Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, December 31, 1944, Image 1

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Medford mail tribune., December 31, 1944, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextMEDFORDeJllSiT Weather C T5r Want Ad Way OaieSt 8tit ' At Small Cst forecast Bundty and Monday! Northern California lacreis ins cloudiness Sunday, fol lowed by rain, Oregon Cloudy, oecBhional rain on coast, light snow in norifceia portion. RIBU -full Lmm4 Wlra ttaitad Pri FuU Lti fi Thirty ninth Year MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1944 NO, 23& NE United Prata- hi m i wi mm mm ; ' -. i . . . . . run m i i iiiiiaupa 1 . . i . . i n. - f tNtlt LAUNUtS 5-forces Again Toke Over Montgomery Word . SIAK Wfl NH.N ft! ffl R VFR Ml "!5 2" WIM UK 2-WAY PUSH i BASTOGNFRONT Third Army Narrows Bel gian Salient In Critical Battle.' Paris, Sunday, Dec. 31 (U.K A critical new battle is raging around Bastogne where German forces have launched a two-way attack against the U. S. Third army's corridor through the city but. thus far have failed to stem Lt Gen. George S. Patton's troops in their drive to cut off the enemy salient into Belgium, ' dispatches said today. (The Luxembourg radio, heard in London, said that the U. S. First and Third armies had taken between 16,000 and 20,000 Ger man prisoners since the start of the German offensive on Decem ber 16.) . Patton's men were reported in censored field dispatches to have smashed five miles northwest of Bastogne, narrowing to 12 miles the waist of the enemy salient, although a contradictory an nouncement from supreme head quarters said the width of -the gap was 16 miles. American tanks and the dough boys at the same time were re ported storming the road center of Rochefort at the apex of the bulge street by street in an ef fort to throw the Germans into complete reverse after knocking back panzer spearheads 11 miles from the highwater mark of their drive, r , The German attacks from east and west against the Bastogne salient were reported mounted in strong force, but Patton's armor and infantry had previous ly widened the corridor to nearly eight miles just south of Bas togne. ' Late reports said that the Third army had entered La Vaselle and Chenogne, adjoining villages five miles west and slightly south of Bastogne. These gains not only bulwarked the corridor but .drove a wedge across the communications of German troops still trying to hold their advance penetration to St. Hubert,. 15 miles west of Bastogne. The Germans still held a foot hold on the Arlon-Bastogne high way leading into city from the south but Patton from the incep tion of his drive had employed a parallel secondary road and at last reports here, 38 hours old at last midnight, the corridor was still firmly held. Whether measured from 12 or 16 miles across, the waist of the German salient could be inter dicted by two-way artillery fire from Third army troops on the south and the First on the north. Such shelling of roads within the salient already had "most likely" been undertaken, it was said in authoritative quarters. Late dispatches said that the Third army had captured Not hum, 2V4 miles southwest of the Luxembourg center of Wiltz, in line straightening operations on the center of its 40-mile front. (German broadcasts asserted that the allies had thrown in 25 divisions, with the bulk of their armor concentrated against the base of the salient where the First and Third armies, in simul taneous assaults, were reported trying to slice off the German bulge. (Since mid-December, the enemy broadcasts asserted, the Americans have lost more than 100,000 men, fifteen of their divisions, including seven of armor, have been "badly mauled," the broadcasts added.) Using six divisions, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's Third army still was hammering relentlessly against the southern side of the salient, widening its front from 35 to 40 miles and sending one spearhead to a point five miles northwest of relieved Bastogne, front dispatches said. GOLF MEET OPENS Los Angeles, Dec. 30 U.R) Golfers will swarm over three Courses Wednesday in a qualify ing round to win the right to play in the four-day Los An geles open toumamT-i starting Friday, when ihr. gold golf rush will be for 3,333 in prizes over the Riviera course. U, S. Forces 1 gw?m mi r ft .: tAcm Jelephato As striking employes look on, Lt. Edward Caeser of the Sixth Service Command, tacks up notice ol Uovera meat's seizure of Montgomery Ward and Co. properties outside company's Chicago headquarters. For tin second time this