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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1944)
I.WANW u mm Weather Forecast: Oeculonil rain to nliht and Thursday; mow In mountalDs; llttla chins In temperatures. . Temp. Hi the it yesterday 81 Lowest this morning 44 Precipitation .11 Thirty-ninth Year Super-Forts Blast Vital Mora than 40 direct hits from bulging bomb bays of Saipan-based B-29 Super-Fortresses of the 21at Bomber Command rock the giant Mitsubishi aircraft plant at Nagoya, Japanese coastal city, as scores of the giant planes gave the town its first bitter taste of Super-Fort terror on Dec. 13. 21st Air Force photo, radioed from Honolulu to San Francisco. Death-Defying Sergeant and Fast Dive Save Crew When B-29 Is Depressurized By Mac R. Johnson . ' United Press Correspondent A Super-Fortress Base, Sal pan, Dec. 20 U.PJ (Via Navy ; Radio) The heroic work of a death-defying sergeant and a 700-mile an hour dive of more than 15,000 feet by' an alert Super-Fortress pilot over Hon shu Island 'was credited today with saving the lives of five B-29 crewmen who collapsed due to lack of oxygen at an al titude of nearly six miles. The sergeant, who once was threatened with transfer from the air force for "laziness", was Robert W. Wyman, El Cajon, Cal., and the pilot- was 1st Lt. Edward W. Cutler, 121-B Hunt ing Terrace, Alexandria, Va. Blister Blows Out It happened on the night of Dec. 18-19 as a B-29 on a routine "weather strike" blew out a gun blister as it approached Na goya. When the plexiglass blis ter blew out, the plane sudden ly was de-pressurized in atmos phere so thin that a man could live only a minute without oxy gen. Corp. Elmer Hendershot, Rt. 4, Fairmont, W, Va., was sitting at his gunsight when the blister blew out without warning. Air from the pressurized Super-Fort rushed through the opening with such velocity that It broke Hendershot's safety belt and spread-eagled him gainst the hole. Grabbing some wires and catching the toes of his shoes against the metal lip around the opening, he- was able to re main in the plane, saving his own life. However, the escap ing air pulled his flak suit over his head and sent it out the win- SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Dale Franklin having a hard time getting his new daughter's arrival properly noted in the public prints. Mr. and Mrs. Bert Thierelf curious as to identity of a news paper around a package from their son, Capt. Bub Thierolf, now head of a tank unit "some where in South Pacific," un wrapping same with great ex pectations only to find it an old copy of the Medford Mail Trib une. Mrs. H. B. Janes too excited ever arrival of her first grand child to talk coherently. Gus Newbury feeling suffic iently recovered from his illness to sally forth in the "Oregon mist" to do his Christmas shop ping. Frank Hull claiming the title of "Medford's most intelligent people" for employees at the Chamber of Commerce. MedfordT United Prni s. .r- dow along , with his precious oxygen ' mask, helmet, . ear phones and one glove. ' . . ".v Hendershot .-. suffered minor cuts on the temple and neck, but he bled so much he ap peared to be seriously injured. Happened Quick All this happened virtually instantaneously at is takes only a second to de-pressurize . a Super-Fort through an opening that large. So the first thing Right Gunner Wyman saw was his blood-covered left gunner slump suddenly forward and collapse due to lack of oxygen. "I removed my own oxygen mask so I could reach Hender shot and put him back on his station," Wyman said. "Hen dershot's mask was ripped so I put an oxygen hose in his mouth so he could get air. I was able to get oxygen myself." Wyman told Cutler, the plane commander, what had happened on the interphone. ' "I think everything- is okay," Wyman told Cutler. "Let's go on to the target." Collapses Again Meanwhile, Hendershot col lapsed again, so Wyman re- ICANS HURT T I Six Mexican laborers were in volved in a truck accident at about 1:15 a. m. today when the vehicle, a 1936 model Chevrolet, registered to Rogue River Or chard company, left Hillcrest road and rolled over two or three times, according to a state police report. The accident occurred near the Rogue Valley golf course. The truck, operated by Jose Uribe, was being driven east and failed to negotiate a turn and went approximately 200 feet along the ditch. As Uribe at tempted to bring it back onto the road it turned over, accord ing to Carlos Morris who took the injured