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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1945)
a rare Ml is - i... Weather FORECAST: Intermittent rain tonight and Thurtday. LUtU chug in temperature. Temp. HI f heat Yeiterday ,..,, , Lowest thU Morning: 42 Precipitation past 24 hr& Trace Thirty-ninth Year TThird CROSS SURE AND OUR RIVERS IN 10 PLACES FOR GAINS Four Divisions Strike On Long Front Into Germany Patton Leads. ' Paris, Feb. 7 U.R) Ameri can 3rd army troops struck across the Luxembourg border Into Germany for general gains of more than a mile today in a new offensive along a 220 mile front. The four-division offensive carried across the Sure and Our rivers at 10 places in the area between Echternach and a point five and a half miles northeast of Clervaux, late front dis patches reported. The new attack extended the active 3rd army front from Echternac-: to the area north west of Pruem, about 35 miles. Gains in the previously active northern wing ranged around a mile for the day. "wv Lt- Gen- George S. Patton's troops.-plunging across the Our "and Sure rivers, were reported steadily deepening their pene trations of Germany against stif fening resistance. North of the new offensive front,- other- units of-the 3rd army captured three towns in a drive through the eastern crust of the Siegfried line on a 1,000 yard front three miles north west of Pruem. The U. S. 1st army's 78th di vision late today pushed within 500 yardf of Schmidt, 10 miles southwest of Dueren on high ground dominating the vital Roer river dams, i Two of the Roer dams already were in American hands, and a front dispatch said the town of Schmidt, which- the 1st army held for a single day last No vember, might be won again within 24 hours. The 309th regiment of the 78th division brought increasing pressure on Schmidt by taking vCle village of Kommerscheid, ' 1,000 yards to the northwest. In the Roer lake region the 78th cleaned out 159 German pill boxes, most of them fully man ned. ' The new drive brought Ger many's buckling Siegfried line under direct assault by the American 3rd and 1st armies all along a 70-mile front extend ing northward from the Ech ternach area to the headwaters of the Roer river. t It came as German military spokesmen were trumpeting anxious warnings of an immi nent full-scale offensive by the American 9th and British 2nd armies massed along the Roer river east and northeast of Aachen. , Lt. Gen. "George S. Patton s 3rd army forces already had breached the Siegfried wall at one point above the new attack front, and the 1st army farther to the north was plowing slow- v ly through stilf opposition into the chain of dams cnotrolling ''the level of the Roer river along its entire length. ITALIAN SECTOR Rome, Feb. 7. (U.PJ Fifth army troops occupied Monte Bono and Renaiao on their west flank east of the Serchio river and strengthened their position south of Bologna with a limited advance northeast of Castel Vec chio as activity increased all along the line today. Fighting continued on the right flank as fifth army units battled to hold positions won in early stages oi an auac laum-u-ed Monday. The Germans shelled tne vArcmann area nnth of Bologna with more than 400 rounds of artillery and 200 rounds of mor tar fire in period of two hours and 40 minutes. MEDFORDJlilM United Pint Full Leased Wire Army Opens New Reich Offensive ft 1r ' ' r iAcm Telephoto) Pvt. Henry Weber (left), 27, former Vancouver, Wash, shipyard foreman and logger, sentenced to death at Camp Roberts, Calif., court martial for refusal to obe y order of his commanding officer to drill His wife end four-year-old son, Wayne, are pictured in their Vancouver home as Mrs. Weber told reporters she had re ceived no official notification of her husband's death se ntence, that Weber has held to his belief that killing In war can not be justified at inns as she had known him. Camp Roberts, Calif.. Feb. 7. offense previously, Weber said I society In which we how live. (U.PJ Pvt. Henry F. Weber. he had asked army authorities . i7-n.,- w-.fc .kirli. .,i - '. -! Willie anvuuvbii it aoiiii kk yara worxef unaer semence oi death- for refusing an off leer's order to drill, told a reporter to- day he was "willing to do any thing to get the war over, as long as I do not have to kill other people." Revealing he had been court martialed and sentenced to six months hard labor for a similar! SENATE DEFEATS