year. Sewel! Avery, chairman of the firm's board ol directors, refused to accept the execu tive order. RUSSIANS CRASH BUDAPEST INNER DEFENSES. CLAIM London, Dec. 30 QJ.R Red army tanks and infantry, crash ing through a powerful inner defense ring, today for the first time broke into the streets of Plat, ' industrial ' Pest, eastern half of Budapest, while on the Danube's west bank Soviet shock troops hurled Nazi sui cide units from additional blocks of houses in flame scarred residential Buda, Radio Moscow said tonight that Soviet emissaries sent into German-held Budapest under a truce flag yesterday were killed by the Germans. The emissaries carried an ultimatum to the Germans to surrender and re ply to Red army terms by to. day at noon. The grim, hand-to-hand strug gle for Budapest rapidly be coming a German - Hungarian "Stalingrad reached a new pitch of activity today as Berlin reported that far to the north, the Red army's long-inactive front 20 miles inside East Prus sit had "returned to life." Marshal Rodion Y. Malinov- sky's 2nd Ukrainian army, which two days ago was report ed one to three miles east of the ' outskirts ' of Pest, today broke into the streets of the cap ital's borough on the east bank of the Danube and captured sev. eral important blocks of streets. How far the Soviets in both Buda and Pest were inside the city and how far they were from its center, fronting both banks of the Danube, was not disclosed in Moscow's nightly war bulle tin. IBGElifFORD TO LOCAL BENCH The eai simreme court has assigned Circuit Judge James W. Crawford of Portland to hold court in Jackson and Josephine counties, during tne umess m Herbert K. Hanna. the county clerk's office reports. Judge crawtora win noia nttrt f r.Tnni Pass. Monday. Jan. 8, and as soon thereafter as possible, hold circuit court ses sions here, according to present plans. Th m-iinn will nrevent con gestion of legal matters in this judicial district, juage crawiora will also have power to transact county court business, due to the illness of County Judge 3. B. (Blin) Coleman, who was report ed as improving. BOMBER CREW KILLED Victoria. Kan.. Dec. 30 !U.8 Ten of 13 crewmen were killed today when a four-engined bomb er crashed on a combat training mission about 12 miles north of the Walker army air field, it was announced tonight. Again Toke Over Montgomery Word 30 GERMAN SPIES N YANK UNIFORM CAUGHT I PAIS Paris, Sunday, Dec. 31 (U.R) Thirty German spies were rounded up in one band and a number of others also captured, many of them in American uni forms, when French police and American military authorities searched the capital for German agents, it was disclosed today. It was also disclosed that troops quartered in the French capital had been severely re stricted since Field Marshal Gen. Kalr Gerd von Rundstedfs drive into Belgium opened two weeks ago: Civilians and allied soldiers alike were halted constantly and checked for identification papers in the effort to round up Ger man parachutist spies and enemy agents who had infiltrat ed behind allied lines to obtain information, disrupt communi cations and otherwise aid Rund stedfs drive. The story of the spy-hunt was disclosed by the French per f ecture of police, which said that a "considerable number" of enemy agents had been captured in a number of raids conducted during the course of the allied investigation. Edward Pisanl, assistant pre fect of police, said that some of the Germans had been in hiding in Paris since September, wait ing to come(out unitl their ac tivities could coincide with the opening of the German counter offensive. ABSENTEEISM IN WAR PLANTS By United Press Heavy absenteeism in .vital war production centers was re ported Saturday as the war pro duction board campaigned with spotty success to keep factories producing to supply the western front. , Absenteeism up to 50 per cent for the Christmas-New Year week was reported in such in dustrial centers as Me York, Philadelphia, Detroit and west ern Pennsylvania. Indications were that absenteeism would be very heavy the day after New Year, as it was the day after Christmas. The WPB's "work as usual drive was having only halfway success in the Detroit area, where approximately one-half of the war plants will be ciosea New Year's day. BACK TO BONNEVILLE Portland, Ore., Dec. 30 OiiO After two years absence in Washington, Barclay J. Slicker will return to his post t the head of the sales and service for the power management branch of the Bonneville power adminis tration January 8. 