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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 1944)
Massed Yankees Move Up in Effort to Stem Counter Weather Forecast: Cloudy with occasion al Hiht rain tonight and Wed nesday; mild temperatures. Temp. Richest yesterday 4 Lowest this morning 41 Precipitation 414 Thirty ninth Year First Photos Of Fighting Shouting ELA3 sympathizers wave a huge American flag (left) during demonstration in Athens that preceded armed conflict be tween their anti-government organization and British troops. At right, an enraged and excited crowd mills around bodies of first two victims of fighting, killed by Athens police during violent street battle. These are the first photos of actual fighting in Greek capital to reach the United States. E IN SEVEN CITIES IS EXPECTATION Chicago, Dee. -19.-(U.P.)iGor--ernment seizure of Montgomery Ward and Company properties in seven cities appeared immi nent today as the firm reiterated determination not to comply with a War Labor Board direct ive which included a demand for maintenance of union member ship. The company met the mini mum wage scale set by the WLB for employes of its Detroit stores, but a company spokes man said Wards would not ac cede to other WLB demands. Offer Unacceptable In Washington the WLB said Wards offer to make Detroit wage increases retroactive to Washington, Dec. 19 (U.R) The War Labor Board an nounced today that it has ordered U. S. Gypsum Co., whose board chairman has been Sewell Avery since 1937. to show at a public hearing to day why it has not complied with WLB directives on main tenance of membership, wages and other issues at Los An geles, Calif., and Charlestown, Mass. Sept. 7, 1943, did not comply with the directive which order ed them retroactive to Dec. 7, 1942. Sewell Avery, chairman of the board of Montgomery Ward, said the Detroit wage increase was made Independently and that he had not changed his previously-announced attitude that the company "cannot in good cit izenship" comply with the WLB directives. At Detroit, W. R. Rosevear, area manager, said Wards was putting a new basic wage scale of 48 cents an hour into effect. Rejected by Union Handbills distributed to Ward employes in the Detroit area said the company had offered to adopt a scale of minimum wage rates in September, 1943, that the WLB had recommended 'a similar scale of minimum rates, but that the union had rejected the proposal. A spokesman for the United Mail Order, Warehouse, and Re tail Employes' Union (CIO), on strike against Wards at Detroit, said the wage increase was the "first move In the company's back-down. At Chicago, however, a com pany spokesman said the wage decision did not alter the com pany's stand. Jackson County sales to date In the Sixth War Loan are "I" Bonds ..; 540.618 "t" Quota $600,000 United Press Churchill Will Keep On Political, Military Situation Until Western Front Crisis Past London, Dec. 19 (U.R) Prime Minister Churchill announced in Commons today that he had de cided to postpone any 'further statement regarding the inter national political and military situation until after Christmas because of the "great battle" un der way on the western front. Hard-pressed by laborites for a statement regarding Greece, Churchill said he was unable, to make a full-length statement but would answer questions if raised on an adjournment motion. - Premier Weary The prime . minister looked weary and mumbled his answers. He showed nothing of the ora torical fire which he had flashed during his recent Polish and Greek statements. He said the "great battle pro ceeding now" in and on the ap proaches to Belgium and Luxem bourg made any formal state ments undesirable. Replying to laborite ' Arthur Greenwood's assertion that "the Greek situation was "developing and deteriorating," he said: "I do not think the situation is deteriorating. I think it has greatly improved." Mum on Greeks Another laborite asked wheth er King George of Greece was frustrating or impeding the es tablishment of a Greek regency, but Churchill declined to reply on grounds that he was not mak ing a formal statement. Laborite Aneurin Bevan charged that the country was divided badly over the situation in Greece. "I do not intend to discuss the Greek issue at the moment," Churchill reiterated. "So far as TRIED SLOWDOWN New York. Dec. 19 (U.R) Carl L. Norden, Inc., the firm of Corrigan, Obburn & Wells, Inc., industrial engineers, and four officers of the two com paniesone a U. S. naval offi cer were indicted by a special federal grand jury today on charges of conspiring to slow down production of the vital Norden bombsight and impede supervision of its manufacture by the navy. The indictments charge that Norden deliberately provided Remington-Rand, Inc., of El- mlra, N. Y., subcontractors for a bombsight unit, with incomplete and inaccurate specifications in an effort to retain complete manufacturing control of the product Full Leased Wire In Battle Torn Athens Lip Zippered the opinion of the country is con- cerned, of course anybody can always say whatthe .orjlnjpnrof me country is. : ,( INT K F: POLICE CHIEF Klamath Palls, Ore., Dec. 19 (U.R) On complaint of a 15-year-old .girl, Chief of Police Earl Heuvel of Klamath Falls was charged today with contribut ing to the delinquency of a minor and was released after posting $1,000 bail. Chief Heuvel, when Informed of the charge, went voluntarily to the office of Justice of the Peace Joseph Mahoney