EXPLOSIVE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT. 24 Salem. Ore., Feb. 1til.R) The Oregon senate today defeat ed, 24 to 6, the controversial "civil rights" bill. The bill is the one which would prohibit the barring of any person from a place of pub lic accommodation because of race, color or creed. Only senators voting for the measure were Sens. Lew Wal lace, Coe A. McKenna, and Thomas Mahoney, all Portland and sponsors of the bill, and Sens. Wi'liam Strayer, Baker, and Rex Ellis, Pendleton, and William A. Moser, Grants Pass. Argument was led by Ma honey, who said unlike southern states, Oregon had insufficient facilities for persons of the col ored race and this would aid such minority groups. He cited "Injustices" whioh would break the heart of any other race" and added that Negro spokes men felt it did not go far enough but were satisfied that lt was all- that could be expected at this time "No law has more force than public opinion and no one will be hurt by such a law," Ma honey said. "Eighteen northern states have similar laws." McKenna described lack of hospital care, hotel facilities and eating opportunities for Negroes as an argument for the bill. Prior to the civil rights vote, the senate refused by a 16 to 13 vote to reconsider the passage J yesterday of an elections cm whicn prohibited the use of mo bile nvistiatlon booths and pro vided fcr "ample" facilities. Sen. McKenna sought reconsid eration on grounds the word "a m p 1 e"- was not definite enough.' . NEW SERGEANT RANK Long Beach, Calif., Feb. 7 (U.R) S'Sgt. Horace C. Boren, a former Dallas, Tex., newspaper man, today awaited official reac tion to his proposal of an addi tional sergeant's rank as the en listed man's answer to the new five-star general. MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY f 45 Death Sentence for refusal to 41 v ant aw a MDiiMt w ....... - comoaiani uui-y inree or tour j days before he refused, to. drill here. A general court martial last Friday sentenced Weber to be hanged for willful disobedi ence of an officer. "I have a revolutionary mind" said Weber, a member of the ultra-left wing socialist labor party. "Wars are caused by the NEWSPAPERS GIVE HIGH ASSISTANCE Washington, Feb. 7. U.R) Chairman Frank E. Triff of the allied newspaper council report ed today that the nation's news papers contributed some $24, 000,000 worth of space to the sixth war loan $8,000,000 of it in advertising and the rest in news and editorial support "fig ured at newspaper reader rates." Ted R. Gamble, national direc tor of . the war finance division of the treasury, joined Triff in praising the press for Its "mag nificent support of tne vital war financing program." Total value of newspaper ad vertising for the entire war financing program so far has amounted to more than $88,000, 000, Triff reported. Of this sum $34,000,000 was donated to the fourth, fifth and sixth war loan drives, all occurring in 1944. He said news and editorial support for the fourth, fifth and sixth war loans totaled 128.000, 000 agate lines, while the figure for the first three drives was 100,000,000 aate lines. BELG lUMTFRANCE WANT RHINE CUT Paris, Feb. 7 (U.R) Strong opposition to Gen. Charles De Gaulle's proposal for French military control of the Rhine land after the war was reported developing In Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg today. Representatives of the three small states are expected in Paris shortly to press their de mand for an equal share in the post-war occupation of the Rhineland, on the grounds that their Interests In the German border district are no leu vijal than those of France. Drill I That society can't prevent a third world war. i . , , , , . , , . "I am interested In a world In which all men can live peace ably, but to ba a good soldier vou have to learn to hate and kill, and I do not feel it Is right to kill other people. "With a revolutionary mind you . cannot hate and kill." Weber said the socialist-labor party aimed at "peaceful revolu- tion." AT BOSTON LINK TO SECURE SPIES New York, Feb. 7 (U.PJ The German consulate at Boston-, with the help of German ship crews, brazenly recruited Amer icans, to serve as Nazi spies in 1940, a secret military commis sion was informed today at the trial of two alleged spies. One of the men on trial, Wil liam C. Colepaugh of Connecti cut, said the Germans entertain ed him at beer parties, invited him aboard their ships and "dis cussed with me the possibility of