1 CHAPLIN CASE IN JURY'S HANDS BY WEDNESDAY, PUN Hollywood, Dec. 30 !UJ5 A jury of seven women and five men may deliberate next Wednesday the question. of whether Charlie Chaplin is the father of 15-month-old Carol Ann Barry, daughter of the aging comedian's former pro tege, Joan Barry. A New Year's recess in the bitter paternity suit brought against Chaplin will end Tues day when Chaplin's attorney. Charles E. (Pat) MiUikan, wiii have his inning before the jury in Superior Judge Henry M. Willis' court. Millikan Is spending the holi day adjournment m preparing his final argument a plea that Chaplin be cleared, and that Joan's baby be held the child of some other man. His argument will be in con trast to the scathing denuncia tion fired against Chaplin Fri day by 77-year-old Jpseph Scott, attorney for the baby. In a two and a half hour address, Scott branded Chaplin as the father of Carol Ann, and then went ra to characterize the multimillion aire comedian as a "debaueher . . . who lies like a cheap cock ney cad ... a lecherous hound , , , a gray-headed old buzzard." . After Millikan completes his arguments Tuesday, Scott will be given an opportunity for re buttal. Judge Willis' instructions wilt be given, to the jury, Wed nesday morning, it was indi-cated-Nine votes of the jurors in agreement are sufficient in a civil case for a verdict. NEW SHOE STAMP DELAY. F( Washington, Dec. 30 J.fi The Office of Price Administra tion said tonight that present indications point to a delay In validating a new shoe ration stamp until "sometime next summer," thus forecasting a fur ther tightening of rationing on the home front. Such action would extend for at least two months the period the current ration stamp would have to last before another is declared valid, putting the ra tion on a basis of three pairs per person every two years In stead of the present rate of two pairs a year. In a joint announcement with the War Production Board, the OPA said that cancellation of outstanding shoe stamps is not considered. Paris, Dec. 30 (ii.fi Morton Downey, radio and stage tenor, was reported by physicians today to be "rapidly recovering" from a throat infection which has con fined him to the American hos pital here for week, , FATAL TO 1 FIGHT WITH m Benjamin F. Hershberger, 48, is dead as st result of self-inflicted stab wounds suffered about 8:40 p. m. Friday in an altercation with his estranged wife, Etta Hershberger, 38, of 3ilii Genessee street. The 'couple had been separat ed about two months and Hersh berger bad been spending most of that time with his parents in Twin Falls, Idaho, according to Deputy Coroner Carlos Morris. He returned, to Medford Fri day and ate a meal at a North Riverside cafe, where his wife is employed, Morris said. At Hershberger's request, they ar ranged to meet to discuss their marital difficulties when she was completed with her work. According to Morris, Mrs. Hersh berger agreed to do so but stat ed she would bring her son, Al bert, 17, and three smaller chil dren with her.. Hershberger met them In front of the cafe where they started to discuss their troubles He suddenly drew a fishing knife from a pocket and cut his wife over the right shoulder, Morris stated. Mrs. Hershberger fled and bs her husband started to pursue her, he was caught from behind by his son, Albert, who held him, Morris said. Hershberger then stabbed himself lust below the heart and in the stomach, according to the deputy coroner's report, and was rushed to a hospital in the Perl ambulance, where? he was pro nounced dead on admittance. Mrs. Hershberger was taken to a local hospital by city po lice and was released today, po lice stated. -Morris said no inquest will be held. The body is at Perl's funeral home and funeral ar rangements will be announced later. EXPECT GERMANS TO OPEN ALL-OUT ITALIAN ATTACK Rome, Dec. 30 (y,R) Stepped- up German activity all along the Italian front, pinpointed by small-scale attacks along the! western Ligurtan coast and ag gressive enemy patrol action west of Faenza, indicated to night that the Germans soon I may launch an all-out attack on the American 5th and Brit-1 ish 8th armies. . . Renewed enemy assaults In! the Serchio river valley, com-j biaed with active patrolling inj the 15-mite stretch between the Serchlo and the sea, resulted ini what 5th army headquarters! spokesmen termed "very' fluid": fighting. Negro troops of the; 92d division remained in pos-i sesson of commanding high ground south of Galileans and; the spokesmen emphasized that: such positions were more easily: defended than ground occupied: earlier, American forces pre-; viously were forced to with-; draw from Gallicano and Bargai In the first phase