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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1944)
ftn leioJMANl TO 1ME Weather forecast: Partly cloudy to eloady wltli rain, thowera tonieht and Friday. Colder tonieht and Friday. Temp. Highest yesterday 54 Lowest this morning 43 Precipitation M Thirty ninth Year CHAIRMAN AVERY REFUSES ACCEPT FEDERM ORDER Roosevelt Statement Says Confidence in WLB Un dermined by Company. Chicago, Dec. 28 (U.R) The federal government, acting un der orders of President Roose velt, took possession of Montr gomery Ward and Co. proper ties in seven cities today but for the second time this year Sew ell Avery, chairman of the firm's board of directors, re fused to accept the executive order. MaJ. Gen. Joseph W. Byron, director of the special services division of the Army Service Forces, served the order at 9:50 a. m. CWT affecting Ward prop erties in Chicago, Detroit, Jam aica, N. Y.; St. Paul, Minn.; Denver, Colo.; San Rafael, Cal., and Portland, Ore. The firm had refused to abide , by War Labor - directives . on wages and maintenance of mem bership in all the cities named in the order. Injunction Awaited Avery said he refused, to ac cept the order and Byron await ed, action on the government's request for an injunction in fed eral court at Chicago restrain ing company officials from in terfering with government op eration of the properties. Mr. Roosevelt in a statement on the 'Montgomery Ward seiz ure said the confidence of em ployers and workers in the wartime structure of settling la bor disputes was being threat ened "by the consistent and willful defiance of its decisions by the head of one of the great est corporations of this country Sewell Avery, . chairman of the board of Montgomery Ward and Company." "This company, under Mr. Avery's leadership, has waged a bitter fight against the bona fide unions of its employes throughout the war," Mr. Roose velt said, "in reckless disregard of the government's efforts to maintain harmony between management and labor." Others May Strike The President said there was a threat that workers in "some of our most critical war plants (at Detroit) may join" a strike against four Ward stores in the Detroit area. "Strikes in wartime cannot be condoned, whether they are strikes by workers against their employes or strikes by employers against their govern ment," he said. "All of our energies are engrossed in fight ing a war on the military bat tlefront. We have none to spare for a war on the industrial bat tlefront." Avery was closeted in his paneled office with army offi cers and declined to amplify his refusal to accept the order. Avery's previous refusal to accept a presidential seizure or der came last April 26 when the government seized the Chi cago properties of the plant for the first time. The next day he was carried from his office by two soldiers. SNELL SILENT ON JAP RETURN TO COAST AREA Salem, Ore., Dec. 28 U.PJ Gov. Earl Snell had no com ment today on the policy of his administration toward the re turn of Japanese-Americans to the west coast, scheduled to start next week. The governor said he believed that it would be better for no public statement of policy to be made at this time, and said he wanted to await any further de SEVER mm STOKES SEIIEI iimb iiiSEifELFS border velopments. MEDFORD OnlUd Prm Rioters Smash J. W '0Stl "T .Tl, Overturned counters and smashed merchandise displays Utter the floor of Montgomery Ward Co.'s Dear born. Mich., store after a crowd of allesed store workers' union members led a 15-mlnute rampage through the floor aisles. The union claimed thai."strike-breakers Imported by the company tried to stop the picket! . " nd. egHkMidie4j4usa, :-;.v:&:.s:iki. Presidential Order Violates Constitution Declares Avery Chicago, Dec. 28 U.R) The text of Sewell Avery's state ment on the position of Mont gomery Ward and Company in its seizure by the. government follows: The order of the President of the United States to effect the seizure of the property ana business of Montgomery Ward is a violation of the constitution of the United States, which the President pledged to uphold and defend. A congress, which is the sole lawmaking authority under the constitution, has giv en the President no power to seize the non-war business of Montgomery Ward. The purpose of the President's order is to enforce, by an exer cise of arbitrary power, orders of the War Labor Board which the court have declared to be advisory and legally unenforce able. The courts have held that any one who refuse to comply with orders of the War Labor Board is not defying a command of the government, and that, since the orders are merely ad visory, no government official has the right to impose punish ments on those who do not com ply. The President's order does not arise from any failure on Ward's part to pay fair wage rates. Wards policy is,, and has been, RUSSIANS STRIKE London, Dec. 28 (U.R) Soviet armed forces, striking directly west from embattled Budapest toward Vienna, captured several inhabited places north of Szekes fehervar and took 600 more prisoners, a Moscow communi Que said tonight. Red army troops in northern Hungary also captured the rail town of Szecesny , 41 miles northeast of Budapest and 18 southwest of the Czechoslovak ian rail hub of Losonc. Two additional suburbs of Budapest