my going to Germany." Colepaugh made his statement to the Federal Bureau of Inves tigation soon after his arrest and it was offered in evidence today against him and Erich Gimpel, the other prisoner. Gimpel is a native of Germany. The two al legedly "invaded" the United States from a Nazi submarine last Dec. 29, bent on espionage and sabotage. The report on Colepaugh's statement, relayed by army pub lic relations officers from the Star Chamber trial, indicated that the trip to Germany was of fered Colepaugh so he could study at the Nazi marine Engi neering schools. Colepaugh said he dealt with Rudolph Lohrengel, secretary to the Consul, Herbert Scholz, re putedly one of the most Import ant Nazis in the United States, and often mentioned as chief of of the German spy ring here. CIVIlMYING ON COAST FEB. 10 San Francisco, Feb. 7. (U.R) Maj. Gen. H. C. Pratt, command ing general of the western de fense command, today issued a proclamation permitting re sumption of limited civilian fly ing within the western air de fense zone beginning Feb. 10. ZHUKOV POISED TO TAKTBERLIN German Postion Serious as Oder Crossed Bridge heads Widened. London, Feb. 7 (U.R) Rus sian troops were reported un officially from Moscow today to have broken across the Oder river - before Berlin, and the Red army's official organ said the "complete destruction of Nazi Germany is very near." The German High Command reported that Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov's First White Rus sian army had expanded its bridgehead across the Oder in the Kuestrin area 30-odd miles east of Berlin one of a num ber the Nazis said the Soviets had thrown across the last nat ural barrier before the capital. Moscow dispatches and vari ous broadcasts from the Russian capital contained guarded but unmistakable reports that Zhu kov had stormed beyond the Oder and achieved at least tem porary successes in nailing down bridgeheads. One broadcast from Moscow by an American correspondent said two -Red armies stood "poised to leap upon - Berlin. The last natural barrier before Berlin - and central Germany, the Oder, has been stormed and captured. The .situation this morning is altogether too wildly promising for speculation." Another said the position of the Germans had "really be come serious to the point of des peration" and "it now looks as though the drive for the Ger man capital is really on." The German High Com mand's only reference to the sit uation before Berlin' in its daily war communique said that "on the Oder front the enemy was able to widen slightly his bridgeheads north of Ratibor, at Brieg, and at Kuestrin." Red Star, the Soviet army organ, published dispatches de scribing the battle of the Oder and said editorially: "Surpassing all precedents and possibilities in modern campaigns, the Red army's pres sure not only Is not weakening, but is gaining strength daily. Its objective,, the complete de struction of Nazi Germany, is very near." NO F.D.R. TRIP TO London, Feb. 7 (U.R) Visits by President Roosevelt to Lon don and Paris following the Big Three conference appeared un likely today. Well-informed sources said Mr. Roosevelt had declined an invitation from King George and Queen Elizabeth to be a guest with Mrs. Roosevelt at Buckingham Palace. The President was understood to have pleaded that the pres sure of business awaiting him in Washington would not permit him to visit London at this time. High French and Allied diplo matic sources in Paris believed there also was no basis for re ports that the President would visit the French capital. With the Franch smarting at being left out of the Big Three talks, this would be tho worst possible psychological moment for the President to visit Paris, informants said. RAZOR BATTLE FATAL Arlington, Ore., Feb. 7. (U.R) As aftermath of a razor battle on a crowded Union Pacific bus among three negroes recently discharged from the Bremerton Wash., navy yard, one was dead today, another was near death and a third was held in jail here. Tribune United Press Full LABOR SHORTAGE FOR NAVY CLAIM Washington, Feb. 7 (U.PJ As high navy leaders tried to convince the senate military af fairs committee that a labor draft is urgently necessary, it was learned today that manpow er shortages are holding up completion of many warships desired for coming operations. Secretary of Navy James V. Forrestal told the committee, which is studying a bill to make every male from 18 to 45 sub ject to draft