and sub mitted to formalities of arrest and posting of bail. Says Charge False "All I can say now is that the accusation is false," he said, as he left the court, after hearing the complaint. District Attorney Orth Sise- more said that the complaint was based on the girl's story that Chief Heuvel committed an unlawful act while she and her older sister were leaving town in compliance with a justice court order. Previously, the older sister had appeared in court on a va grancy charge and was given a "floater" sentence suspended if she left town. Heuvel was al leged to have accompanied both girls for some distance outside of the city limits. The district attorney said that the girls returned to Klamath Falls, where the older juvenile was again picked up for vagran cy and ordered to. serve the sus pended sentence. ' It was then that the younger girl told the story that led to Heuvel's arrest. Sunday, the older sister was reported to have escaped from police custody while Chief Heu vel and another officer were permitting her to recover her clothing in a house where she had left It. Heuvel said she-fled through, a door after asking per mission to go to the wash room The 15-year-old complainant to day was in custody of the county juvenile officer. . After the reported escape, the district attorney's office called in the younger girl and filed the complaint. In another case, J. C. Jones, city marshal at Merrill, near Klamath Falls, today was be ing held in the county jail awaiting sentence, after plead ing guilty to a charge of con tributigg to the delinquency of a minor girl. MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEP 019, NAZI DEFENSES E E LofioW Dec.19 -i-4ttR)i Moscow, reported that the Budapest-Vienna railway, the last practical escape route for the garrison of the beleag uered Hungarian capital, had been brought under Russian artillery fire. London, Dec. 19 (U.R) Two Russian invasion columns ad vanced into southern. Slovakia on a broad front today and con verged on Kassa (Kosice) in a fast-breaking drive to wipe out the narrow German salient sep arating the Red armies in Hun gary and Poland. Powerful German defenses along the mountainous Slovak- Hungarian border cracked wide open under the Soviet attack and Moscow dispatches said Russian tanks and infantrymen were punching rapidly north ward at a number of points on the 68-mile invasion front. Simultaneously, the French radio network broadcast a du bious report that the Red army had broken into Budapest and locked in hand-to-hand battle with the Axis garrison. The re ports, which were vitwed with considerable reserve in military quarters, said a mass Hungarian desertion in Pest, on the east bank of the Danube, opened the way for the. Russian break through. . California ranks forty-fifth among all the states in tax in come derived per motor vehicle registered. Liberty Ended As Nazis By Jack Franklsh UP War Correspondent. With the U. S. First Army. Belgium, Dec. 18. (U.R) Three months of liberation ended today for hundreds of .Belgians caught in the path of the German coun teroffensive, and tonight the roads are lined with silent, re sentful villagers watching the Americans retreat and waiting for the Nazis to come back. German tanks, many of them manned by fanatical crews clad in the black uniforms of the Nazi Schutzstaffcl, are rolling over the countryside not far from this town northwest of Stavelot. Tension at Front There are reports that the en emy's armored spearheads have reached Stavelot, 20 miles Inside the Belgian frontier and six miles south of Spa. ' A strange air of - expectancy and tension hung over the entire front this evening as -umor fol lowed rumor and the roads be came jammed with traffic mov ing to the rear and men and guns moving forward to meet the en Luzon omb Bath in Sixth Day; Expe Early American Landing I'L SINK OR DAMAGE 94 JAPVE S S ELS Long Continued Series of Attacks by Halsey's Men Cause .Heavy Foe Losses. . Washington. Dec. 19 (U.R) Superfortresses in a three way daylight strike today hit enemy targets at Omura, Ja pan, and Shanghai and Nan king, China, the war depart ment announced today. The raiders over China re ported they shot down five enemy planes, probably de stroyed three and damaged nine others. Allied -Headquarters, Philip pines, Dec. 19 (U.R) Carrier planes of the Third fleet, credit ed with destroying or damaging 94 ships and 461 planes in the first 72 hours alone.Vsent an un paralleled aerial bombardment of Luzon into its sixth straight day today with a new round of attacks. With the ground campaign on Leyte in its final stages and the beachhead on Mindoro secure, a front dispatch said Filipinos in Manila confidently expect Amer ican Invasion forces to land on Luzon and reach the Philippines capital city "soon." . ; ' . Convoy Sighted "' ' , (A Japanese broadcast yes'ter- day said an American convoy of "considerable strength" had been sighted in theSulu sea south of Mindoro and speculated that further American amphibious landings might be In prospect, perhaps on Luzon.) Land-based planes of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's southwest Pacific command extended the aerial neutralization campaign over ' the remainder of the Philippines and reported that his aircraft, together with those of the Third fleet, had destroyed or damaged severely 741 enemy planes in the week ended Sun day. On the ground, Brig. Gen. Wil liam C. Dunckel's invasion forces on Mindoro, only eight and a half