were occupied as the Soviets tightened the vice around the eastern and northeastern sections of the Hungarian capi tel. They were Cinkota, three miles to the east, and Dunakeszi, less than five miles to the north of the east bank of the Danube, Full Lund Wire MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEfoER 28, 1944 Montgomery Ward to uav wages as high as or higher than those paid by other employers in the community for similar employment. , Ward's only objection to any of the War Labor Board's wage recom mendations has been in those instances where the board has arbitrarily demanded that Ward s substantially increase its rates above those of its compe titors in the highly competitive retail field. The President has ordered the army to restrict the liberties of Ward's employes by imposing upon them a closed shop in the form of union maintenance. "Brass Hats" At Wards Serenaded , . With Phonograph Denver, Dec. 28 (U.R) In the retail store of Montgomery Ward and Co., here today, the tune "The Army Has Made A Man Out of Me" -blared loudly. The piece was played over and over again at the store's record counter. "I think it very, very ap propriate," said Mrs. Verjean Perkins, clerk at the record counter, "with all the 'brass hats' around here." She referred to the six army officers who walked into the retail store and assumed its control at 8:50 a. m. Mrs. Verjean explained that she was the wife of a soldier, stationed in Denver. San Francisco, Dec. 28 (U.R) John Lhrman Sumpter, 22-year-old ex-soldicr from Cuth bert, Ga., was held here today for Los Angeles police after walking Into the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investi gation and confessing to the murder of pretty New York Heiress Georgette Bauerdorf last October 12. Sumpter, who holds mental discharge from the armed forces, said his home was in Cautcbbert, Ga. Detroit Store (Acme Telephoto) GREEK PREMIER TRIPLE REGENCY - Athens, Dec. 28 (U.R) Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Secre tary Anthony Eden left for London today to recommend to King George of Greece the appointment of a regency in accordance with a decision reached at the Greek conference. peace Athens, Dee. 28. (U.R) Pre mier George Papandreou was un derstood without official con firmation today to have sent his resignation to King George of Greece and suggested the ap pointment of a three-member re gency. Archbishop Damaskinos, ap parently presuming that he will be appointed a regent, began sounding out associates regard ing the selection of someone to form a new government. Some quarters were understood to fa vor a "colorless" government composed of Greeks not hitherto prominent in politics. Some royalists were reported trying to block the appointment of Damaskinos. The king him self has been cool toward the re gency proposal, but the weight of the British foreign office ap parently was behind the arch bishop. Chaplin Trial In Recess For Day Hollywood, Dec. 28 (U.R) Principals in Charlie Chaplin's paternity trial rested today while the Jurors pondered the intricacies of red blood corpul scles, about which they were scheduled to hear more when the defense calls Dr. -V. L. An drews as its final witness to- SEVEN PAY FINES FOR MINOR TRAFFIC COUNTS Seven persons, charged with minor traffic violations, such as no warning device, no operator licenses, and void foreign license plates, paid fines yesterday in Justice W. P. Tucker's court. The sheriff's office is now Is suing temporary license stickers for cars and trucks. So far there has been nothing resembling a rush. January 1 is final date for procuring next year's license. , 'S TAKEN IN CHARGE BY ARMY Portland, Ore., Dec. 28 flJ.R) Army officers today took over control of the Montgomery Ward branch in Portland, with Manager O. W. Huddleston de claring the seizure was "highly illegal," but that he would co operate with the army officials. There was no demonstration or incidents accompanying the posting of government seizure notices at all plant entrances and the presence of a lieutenant and private at t h e main en trance. Capt. Howard E. MacDonald, a transportation corps officer from the Seattle port of em barkation, assumed temporary charge and said Huddleston was co-operating in every way. Denver, Dec. 28 (U.R) S I x army officers today walked into the Denver retail store of Mont gomery Ward & Co., Inc., and seized control of its operations at 8:50 a. m. - A statement released through the officer hV'charge of publio relations at the store,' Capt. William W. Garner, said that the only purpose of the military possession was to "see that war labor board directives are com plied with immediately." Denver, Colo., Dec. 28 (U.R) Charles E. Henry, . interna tional representative . of the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Employes of America, CIO, here today said that the union was prepared to cooperate with the federal gov ernment in its action in the Montgomery Ward St Co., case, L Condition of Circuit Judge Herbert K. Hanna, patient in St, Vincent's hospital in Portland, was described this afternoon as critical, in a brief message from the United Press bureau in Port land. The judge was rushed to the Portland hospital yesterday afternoon by ambulance upon advice of his local physician and is under the care of Dr. Laurence Selling there. Judge