for essential civil ian Jobs as well as combat serv ice, that 'time is the essence" of the situation. "We have the momentum go ing," he said. "We should keep it going." . ' Committee Chairman Elbert D. Thomas, (D., Utah) said For restal and Undersecretary of Navy Ralph Bard presented tables showing labor needs and illustrating labor turnover. From other sources lt was learned that the navy considers its labor turnover problem un controllable by any presently available means. In 1944, two of every five navy yard workers quit their 1obs, and in tne past 18 months the navy has hired 270,000 workmen only to end up with a net loss of 11,000. The result - has been - "an alarmine rate of slippage" in deliveries of combat ships. IF WILLIAMS IS E Washington, Feb. 7 (U.R) Sen. Kenneth McKellar, D., Tenn., took up his cudgel against confirmation of Aubrey W. Wil liams, former head of the Na tional Youth Administration, as rural electrification administra tor. McKellar, who led the 1943 fight that resulted in ultimate elimination of NYA, went before the senate agriculture committee to argue that Williams, by tem perament, philosophy and exper ience, was unqualified to head REA. Williams told the committee yesterday there was no truth to charges he was a communist, and defeatd an effort by Sen. Harlan J. Bushfield, R., S. D to get him to admit he favored "redistribu tion of wealth." Sen. Guy Cordon, R., Ore., asked Williams whether he would approach the REA admin istratorship, If confirmed, "as an administrator or as an evangel 1st" Williams replied that he could answer best by referring to his work as NYA head. "I wasn't an evangelist there and I certainly wouldn't be in REA," he declared. NEAR GOLD BEACH San Francisco, Feb. 7 (U.PJ A missing navy Catalina plane, last heard from Wednesday while en route to Seattle from here, has been sighted in Oregon just beyond the California bor der, Western Sea Frontier head quarters announced today. A search party led by Com mander Herbert S. Woodman left the Areata Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Calif., at 4 a. m. today, headed for Gold Beach, Ore., to pick up a pack train. The spot where the PBY was sighted by a search plane late yesterday evening .Is approxi mately 12 miles inland from the coastal town of Brookings, Ore. The plane was on a routine ferry flight with eight crew members aboard when first miss ed. No names have been releas- Leased Wire NO. 270. BIG THREE MEET BLACK SEA AREA, SAYS WASHINGTON Official Word Given Dis , cuss Joint Control of Ger many and Lasting Peace. Washington, Feb. . 7 (U.R) The White House announced to day that President Roosevelt, Premier Josef Stalin, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill are conferring "In the Black Sea area" on plans for the final de feat of nazidom, joint occupa tion of Germany, and "firm foundations for a lasting peace." "There is complete agree ment," the announcement said, "for join military operations in the final phase of the war against Nazi Germany." The conference started with military discussions, the White House said, and then went into plans not only for joint control of defeated Germany but also into "political and economic problemr of liberated Europe." High on the agenda, the an nouncement said, were discus sions looking toward "the earl iest possible establishment of a permanent International organi zation to maintain peace." The White House did not say when the three war leaders, ac companied by their foreign sec retaries and staff chiefs, started their meeting. Nor did it indi cate the place except to say that lt was in the Black sea area. . The announcement said, how ever, that "meetings are pro ceeding continuously," It added that a communique will be Is sued at the conclusion of the conference. The statement actually con tained little that the world had not known or guessed In recent days. The meeting place "In the Black sea area" had been print ed and broadcast widely from Europe, but- American censor ship prohibited stories to this effect in this country unless they came from or were at tributed -to foreign sources. MANPOlTDRAFT BILL URGED BY ARMY EDITORIAL Paris, Feb. 7 (U.PJ The U. S. army newspaper Stars and Stripes came out editorially to day for passage of the May Bailey act under which Ameri can manpower could be drafted for war work. "Victory depends on blood, not Ire," the army publication said. "That's why for our money the really