men to a local hos pital in the Conger-Morris ambu lance. Uribe suffered a deep cut over the left eye requiring stitches, Miguel Espindala had cuts on the forehead and bruises and Pedro Hernandez had small cuts over one eye. None were seriously in jured and will be released from the hospital this afternoon, ac cording to Dr. A. E. Merkel, at tending physician. The truck was a complete wreck, the state police report, said Full Leased Wire Jap Plant turned to give him more oxy gen from the hose. Cutler or dered Weather Observer 1st Lt.. Pau- Ratlin owit. Yonkers,. N. Y., intd' the' gunners' compart ment to help, but Rabinowitz collapsed when his oxygen hose became disconnected. . Wyman saw - Rabinowitz kicking, then go limp. He dragged the weath- could get an oxygen connection again and Rabinowitz revived. The plane still was at a very high altitude and it was SO de grees below zero inside. Corp. Harold W. Laplante, the Bronx, N. Y., radio specialist, tried to come forward, but he weakened in the few minutes it took to leave his own oxygen supply and move forward to another supply. Laplante made it back to his own compartment and then Wy man, working constantly and growing wobbly himself, In formed Cutler, "we can't make it under these circumstances." Cutler immediately turned the plane and started a 700-mile an hour dive in order to reach a lower altitude swiftly where there would be oxygen suffi cient to maintain life. When the plane reached 15, 000 feet, Cutler tried to come back through the tunnel, but found it clogged with packing and insulation torn out as air rushed out through the broken blister. He fought his way back through the debris, but col lapsed on reaching the gunners' compartment as the air still was too thin at that altitude. He revived hurriedly, however, when Wyman gave him a shot of oxygen and soon the Super Fort was below 10,000 feet where there was sufficient oxy gen. All the crew members sur vived and offered thanks to Wyman and Cutler for saving their lives. Unique Broadcast To Unite Soldiers With Home People Washington, Dec. 20 U.R) American soldiers across the world will be united with the people at home by radio on Christmas Eve in unique broad cast showing the power of the Christmas spirit in the midst of grim and bitter warfare. The program will be broad' cast (NBC) for all to hear on the Army Hour, Sunday, Dec. 24, from 3:30 to 4:30 p. m. EWT. tiere ere some of the features: Soldiers In the front lines In Germany will sing carols while fighting Is in progress nearby. A 100-voice choir composed of American soldiers and WACS of Japanese ancestry will chime in from Fort Snelluig, Minn. MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER B-29s Set Tokyo Fires 78TH CONGRESS JOB UNFINISHED Early Departure of Members for Christmas Vacations Forces Sine Die Close. Washington, Dec. 20 U.PJ The 78th congress faded into his tory today, its scheduled work not quite completed because too many members chose to get early starts on their Chrisemas vacations. Ironically, it was a bill to In crease wages of postal workers $100 a year that compelled the congress which had appropri ated nearly $200,000,000,000 during its two years of existence to adjourn sine die last night with business still left to be done. Postal Bill Delays The postal bill had been ap proved by the house and was the final business in the senate be fore adjournment was planned. But the chamber became em broiled in a parliamentary argu ment and Sen. Bennett C. Clark, D., Mo., raised the point that a quorum of 49 senators was not present., The roll was called and only 38- senators vanswered. r Demo, cratio Leader Alben W. Berkley, Ky., had two 7 alternatives to round up the absentees or move to adjourn. He chose adjourn ment. The house had quit more than an hour earlier with barely L20 members on hand. The next congress the 79th convenes Jan 3. In it the Demo crats will enjoy a far greater numerical majority than in the session just completed. ' Finish Main Task Before quitting last night the senate finished the principal task which kept it in session be yond last week s tentative ad journment deadline confirma tion of six top state department nominations. It let die. because of a dispute over exempting the central valley In California from an acreage limit on government irrigation projects, the $500,000,- 000 postwar rivers and harbors improvement program. Previously, in the five weeks since returning from its election recess, the congress had: 1. Approved after lengthy par tisan debate the nominations of Lt. Col. Edward Heller of Cali fornia and Former Gov. Robert A. Hurley of Connecticut as members of the surplus war property disposal board. 