of the Ger man offensive launched four days ago. In central Italy a German pa-i trol, exhibiting unusual aggres siveness, crossed the Senio river in the area of Casale, tour miles west of Faenza, after e heavy shelling of a British posi tion on the river's east bank. 5TAR WITNESS ATTACK TO Wl Hollywood, Dec. 30 SMS Caprice Capron, 18-yesr-old showgirl end star witness against Capt. Morrison Wilkinson, Jr., at hit court martial in Santa Ana last June on morals charges, will marry Edward G, Howard, 33, "very soon," It was disclosed today. ACTION ON JAPS IRKS PA1 GS's Rescued By Sip-Yank Troops on Western Front Indignant, With the U. S. 7th Army, on the Western Front, Dee. 30 ai.S Hundreds of veteran American soldiers were indignant tonight over an item la the army news paper Stars and Stripes, which said that an American Legion post in Hood River, Ore., had ad vised Americans of Japanese an cestry to sell any property they own ana leave town. The dispatch, which moved dozens of G. I.'s to prepare to write letters of protest to Presi dent Roosevelt and congressmen said the Legion pest bad adver tised in local newspapers that Citizens of Japanese ancestry were unwanted. There was violent local reac tion among doughboys of Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch's original divisions the 36th and 45th who know the gallant record of the 442nd infantry regiment. composed mostly of loyal Japan ese-Americans, and with which the 38th division fought in Italy Reaction was nartieularb? vluperatlve against the Legion post's action, among the first battalion of the 141st regiment of the 38th division a battalion which just two months ago' to day was rescued from a German trap near Bruyeres by Japanese- -Amersean troops -who slashed through' German lines to the isolated battalion at great, cost to themselves. There were 81 men on that en circled feUSton when they were rescued and 23 of those same men still are with the company, including Lt Joseph Kimble, Seranton, Pa., and ,Sgt. Hiler huh, ssaa Antonio, Tex. Hull already has started writ- ing a letter. Kimble said he also would write one but was an. decided whether to address it to President Roosevelt, some con gressman, or the Legion post In noon River. San Francisco, Dec. 33 0S3 Harry Bridges, west coast la bor leader, today filed suit for divorce against his wife, Agnes, charging "extreme cruelty." Bridges said he regretted the "necessity" of the action which was "not Intended as any public reflection on my wife." The com plaint stated that the cc-uple. married December 2, 3823, in Oregon, have been separated since August 1842. Both are 44. The longshore leader asked custody of the couple's 20-year old daughter, getty Jacqueline. Mrs. Bridges has a son, Kenneth McCisy, 28, by a former mar riage. The suit followed by a few days Bridges' appeal to the U S. suprme court to set aside a deportation order on grounds that he is an undesirable alien. Seattle, Dec, 30 JJ9 Kath erina McManua, 38, waitress from Kansas City, Ho., was re covering in a, hospital tonight rem a severe beating she said she received at the hands of a Jealous suitor who followed her to Seattle. Declining to identify the man, whom she said was from St Louis, iha waitress told police she moved to Seattle because she was afraid of bins. Ml VETS Loudon, Dec 93 SiS Tfc Motcow radio anaouacad ia night that t&t iOTfii-p-onoi-d Hungarian serarssmeot fees declared war es Germany, and asfcad th allied nation and Rania for pac tarmt. The provisional gevanuneni waa tonaad last Satorday is Dlei, Hungary's second city, and H hadd by Coi Ctas. Bala Mifciet, format eeof roander of the Hungwiaa lit army, Th savarmnani feaa feaaa ferowd la lh liberated psrtie-ns of Hungary. Ashland, Dee. 38 Special) Fire beginning about S o'clock this morning completely destroy ed the ChstesB, night cuia lo cated about three miies north of here on the Pacific highway. All furnishings and equipment Jit the building were a complete less, which was estimated con servatively at about $12,005, In cluded in the loss were the large mirrors, plana, band instruments and furnishings. The building had recently been purchased by Ciub Cha teau, Inc., a corporation compos ed of Mrs. Terry Coiiee, Ass isted, and Louia Freeland an? Richard 3. Cox, of Los Angeles, and was to open soon. Three persons were asleep in the building at the iiroe the fire was discovered and. bad. to be removed through the roof. All thesr clothing- and personal ef fects were tost in the blaze. The building was covered by about one-sixth its insurance value, it was stated. Ruins were still smouldering