miles across the Verde is land strait from Luzbon, were encircling a large pocket of Jap anese in the hills east of cap tured San Jose in the southwest corder of the island. State Income Tax Blanks In Malls Salem, Ore., Dec. 19 (U.R)- About 450,000 state Income tax blanks are In the mails or are ready for mailing, Earl Fisher, state tax commissioner, said to day. Covering returns for 1944, the blanks must be filed with the commission not later than April 15, 1945. A 70 per cent discount was permissable on taxes payed this year in comparison with 30 per ' Pnt trtf 1Qm navamanfa For Belgian Population Sweep Back in emy. But there Is no denying that the First army is being forced to fall back for the present and that one corner of Belgium which they liberated Is once again coming under Nazi control. The Belgians know it too, and those ' who had been friendly with the Americans already are fleeing westward before the Ger mans approach. Resentment Shown As the great, long convoys roll back to the west, hundreds of black-clad Belgians stand beside the roads in little groups. They are not waving to the Americans any more, and, in fact, many of them show their resentment plainly. Still others give clear indica tion that they are ready to wel come the Germans back as "lib erators." But the little people who al ways suffer in the sweep of war are unhappy. The three months of freedom that followed their four yean of slavery teem to Tribune United Prm FuU 1944 Spain Under Nazis For Past S Years Says British Envoy London, Dec. 19 (U.R) Lord Templewood said today in his first speech since his retirement as British ambassador to Madrid that Spain was "morally oc cupied" by the Germans for most of the past five years. Templewood, the former Sir Samuel Hoare, made his maiden speech in the House of Lords after his return from Spain last week. He said that while he was in Spain, nazl gestapo agents watch ed every move he made, living in a house next door to his resi dence and looking over the wall at him. Templewood told the house that German influence pervaded many important sections of Spanish life, adding: "Although Spain was not mili tarily occupied in those early years of the war, Spain was morally occupied." PEPPER TO DROP T TO DELAY Washington, Dec. 19 U,R) The senate today confirmed the nomination of Joseph C. Grew as undersecretary of state in a general reorganisa tion of the state department. U-Washlngton, Dec. 19 U,R) Sen. Claude Pepper, D., Fla., an nounced after a telephone con versation with President Roose velt today that he was going to abandon his fight to delay sen ate confirmation of six top state department nominations.' Pepper said the president told him that if the senate failed to act on the pending nominations in this session of congress, the same list would be forwarded to the new congress which meets January 3. Collapse of the delaying ac tion on the part of Pepper and James E. Murray, D., Mont., and Joseph F. Guffey, D., Pa., in dicated that the senate might reach a vote on the six nomina tions before tho day is ended. Seeking such a vote, the cham ber began its session at 11 a. m. an hour earlier than usual. Los Angeles House Shortage Critical Los Angeles, Dec. 19 U.R) Los Angeles' housing shortage Is the most critical in the nation, David Barry, Jr., district rent director of the office of price ad ministration, said today as he submitted his resignation effec tive Jan. 5. Barry said that the Los An geles area, with a population of nearly 4,000,000, handles three times as many rent cases as does the Chicago area, which has 7,000,000 population. The elk ranges only a average of one-halt mile. dally Counter Drive have come to an end. They won der how soon the Americans will be back and whether the Americans will be back in time for them. Several Belgian friends came forward to say goodbye. Some of them wanted to come along in our jeep, but we were fully loaded and had to turn them down. "A Blentotl" As we started to drive off, two women stepped up to shake our hands and call out: "A blentot see you again," showing they Knew we would be back. Then a shell crashed down across the street to emphasize the fact that what had been a quiet area for months was now well forward In the lines, and we hurried off. The Nazis admittedly achieved considerable surprise with their attack, which apparently is aimed at seizing Important American supply dumps to re plenish their own stores, par ticularly gasoline. Liwd Wire NO. 229. ROOSEVELT HOME T President Tanned After 3- Weeks' Vacation; Many Problems to Be Settled. Washington, Dec. 19 (U.R) President Roosevelt, tanned and rested from his rigorous fourth term campaign, returned to the white house today after three weeks vacation at Warm Springs, Ga., to deal with ser ious diplomatic, military, and domestic problems. Although he kept up with his paper work on a daily basis while ' resting at the "Little Washington. Dee. 19 (U.R) President Roosevelt said to day that no date has been set yet for a meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Josef Stalin. White House" on the Springs Foundation, Mr, Warm Roose- velt came home to a wide assort ment of official tasks a com plicated foreign affairs situation, furtherance of plans for a meet ing of the "Big Three," comple tion of the administration's pro gram for the new congress, final drafting of the government's new financial budget, and his January 20 inauguration. Gone Since Nov. 27 Mr. Roosevelt left Washing ton November 27 and reached Warm Springs the next day. He left the Georgia Spa, famous for the after-treatment of polio pa tients, on December 17. and stopped yesterday to Inspect the 107,000 acre marine corps training base at Camp Lejeune, N. C. : (This was the first public dis closure of Mr. Roosevelt's where abouts for the past three weeks. He was accompanied on his trip Dy correspondents for the three press associations.) Many Problems Await Problems competing for the president'i Immediate attention included: 1. The military reverses on the western front where the Germans have driven the Ameri can 1st back into Belgium and Luxembourg. 