2. Extended the second war powers act to Dec. 31, 1945. 3. Frozen the social security payroll tax at 1 per cent for an other year. 4. Passed a $500,000,000 de ficiency appropriation bill. 5. Authorized for the postwar period a $1,000,000,000 flood control program and a $1,500, 000,000 highway program.. No Funds Given The flood control and high way program measures carried no actual appropriation of funds for the work. That is planned later. Most of the $182,237,697, 612 appropriated by the 78th congress was for outright prose cution of the war. - The army received approx imately $75,000,000,000 and the navy about $58,000,000,000. Ad ditional billions went to emerg ency war agencies and to war functions of the regular govern ment departments. As appropriations mounted, so did taxes. The 78th congress put most of the nation's taxpayers on a pay-as-you-go basis. In do ing so, it raised government in come an estimated $3,000,000, 000. It subsequently passed a tax simplification measure which netted another $2,300,000,000. The simplification bill, how ever, drew the congress into one of the bitterest of its many fights with President Roosevelt. The president had asked for a $10,- 000,000,000 tax Increase and Vetoed the bill congress sent him. Congress promptly over rod the veto. Children Able to Talk to Santa On Friday, Saturday Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce has made arrange ments for children of the Med ford area to talk to Santa Claus free of charge by direct wire Friday or Saturday, it was announced today. Chil dren are asked to dial 9156, or 9158 for connections with Santa Claus, between 9 a. m. . and 9 p. m. either Friday or Saturday. v In a conversation with local junior chamber officials today, Santa assured them he would answer all calls by post card. ' At a meeting Tuesday night junior chamber members held an auction of Christmas gifts which raised $17.75 to be used to pay for the direct wire to the North Pole. LEFTISTS CAPTURE OF Athens, : Dec. 20 (U.R) An E. L. A. S. forces of 1000 persons including women, boys and girls throwing grenades like base balls, stormed and captured the R. A. F. headquarters at Kit ls sia, 10 miles northeast of Athens, At.J''a.,rn.veaWdJodayt ' . .. Earlier Lt. Gen. Ronald Scobie served notice on leftist forces that an all-out campaign would begin tomorrow morning to end the internal struggle. Fire on Mob The headquarters attack be gan Monday A British armored column reached the scene more than 24 hours later and fired on the E. L. A. S. swarming around the flat-topped stone buildings. Tanks and armored cars slash ed toward the besieged British building and rescued the R. A. F. personnel which included 25 staff officers. Some of the R. A. F. men were wounded. Many of the E. L. A. S. were wounded by the armored forces. The headquarters was in the Hotel Cecil, one of the last build ings captured by the E. L. A. S. The insurgents set fire to the hotel and were believeti to have captured some British motor ve hicles. R. A. F. planes dropped leaf lets in the Athens and Piraeus areas warning civilians to evac uate the areas around E. L. A. S. guns tomorrow morning when an all-out assault would begin against the leftist forces. CUT IN GAS RATIONS IS CAUSE OF SUICIDE Long Beach, Cal., Dec. 20 (U.R) A cut In gas rations today had caused the suicide of Albert Williams, 56-year-old chemist. "He was despondent after he returned from the ration board and later took poison," his wife, Margaret, told police. Buzz Bomb Blitz on Belgium May Be Nazi Offensive Phase By Robert Muiel (UP War Correspondent) Aboard Ninth Air Force Liai son Plane, Belgium, Dec. 20. (U.R) From this little plane hov ering over Belgium I saw today an area attacked by buzz bombs with greater intensity than the blitz which shook London last summer and fall. ' There was a possibility that this attack was coordinated with the present German offensive the first such synchronization in military history. Results Unknown But only the military expert were able to say whether this apparent timing of ground and buzz-bomb offensives, permitting the luftwaffe to stay on the de fensive, Is working out in prac tice. With sharply etched memories of the blitzing of London with a similar weapon, I can say that this area is taking an