late this afternoon and eight pii iars and the fireplace were all that remained standing, No plans st the proprietors were announced today. WIRE LEFTIST! Athens, Dee, 38 SJ.53 Brit ish, and Creek troops fought through a driving rain today is an ell-out offensive to clear Athens of ieftwing ELAS forces, who were officially charged with maltreating British prisoners in violation of the Geneva conven tion. At ieBst one-naif of Athens was in Greek and British hands after the first day of the offen sive Friday to which it was re ported reliably that 308 roent bers of the ELAS armed forces ot the EAM National Liberation Front) were killed and 80S cap tured. In what was described as "the best single day of hosiiil ties," the British and Greeks oc cupied a mile of southeastern Athens. Friday's operations cleared all of the Kaisariani working dis tricts o Athens, despite stiff op position from the ELAS forces. Fighting was reported raging to day In the southern areas as weii as around the cemetery south oi Ardittos hili, where there were clashes involving tensmyguns and hand grenades. London, Bee, 38 8i.fi The London Evening News asserted today that Important changes were imminent is the organiza tion of the aiiied supreme com mand on the western front. An official statement of the regrouping of ailled commands and armies is expected shortly The Evening News said without elaboration. Military sources ia London had no comment en to report,; ALLIED OOlllliiim Tokyo Mms 1? Ships Last Enemy Losses at Leyte ToiaJ 116,770. Allied Headquarters, Levis, Philippines, Sunday, Dee. Si Siffi Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced today that eight Ja panese planes were shot dowa while attacking American ship ping; in She Sola sea off the is land of Panay, and that enemy losses is the battle of Leyie feasf reached 118,773 MaeArihar'a dally bulletin said thai several planes attack ed the American vessels but did? not specify the size of the fores under attack or Its destination, (Tokyo broadcasts eiairae-1 ihat a 58-sfeip convoy sighted is the Salu sea had been attacked for three days and ihat 17 of 11 siips were sunk or damaged be fore.it reached the American base on Mindsra, ISO miies south; of Manila, presumably with ssip plies and reinforcements). Another Japanese plane- was shot down during a night raid; on Minders which caused damage to American festalis itona. U. S. planes harassed; Clark airfield, 4? miles soria west of Manila, and Bsilan air field on southern Luzsn, V. S, heavy 'Bombers attacking far to -the south set fire to a, small freighter ia the . lessee -Sundas islands at the eastern end of the Netherlands East In dies, white Japanese airfields aiso were battered on Kegro and Cebu islands, in the central Philippines. . - . , . v MacArthur's bulletin, review ing the 88-day Leyte campaign which ended when ail organized Japanese resistance was crushed; cn Christmas day, revealed that the Japanese had suffered S,549 additional casualties in meppica up operations during the past week, The overall figure of its, 778 included Japanese killed e captured on Lcyte, as weii as troops and sailors lost during attempts to reinforce the be leaguered island. In yesterdBF's fighting, la which the Americans were driv ing against the enemy's rem ananis pinned to the mountains of northwestern Leyte, 651 Ja panese were killed and 13 were captured, KbveS units on night patrol destroyed four Jap barges off Leyte. The bulletin said ihat the Ja panese 35th army was destroyed; on Leyie. It comprised the 1st, 16th, 28th and JS2sd divisions, Sb;e 8SiB brigade and major ele ments of the 8th and SSia. di visions, Those divisions were all vet erans. The first came from Toky and saw service in China is I , ,,...1 t . - churia is November, after ifca American. invasion. It was deci mated to the northern Grmoe corridor. The 3Eth was a yetersa of China and also comprised the "Butchers of Balsas," The 2ta came from Japan after being stationed in torth China and Luzon while toe 152nd was ac tive to the Philippines. David Strang, sea of Mr. an4 Mrs. ffohert Strang of Sens, has been killed ia line of duty at Saipaa, according to word re ceives; here yesterday. He wa born and reared in Medford and attended Sooseveit grade school before moving ta Reno. Strang was the aepfesw cf Virgii and Fred Strang and a grandson of Sirs. Charles Strang, ail of Medford. 'WILSOH- PHOTHAYER WEDS Hollywood, Dee. S3 m William Alexander Knojc, 37, Canadlan-borji actor- who por trayed the title rote ia the film, "Wilson," was married tonight to Doris Nolan, 15, fcloaa stage and screes actress.