2. Mounting diplomatic pres sure for a meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Josef Stalin as a con sequence of the explosive Greek, Belgian, Italian, and Polish situations. 3. The senate controvery over nominations to six high state department posts. 4. The War Labor Board-Montgomery Ward crisis, now at a stage requiring white house ac tion. BY ENEMY ACTION IN PACIFIC AREA Washington, Dec. 19 (U.R) The 23,000-ton naval auxiliary oiler Mississlnewa was sunk re cently in the central Pacific by enemy action but nearly 80 per cent of me crew was saved, the navy announced today. The normal complement of the ship Is about 230 officers and men. The nature of the enemy action was not disclosed. Among the survivors was the skipper, Capt. Philip G, Beck, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The Mississlnewa, built at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corpor ation s Sparrows Point, Md plant, was commissioned last May 18. A daring pilot In a flimsy float plane and emergency boat crews from a nearby vessel were credited with saving most of the men from the oiler after lt had been turned into a blazing in ferno. DOUGHBOYS RALLY! NAZI ONSLAUGHT Line Appears Stabilizing On Northern Half Is Word; Planes Swarm to Assist. Paris, Dec. 19 (U.R) Massed! American tanks, guns, and men moved up today to meet German armored columns striking mora than 20 miles into Belgium, and a front dispatch said Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges' 1st army lines "appeared to be stabiliz ing" along the northern half of the 73-mile defensive front. The British radio said the bat tle to stem the big counter-offensive of Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt "is now in full swing." ? - Advance Slowed United Press Correspondent Jack Franklsh, with 1st army forces, said reports were circu lating that the Germans advance in Btlgium had been slowed to a snail's pace if not completely stopped. Rallying from the shock of their most stunning setback since Kasserlne Pass in Tunisia. Hodges' doughboys had succeed ed in regrouping to meet the on slaught which pushed them out of Germany at points on a 50 mile front, Franklsh reported. iAw clouds and haze blank eted a considerable part of the battle zone, but allied planes again were swarming to the at tack wherever they could find nazi panzers and Infantry. Americana Grim Grim and tense, the Ameri cans were pouring up into de fensive positions, United Press Correspondent John McDermott reported from another sector of the front in a dispatch which quoted a staff officer as saying: "We've got plenty to halt the Germans. It looks like the Jer ries want their finish this side of the Rhine." At supreme headquarters it was reported that the Germans not only were continuing their onensive against the U. S. 1st army, but wore fighting Tiarder ' against the American 3rd and 7th armies. ' , From Lt. Gen. Georse S. Pat. ton's 3rd army front. United Press Correspondent Robert W. Richards reported generally stif fening nazi resistance which vir tually paralyzed the drive into the Saarland and the section of France manned by Fatton's right Wing. . , . .... 1 . I ., .. Seventh Edges In Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch's 7th army was reported edging; deeper into the forefield of the Siegfried line In the Rhenish Palatinate and storming the for tifications of Bitche in -the French border zone. Both Germany and the allies maintained news blackouts over the battle In Belgium and Lux embourg. There were no specific; locations beyond the disclosure) last night that German tank de stroyers were in the area of Stavelot, 20 miles inside Bel. glum and a like distance south east of Liege. The shower of German V. bombs on the areas behind the battle zone continued today, Franklsh reported. He said the) roads in the forward areas were) choked with traffic units mov ing to the rear and tanks, guns ana men moving forward. E WILL BE DRAFTED Salem, Ore., Dee. 19 . The newly Increased draft quotas for the nation during the next few months will materially in crease the number of men called up from Oregon, Col. Elmer V. Wooton, state selective service director, said today. The deciding factor in many cases is the provision under which any man who has been deferred and who changes his job is automatically reclassified as available, Wooton said. He was not prepared to estimate the number of men who would be called, he said. SIDEGLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Betty Mack, Paula Blanton, Ann Scrlpter and Betty Rose, with other Alpha Delta Pi's, ex cited ly watching the Eugene flrement extinguish a flue fire at the sorority. Dean Shelton and Marvin Doty, as spotted in San Diego by another boot, Robert Crowl, looking pretty salty sans hair and dressed in navy dungarees.