even worse plastering. RIBUF United Press FuU Liwd Wire 0 20, 1944 AIRMEN REPORT T Japanese Use First Phos phorus Bombs In Effort to Shoot Down Big Invaders Twenty-first Bomber Com mand Headquarters, S a i p a n, Dec. 20 (U.R) (Via navy radio) Three Superfortresses, attack ing individually, started two dozen fires in Tokyo last night. One of the B-29s encountered a swarm of 20 to 30 Japanese night fighters which pressed home a determined assault. Re turning crewmen also reported the enemy used aerial phos phorus bombs in an attempt to bring down the big Marianas based aircraft. Commander of the first plane over Tokyo, 1st Lt. Wilfred N. Llnd, Minneapolis, Minn. He found the city blacked out. Explosions, Fires ' Dropping his bombs, he saw them explode and start fires cov ering a large square area of the metropolis. His plane was over the city at 1:08 a. m, Tokyo time. It was followed nine min utes later by a plane command ed by Capt. Harold F. Schramm, Coral jGables, Fla.. who report ed Starting 13 additional fires of medium size In the industrial area, where the blazes set by Llnd -were burning. Later 1st Lt. Everett P. Abar, Concorn, N. H., roared over Tokyo but he was unable to drop his explosives because the bomb bay doors were stuck. All his guns went dead and he was defenseless against the 20 to 30 night fighters which attacked him for more than an hour. First Phosphorus "We could see tracers around us at various times, but we were not hit," Abar said. He said- it was the first time he had seen the Japanese use phosphorus bombs against the Superforts. Homeward bound, his crew finally succeeded in opening the bomb bay doors, so they attack ed a small enemy island en route. First Lt. Harold E. Sargent, Waymart, Pa., bombed Shimono- shiki on Honshu during the nignt of December 17-18 and set off "a very large explosion that sent blue-green flames a thousand feet Into the air." Shlmonoshlkl is three miles southwest of Nagoya. NO PAPER MONDAY Following long-established custom the Mall Tribune will not publish on Monday, Christmas day, in order to permit employes to enjoy the holiday In their homes. I counted the number I saw and heard over a stretch of sev eral hours, and it was at least as many as hit London In a sim ilar period. In addition, the Nazis were hoping to hit an area some what smaller than Britain's ram bling capital. I had a bird's eye view of the V-weapon operation from a plane piloted by Ma J. Homer Forsythe of Cambridge, Ohio, veteran of the Pacific. I spoke to some people who endured the latest attacks, and they seemed to be taking lt about the same way the British did. From what I could see, the Germans have not made any par ticular Improvement in the buzz- bomb since they first used it against London. It still does about the same amount of dam age, moves about the same speed, I and still Is as vulnerable to at tack by fighters. c? 1 J NO. 230. Nazis Strike Back ESSEN DUSSILDORS , Lli.nkfc-' ,.. . . fC"" fIFPkjt AMY fir"!11! MAINZ SAARUUCKiN (Acmt Teltphoto) The heaviest German counter-offensive of western campaign (white arrows) co-ordinated with a savage V-bomb barrage, continues to roll on U. 8. First Army front, punching Into Belgium and Luxembourg. HOTEL PROWLER ADMITS GUILT; E '' Jack Junlon Colllcott, 20, an ex-sailor, - pleaded, g u i 1 1 y to charges of "larceny from a hotel room" yesterday in circuit court after signing a statement in which he admitted robbing four rooms at the Jackson Hotel Tues day night of approximately $150. He Is now in county jail await ing sentence. . Colllcott was charged with taking $19 and a wrist watch from the room of Harry Jay Farmer, a sailor from Klamath Falls naval base; $7 and three quarts of whiskey from the room of Capt. William Thomas Brown, stationed at Colorado Springs, Colo., and grounded in Medford due to weather; $80 from the room of Lt. Harry Edwin Ed' monds; $35 from the room of J, H. Morris, Greyhound bus driver and $12 from the room of Mr. and Mrs. Otto King of Talent. The rooms were robbed while their inhabitants were sleeping. Colllcott was arrested shortly after the robbery on identifica tion of Mrs. King, who awoke when he entered her room, the police report stated. He. had hid den his loot in a lampshade and under a radiator in his own room, according to the report. Colllcott's statement read that he received a bad conduct dis charge from the navy Nov. 27 and that he has a wife and baby in Bend, Oregon. He registered at the Jackson hotel Dec. 18. JAP