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