ALl Pittsburgh, Dec. 11 U.R) The question of the legal custody of two "pinheads" human ex hibits in a freak show here to day precipitated a free-for-all, which police ended by arresting five persons on charges of dis orderly conduct. Details of the brawl were not clear, according to police, so the five persons, including the "pin heads," will be given hearings tomorrow in morals court. War Bulletins London, Dec. 11 (U.R) Continental reports suggesting that Generalissimo Francisco was preparing to turn over, the Spanish government to a now republican regime ware greeted with extreme scepti cism In London diplomatic quartrs today. Chungking, Dec. 11 (U.R) Allied troops supported by field artillery continued their ' drive on Bhamo, the Burmese communications center, gain ing southward along the Irra waddy river and the British 38th division occupied the rail road junction of Indaw ap proximately 73 miles west of Bhamo, a communique an nounced today. By United Press Japan claimed today that troop columns advancing northward from Indo-China have effected a juncture with southbound troops In south bound troops in southwestern Kwangsl province of China, thus completing a Japanese dominated land-route from Shanghai to Singapore, Floyd Heart Promoted ' A ' I . HI r- rri A I ' ' Ml Si-" Y-.rwj Floyd H. Hart of Medford has lieutenant colonel, according to headquarters of the Seventh Air Force, Central Pacific. He is the executive officer of a 7th AAF medium bombardment group based in the Hawaiian Islands, the dispatch states, and has been serving with the group since October of 1943. Col. Hart was recently awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy. Mrs. Hart, Miss Harriet Hart and Floyd, Jr., reside at the Evelyn apartments. Another daughter, Mrs. J. B. Keeble, also resides at the Evelyn apartments. - Col. Hart is president of the Timber Products company, being on leave of, absence from the firm. EARLY PEACE IN GREEKWAR SLIM, LEFTISTS BEATEN Athens, Dec. 11. (U.R) Hope for an early compromise settle ment of the Greek civil war fad ed today as the bloody street fighting in Athens raged into its second week with some 20,000 well-armed leftist troops still s Jplng and shelling British and Greek government positions in the heart of the capital. Repulsed with heavy losses in a attack on the central gendar merie barrocks and in an 'at tempt to move reinforcements in from the suburbs yesterday, the left-wing ELAS detachments fell back to a sporadic bombardment of the British-Greek headquar ters in Athens and the naval sta tion at Pireaeus. Tentative peace feelers were put out by the leftist leaders yes terday, but they were rebuffed sharply by a spokesman for Pre mier Papandreau, who merely reiterated the government posi tion that no peace can be ar ranged until the ELAS forces lay down their arms. LEWIS TO DISCUSS TERMS WITH AFL Washington, Dec. 11 (U.R) Informed labor sources said to day that while United Mine Workers President John L Lewis probably would meet with American Federation of Labor representatives to discuss terms of . a proposed return of his union to the AFL, lt was highly un likely that he would be willing to return on any term satisfac tory to the federation. UMW spokesman said reports that Lewis was ready to lead his union back to the AFL were "pure hokum." San Diego, Cal., Dec. 11. (U.R) Lt. (JG) Frederick W. Warbois of Albuquerque, N. M.,' and his squadron of PBY planes engaged in air-sea rescue work, made 24 open sea landings, rescuing 58 officers and men during the last three months, the eleventh naval district announced today. New York, Dec. 11 (U.R) Curb stock prices followed an Irregular course In trading to day. Washington, Dec. 11 (U.R) The senate foreign relations com mittee, at the request of the state department, today deferred until next year action on a reso lution advocating unlimited Jewish Immigration into and colonuaUoa oi PsleiUae. been nromoted to the rank of information received here from GEN. EISENHOWER ITS 1 London, Dec. 11. (U.R) A pro clamation broadcast to Germany today reiterated. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's vow that the Nazi army '- "will . be' beaten" ' and warned - - the German people against joining military organiza tions or "enticing other persons to Join such organizations. The proclamation broadcast by BBC, was the eighth in a series explaining the plans of allied, military government in Uermany. "Allied forces will occupy ever larger parts of German ter ritory until the national socialist government (Nazi) and the Ger man armed forces will finally capitulate or have been brought to their knees," it said. The proclamation cautioned that every attempt to preserve "German militarism, which un der all circumstances has to be annihilated, will be severely punished by the allied military government. ASK AMERICA TO END GREEK CRISIS Washington, Dec. 11 (U.R) A Greek-American delegation ap pealed to the state department today for United States' help to "terminate immediately the pres ent tragic crisis in Greece. The group also delivered "a vigorous protest" to the British embassy here against Britain's armed intervention In the Greek political uprising. A spokesman for the group said that an associate of Secre tary of State Edward R. Stettin ius, Jr., had told them this coun try's advocacy of political free dom In Greece still stands. . CHILD LABOR CHANGES San Francisco, Dec. 11 (U.R) Six changes in California's child labor laws were recommended to Gov. Earl Warren today by the citizens' advisory committee on social and industrial welfare of the state reconstruction and re-employment commission. INTEREST LAGS New Rochelle, N. Y., Dec. 11 (U.R) Dealers showed little in terest but the public instituted spirited bidding today when auc tioneers put Tommy Manvllle's house furnishings under the hammer, including three sets of chromium garbage cam that brought S60 a set. B-29'S HIT TOKYO FIFTH DAY IN ROW; SET FIRES, BUST Harbor Area Bombed, and Glare Seen 85 Miles- Jap Aim Poor Haadauartnra 91t ni - - - uvuiuvr Command, Saipan, Dee. 11 (U.R) via avy Kadlo) Raiding Tnkvn union k.. . uuuia apati, (WU Superfortresses kindled fires in me enemy capital that could be seen for SI mllo. 4 u - -- a.. scv uii ex plosions in the harbor area, re- tuniing crewmen reported today. The big planes, flying unes corted, were assigned to a dou ble purpose "weather strike" from their Saipan base. The first B-29 over Tokyo on this shift was piloted by Lt. Col. Robert E. (Pappy) Haynes, Her mosa Beach, rnlif j it j ped bombs at 8:28 p. m. Dec. 10 viujiyo iimej, setting three large fires and several smaller onea in the waterfront district. "We went in at about 8,000 feet lower than usual, just to test Tokyo's defenses," he said. "They still can't knock ua down." Members of Haynes crew counted SO searchlights in ac tion and the flight engineer, 1st uicuii a. iviuuens, Liaramle. Wvo.. and K90 S Rmu a Omaha, Neb., said the plane waa uuwpcu m mo oeams lor four minutes. "The anti-aircraft fire waa vey accHrate-md-"w got on ' flak hole in the wing," Mulllna said. He reported cities on Honshu Island were blacked out as the Diane HnnrnnrhpH atA fvi. - .unjv waa completely dark when the wiiiui were released. After th nlttfitt l a i. Tail Gunner rVm Tn..-v a vv WWBTfUU a, Quillen, Ford, Wash., reported uuiu see iires ior as miles. Cant. Elmer ft Hhn t.i.i.. Falls, Ida., commanded the sec- uuu ouperionress over Tokyo which bombxrl lhA 3:28 a.m. Dec. 11 (Tokyo time). 6,047 OREGONIANS Salem, Ore., Dec. 11 U.R A total of 8,047 service men were discharged and returned to civilian life in Oregon dur ' ing the three-month period ended November 30, state se lective headquarters has re ported. There were 680 hon orable discharges during No vember. Salem, Ore., Dec. 11 (U.R) The effect which the new se lective service regulations, tightening deferment policies' on draft age men, will have in Oregon, is not immediately determinable, State Selective Service Director Col. Elmer V. Wooton said toHay. FOURWED in THREE-CAR CRASH- Four persons were Injured about 11 o'clock Saturday night in a three-car collision on Beall Lane during a dense fog. Esther Walden, Route 1, Box 110, Central Point, suffered gen eral cuts and bruises; Robert Martin, cuts and srulses; WUma Bair, 22 North Bartlett, lacera tions, and Mrs. Frank Storey, Route 1, box 325, Grants Pass, who was the most seriously In jured, suffered a deep laceration of the scalp. The injured persons were brought to a loca" hospital in the Conger-Morris ambulance. No further particulars of the accident could be learned today. Jackson County sales to date in the Sixth War Loan are "E" Bonds $399,443 Total Sain $1,789,249