BALLOON IS FLATHEAD PUZZLE Kallspell, Mont., Dec. 19 (U.R) There was only one live topic of conversation today in this Flat head county summer resort where the war suddenly dropped into the laps of 8,000 natives in the form of a mysterious Japa nese balloon. Since the day last week when O. B. Hill and his son, Owen, spotted the red and yellow sphere In the woods southwest of town, Kallspell has taken a buzz ing new interest in the war be ing fought thousands of miles across the Pacific ocean. Towns people made sure, however, they knew whom they were talking to until federal authorities had checked the balloon. Speculation on how the enemy got into these woods came trigger-fast after the FBI lifted its security blackout yesterday on the news everybody along Flat head lake had known for days. Jackson County sales to date In the Sixth War Loan are "E" Bonds $552,037 "E" Quota $600,000 nn S NANCY f J? vww ASOU0 FRANCE ' MULHOUSt. f MILK ILFORT CvS3 b HUGE BATTLES STILL RAGING III NORTHERN SECTOR Report From First Army Is First Sign of Change in Trend of Swirling Conflict Paris. Dec. 90 Aim 1 - American 1st armv tf nHinr said late today that the German coumerouensive has been "denW ed" in five days of the bitterest fighting, but at least three tre mendous battles still were rag ing in the northern sector of tha -nazl break-through front. A dispatch from Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges' 1st army headquarters gave the first sign ' of a chance In thn tronH nf th cdnfllct swirling over Belg(pm and Luxembourg, but there still was no indication that the west ward sw'.'ep of German armored task forces had been checked. ' Three Main Battles American pniintprnttarlr rm disclosed by a front report which said that two "extremely large aim miier Dailies ' were being fousht in the northern wto n the break-through zone, and an other involving "even more Ger man tanks" was in progress Partner east." (CBS Cnrreiinnnrfont M.hrit C. Hottelet reported from tha 1st army iront mat "we are get ting the first straight indication that at some points the tide of battle Is beginning to change in our favor. He said the Germans made no progress at several . points, and one nazl spearhead was pushed back several thou sand yards.) Field dispatches said a mora or less solid front hurl tin re established on either side of a zs-mue wide gap in the 1st army line, through which German armored columns were fanning out in reckless thrusts westward, , leaving formidable American forces - and strong points to ' threaten their flanks. , STETTW TEAM SWORN IN, STARTS Washington, Dec. 20 J(U.R . The new undersecretary of state and four of the five new assist ant secretaries were sworn into ofice today, and Secretary ol State Edward R. Stettintus, Jr., immediately began carrying out plans for reorganizing the de partment to deal with momen tous foreign affairs of the pres ent and future. All of Stettlnlus "team" ot assistants except Brig. Gen. Jul ius C. Holmes said their "I do's" before news and movie photo graphers, reporters, members ot the appointees' families and staffs, and state department of ficials In the secretary's outer office. Holmes is in Europe com pleting his work as deputy chief of staff to Gen. Dwlght D. Eisenhower and will take the oath upon his return in the near future. Grew Is First The oaths were administered by Supreme Court Justice Stan ley F. Reed. ' Joseph C. Grew took the oath to be undersecretary of state first and was followed by Wil liam L. Clayton, Archibald Mac Lelsh, Nelson A. Rockefeller and James C. Dunn all assistant secretaries of state. Stettlnlus and what he des cribes as his "team" are pledged to "carry out . . . a liberal and forward-looking foreign policy with level-headed and business like effectiveness." The senate confirmed the new nominees yesterday, after Presi dent Roosevelt intervened to break a revolt against approval. Grew was confirmed 66 to 7, Clayton 52 to 19, Dunn 62 to 10, Holmes 61 to 9, MacLelsh 43 to 25, and Rockefeller, 62 to 9. Records Sought For Camp White Hospital Phonos Local Red Cross officials to day issued an appeal for popular phonograph records, not being used in private homes, for use in the Camp White Station Hos pital, Patients at the hospital have Indicated particular inter est In current hits. All records should be left at the Junior Red Cross office In the Holly building, where they will be picked up and transport-. ed to the hospital by the Red Cross motor corns. REORGifATIOH i