good news in the pa per was the squib on the man power bill." The editorial endorsed Under Secretary of War Robert Pat terson's statement that the man power draft would boost morale on the fighting fronts and con vince thi troops that they would get the weapons and supplies they need. "You can say that again, Mr. Patterson,' Stars and Stripes' editors said. "This war won't be won by good news; by optimism; by headlines; by wishful think ing. "Take lt from the writer of this editorial, Mr. Patterson. He has fought In the mud and blood of the Roer. What the front needs is men and more men: weapons and more weapons: supplies and more supplies; everything and 11 that Ameri can manpower and Industry can feed It. ..." "They call the proposed man power law the May bill. That name ought to be changed There can't be any 'may' about lt. 'Must li the word." The Stars and Stripes editor ial was believed to mark the first time that any army news paper, at least In the European theater, has taken sides in the manpower debate. Chicago, Feb. 7. (U.R) Grain futures opened steady to frac tionally lower today. INTERNEE CAMPS BOMBED BY FOE; FIRE UK HIGH General Visits Freed War Prisoners, Cheered Mop-Up Continues. Manila, Feb. 7. (U.PJ Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to liberated Manila today, touring the city under bursting mortar and shellfire. MacArthur began his Inspec tion of the capital of the Philip pines, to which he had pledged his return, at Bonlfacla monu ment. ' He was met there by Ma, Gen. Oscar W. Griswold, conv mander of the 14th corps, Maj. Gen, Vern D. Muge and Brig. Gen. Wllllaim C. Chase of the 1st cavalry and Maj. Gen. Rob ert S. Beightler of the 37th divi sion. MacArthur shook hands with Chase and told him he was mak ing him a major-general. He then proceeded to inspect : the city, visiting both the Santa -Tomas university camp and Bill- bid prison, where he was cheer ed by the liberated internees and embraced by many of the wom en prisoners. Both Santo Tomas and Billbld were under intermittent fire from the Japanese when Mao Arthur made his tour. Three mortar shells hit a university building just before MacArthur arrived. Fires were still burning near tho waterfront and south of the Pasig river in the heart of the city. It was estimated that Manila suffered $2,000,000,000 damage due to battle, bombings and de molitions. At Santo Tomas. MacArthur was embraced by Mrs. Carl Seals, wife of Brig. Gen. Seal who was . with . MacArthur . on Corregidor and was shot down attempting to evacuate by plane. He now is a prisoner of war. "I'm a little late," MacArthur told her, "but we finally came." Bombardment of the camp continued sporadically through out the day. The internee and prisoner! had remained in the two camps pending completion of the mop- up of Japanese resistance inside the city of Manila. In mldafternoon, the Japanese scored at least four direct hita on the main university building at Santo Tomas. A shell dropped directly in front of the entrance of the main building at Billbld. Santo Tomas was under fire, probably from mortars, Intermit tently throughout the day. Gen. MacArthur visited in ternees at both camps today but luckily escaped enemy fire. NAZIilORDS T London, Feb. 7 (O.PJ The Nazi rulers of Germany served grim warnings today that civil servants as well as soldiers who falter In the path of the Red army would be executed or im prisoned. The Nazi overlords obviously were embarking on a ruthless campaign to stamp out the slight est signs of defeatism as the war reaches Its climax. German home broadcasts for the first time told of the execu tion of a member of the civilian administration of a German city for neglect of duty and being "devoid of honor." Details of the charge were not given. The civilian official executed as the police president of Byd goszcz (Bromberg), which was captured by the Russians last month. Three other officials of Bydgoszcz, including the provin cial president and the mayor, were ousted from office, and put in a "correctional battalion," German home broadcasts said. The three men will be given "partclularly ardous and hazar dous tasks," the broadcasts said. The deputy burgomaster of Breslau was executed week ago, but news of the incident was broadcast only over the German armed forces radio network. Washington, Feb. 7. (U.PJ The office of price administra tion today set selling prices on all types of fire wood sold by farmers. 4