Hanna was taken ill last week and when his condition be came worse Sunday, was taken to a Medford hospital. Mrs. Han na, the judge s brother, Leon Hanna from San Francisco and a nurse accompanied the Judge to Portland. Doughboys Rescued From Bastogne Siege Not Too Happy Over Fight Interruption By Robert Richards United Press War Correspondent Bastogne, Belgium, Dec. 27 (U.R) An American relief col umn has lifted the week-long German siege of encircled Ba stogne, but the rescued dough boys aren't overjoyed about It. They are a little peeved that others are going to horn In on their personal fight with the Germans. "Of course, we aren't talking about armor, mind you," ex plained T4 Dominic J. Rochet- to, 23, of Spring Valley, N. D., "we're always plenty glad to see the armor and the air corps, but we don't need no infantry help right now." Experience Told Rochetto and four buddies told us what it was like fighting inside the pocket while they leaned against their Garands in the shadow of a shell-blasted building. American tanks had officially Tribune United Pr Full YANKEE FORCES TAKE NEW TOLL OF JATVESSELS 41 More Ships Sunk or Dam aged; Superforts Stage Attack On Tokyo Suburb. By United Press American air and naval forces sank or damaged 41 more Ja panese vessels, including 15 war ships, in widespread attacks throughout the Pacific and the Japanese reported a new Super fortress attack on their home land today in the wake of a heavy B-29 assault on the Musa- shino aircraft factory in Tokyo. Ibarakl Bombed A Japanese domestic broad cast said a "minor" formation of Superfortresses from the Mari anas dropped "some incendiary bombs" in Ibarakl prefecture on the island of Honshu, just north of Tokyo, today. The big four-englned bombers were revealed to have scored 12 direct bomb hits in yester day's attack on the Important Musashino works in the indus trial suburbs of the Japanese capital. The toll of Japan's waning seapower was taken by U. S. bombers, ' submarines, and sur face craft in attacks ranging from the southwest Pacific theater to the Volcano islands, 750 miles south of Tokyo. ' An abortive bombardment of American positions on Mindoro in the Philippines cost the Ja panese - three destroyers sunk and a battleship and a cruiser damaged. New enemy naval at tacks designed to disrupt the American timetable In the Pa cific were expected, however, as the Japanese repeatedly have pointed to the Philippines as the crucial battle area. Freighters Sunk American planes also' sank four freighters and a coastal ves sel in the Philippines and ad ded three other merchantmen elsewhere In the southwest Pa cific. The heaviest toll of Japanese shipping was revealed by the navy department, which said that American submarines oper ating in far eastern waters sank si enemy snips, including a large Japanese aircraft carrier and seven other combat vessels. U. S. Liberator bombers again hit Clark field near Manila for the third successive day to raise the toll of enemy planes there in three days to 124. American warships from the raciric tieet again hit Iwo Jima in the Volcanos Tuesday for the second time in four days. A Ja panese gunDoat was blown up and a landing craft set afire in me DomDarament, which was concentrated on coastal defenses, Two U. S. vessels suffered minor damage. Tungsten for the first time is being mined commercially in North Carolina. . lifted the siege at 8:10 p. m. yesterday with their arrival at Bastogne's outskirts. Trucks, jeeps and other vehicles rumbled into the battered city in force today. Rochetta was speaking again. "Mostly we minded the rain and the snow and the cold. God bless the C-47s (air transports) and Thunderbolts. They really kept us going when things got tough. "There were times when we had to ration our ammunition, but we just shot straighter and made it last." "We didn't have too much trouble with those Jerries," chimed in Cpl. Thomas Mulli gan, 23, of Detroit. "Hell, our outfit knocked out 103 of their vehicles the first two days of action and we would have banged a lot more, but our ammunition got so short toward the end we quit firing on convoys, saving it for the Leased Wir NO. 236. CHURCHILL PARTY; HITS GREEK GIRL Machine Gun Bullets Zip Near British Party; Sec ond Attempt in 24 Hours. Athens, Dec. 28 U.R) Brit ish sources said today that ma chinegun bullets believed fired in an assassination attempt missed Prime Minister Church ill and other British authorities by 30 yards yesterday, but wounded a Grek girl probably latauy. It was the second time in 24 hours that Churchill has missed death in Athens. On Tuesday, nearly a ton of dynamite was found fused in a sewer beneath the Great Britain hotel, British and Greek government head quarters. Fighting Still Rages Fighting still raged in Athens and northwest Greece. Addition al areas of southeast Athens were cleared during the morn ing. A British armored force was sent 16 miles south of the capital to round up 150 mem bers of the rebellious ELAS. British informants charged that machine-gunners undoubt edly were aiming at Churchill, Marshal Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, supreme allied com mander for the Mediterranean theater, and Lt. Gen. Ronald Scobie, British commander in Athens, when they opened fire ROBERHYLE, jr. WRITES OF WOUND Pfc. Robert r. Kyle, Jr., ton of Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Kyle, Sr.. 609 South Oakdale avenue, was wounded In action on the European battlefront about the middle of December and is now in an army hospital in England. First news of Pfc. Kyle s wound ing was received In a letter from the young man which arrived yesterday. The young man, 19 years old In August, wrote that a shell fragment entered his neck be low the chin and emerged near the ear, but that the wound had not imoaired his speech or abil ity to swallow. He was high in his praise of the care given wounded men both at the front and in the hospital and wrote optimistically of his recovery, Pfc. Kyle, who had been serving with the 100th infantry division in the 7th army, was awarded the purple heart short ly after arriving at the hospital, He arrived in France for duty Oct. 20 and was on the battle front from Nov. 2 until the time of being wounded. krauts." "Those Germans were too young for us," added Pfc. Ray mond Derosier, 24, of Hartford Conn. "They were just kids. Yesterday - me and two other guys captured seven and killed five before they knew we were even near them. "It's all In knowing how, mis ter. You Just got to learn this fighting business right." The doughboys' attitude re flected that of their commander. Only 24 hours after Bastogne was surrounded, he received an ultimatum from the German commander. The American reply was clas sically brief and to the point, "Nuts'" he said. Then It was that the Ger mans turned loose everything they had. It dldn' phase the Americans, but the heavy artil lery and anti-aircraft guns shattered virtually every build ing inside the city. SEIZE INITIATIVE AND AJTSPEAR TIP Rundstedt Admits Change in Tactics on 35MI. Front;. Echternach Retaken. Paris,. Dee. 28. (U.R) Ameri can troops have seized the initia tive on both flanks and at the tip of the Belgian-Luxembourg salient, supreme headquarters announced today, driving back the westernmost spearhead three miles and surrounding thousands of Nazis east of Celles. A broadcast Nazi dispatch from Marshal Karl von Rund stedt's headquarters admitted that the Germans had lost the initiative on a 35-mile front be tween Bastogne and Echter nacht, and had "gone over to the elastic defense of their flank." Eichternach Retaken The Berlin radio said the Ger mans had lost Echternach, south ern anchor, post of the base of tne salient, which supreme head quarters revealed only today had been in enemy hands. On the basis of SHEAF re ports as of noon yesterday, hard fighting doughboys won their biggest defensive victory since the enemy attacked when they shoved back- the spearhead aimed at Dinant on the Meuse. capturing several hundred pris oners and a number of tanks and other armored vehicles. Despite murky weather which grounded most of the tactical air forces, almost 2,000 Flying Fort resses, Liberators and fighters struck from Britain at 10 key ran yaras, Dridges and other links in the German transport network on which the break through forces depended. Hit Rundstedt's Rear For the sixth . straight dav Eighth air force bombers struck at Rundstedt's rear. More than 1200 big bombers crashed un- ward of 2500 tons of explosives on the supply and reinforcement hubs west of the Rhine. American troops were Dress ing home attacks on both sides of the German corridor, and ap parently were whittling down its 20-mile waist between Bas togne and Manhay. Although the Germans still were fighting bitterly, for the moment at least they were fight ing to hold - their sensational gains rather : than to extend them. j Supreme headquarters reveal ed that the counterpush against the southern side of the German bulge had gained an average of 10 miles since it Jumped off from at. east-west line througB Arlon live days ago. Further gains appeared prob able on the basis of the German admission of an "elastic defense" the usual Nazi terminology for an uncertain situation and some times constituting an acknowl edgement of a retreat. The German dispatch from Rundstedt's headquarters, which did not concede the relief of Bas togne, said that the big road junction was the center of "one of the most violent tank battles since the beginning of the in vasion." It identified the American units encircled at Bastogne as the 101st airborne division, the Tenth armored division, and "remnants" of the 28th infantry -division. A light snow was falling this morning over much of the bat tle zone, and temperatures were somewhat higher. A front dispatch said the Ger mans continued building up strength in the Monschau forest, on the north side of the base of the salient, and were believed to have placed a large number of troops in position with an espec ially strong concentration of self propelled guns. SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Senator Earl Newbry and various friends making a fruit less search of the Newbry neigh borhood for the senator's lost tooth. Floyd Scott attempting to solve "The Case of the Missing Christmas Present" by accusing Selective Service employees of of the crime. L. P. Mathes in from Central Point with interesting data on the coming Legion post installa tion. NO PAPER MONDAY Following long-established custom the Mai) Tribune will not publish on Monday, New Year's day, in order to permit employes to enjoy the holiday In their homes. r
