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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1945)
HE v v nr A Weather Fortcatt: Partly cloudy tonlfM and Wednesday with UtU change In temperature. Temp. 1 Highest yesterday ., 52 Lowest this morning 2d Precipitation past 24 hxs., none Thirty ninth Year "Reds Tear New Gap LATEST ADVANCE OF Berlin Claims German Coun ' terblows Growing Strong er; 64 Tanks Wrecked. London, Feb. 20 OJ.R) Nazi broadcasts reported today that Marshal Ivan S. Konev's .1st Ukrainian army had torn a gap In the German line some 75 miles southeast of Berlin in the. bitterly contested settor north of Sorau. Berlin reported that German counterblows were getting stronger, and were slowing down the red army. Berlin also claim ed that at one point in Silesia west of beleaguered' Breslau the Russians had been edged back , an unspecified distance. Gains Concaded The German high command conceded that Konev's forces scored new gains in several sec tors between Sorau, between the Bober and Neisse rivers, and Guben, on the Neisse 28 miles to the northwest. Col. Ernst Von Hammer, nazi jnilitary commentator who often reflects the information of the high command, said that north of Sorau the Germans "closed a gap which the enemy had torn in the German barrier line." Von Hammer also said that in the southern sector of the Bres lau defense belt, the Russians penetrated ' the fortifications around the Silesian capital, but were driven back later. 64 Tanks Wrecked . The daily German communi que said 64 Russian tanks were destroyed in defensive . battle against strong soviet forces com pressing the remnants of 200,000 troops trapped in East Prussia. ' Soviet dispatches said the Rus sians had captured the main sup ply base for Koenlgsberg and rthe final defenses of East Prus--sia were about to collapse. The reports Indicated Konev was attempting to pull his forces even with the flanks of Gen. Gregory K. Zhukov's 1st White Russian army on the Oder river, 81 to 43 miles east of Berlin. Completion of such a maneu ver would give the Soviets a solid 200-mile front from the Baltic sea- to Czechoslovakia. Washington, Feb. 20. U.R) ' The house military affairs com mittee today approved a-bill o draft unmarried graduate nteifc 20 through 44 (both ages inclu sive). S It will be the first proposal to draft women to reach the house. Congress repeatedly in the past has displayed reluctance to con script women. While the measure now applies only to unmarried nurses, it . would not affect enlistment of married nurses. BURBANK HOP TO MIAMI TAKES 8 HOURS, 43 MIN. New York, Feb. 20. (U.PJ Pan-American World Airways announced today that a -passenger Lockheed Constellation plane had flown from Burbank. Cal., to Miami, Fla., in a record time of 8 hours, 43 minutes. SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Leslie Ternahan practicing his Toastmasters' club speech on his young daughter with poor re V suits. Harry Watson leaving a Jay Cee board meeting in something of a hurry to attend to a minor plumbing disaster in the Med ford Hotel. Medford United Press Full Britain Will Throw Everything Soon as Defeat of Germany Churchill Assured F. R. Washington, Feb. 20 (U.PJ Prime Minister Winston Church ill told President Roosevelt in a recent meeting that Great Brit ain "was determined to throw everything it had at the Japs as soon as Germany has been de feated." The White. House today dis closed that the President and Prime Minister conferred on the Pacific war at Alexandria, Egypt, after the Big Three meet ing at Yalta in the Crimea. To Add Strength The announcement said Churchill also promised to strengthen British forces al ready fighting the Japanese. Al though the White House did not amplify this point, it is known that powerful British naval units are now operating against the Japs. In addition, troops under Lord Louis Mountbatten are fighting strongly in Burma. The Alexandria conference lasted less than four hours, the announcement said. It oermit ted "new and important discus sions" of a subject which could not be taken- iijT at Yalta be cause Soviet Russia is neutral in the Pacific war. "Mr. Churchill," the White House said, "told the President in blunt words that his govern ment was determined to throw everything it had at the Japs as soon as Germany has been defeated and, meanwhile, would do all it could to strengthen its forces already engaged In that conflict." ' Toured Africa The' White House disclosed that Mr. Roosevelt toured North Africa after the Crimea CON C. MURPHY, 48 STRUCK BY AUTO, OF Con C. Murphy) 48, of route 4, box 169, died in a local hos pital at 4:25 this morning es a result of injuries received Mon day night when an automobile driven by Harold E. Lind, 32. Jacksonville, struck him on West Main street near Fir, state and local police reported today. Murphy was crossing the street near the middle of the block, Lind told police, but halted momentarily then darted Kin across the street in the path of the car. , Lind stated in his accident re port that he was driving about 20 miles per hour when he saw Murphy. Lind had just com pleted a stop at the railroad crossing. Murphy was hit by the bumper and his body was thrown back over the right fend er of the car, police reported. When police were called to the scene about 8:30 last night the man was lying about ten feet from the north curb of the side walk, they said. The Perl ambulance took Murphy to a local .hospital where he died early this morning! Police officers said today they had taken Murphy's car keys from him in downtown Medford earlier Monday evening, be cause he was not in condition to drive. Murphy is survived by his wife, Helen, and four children, Neil, Anna Marie, John and Francis Murphy. BATAAN HEROES TO BE RETURNED HOME SOON San Francisco, Feb. 20 tU.R) The lescued heroes of Bataan will be returned to the U. S. as soon as possible, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said today In a let ter to Mayor Roger Lapham and the San Francisco board of supervisors. The general also said he would be grateful to the city for any welcome extended the men here. Leased Wire MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDA" conference. In addition to meet ing Churchill it said, the Presi dent: 1. Invited Gen. Charles De Gaulle, provisional president of France, to confer with him at Algiers. This was "the last stop ping place on the road to Wash ington." The announcement in directly confirmed reports that De Gaulle had turned down the President's invitation. 2. Conferred with the kings of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia aboard a U. S. warship in the Suez canal. 3. Met the U. S. ambassadors to Britain, Italy, and France for further talks at Algiers. New Discussions The Alexandria meeting with Churchill, the White House said, permitted new and important discussions of at least one sub ject which they could not take nn hpfnro ' "That had to do with Japan and the war in the Pacific where Soviet Russia is a neutral power," it said. The President's Invitation to De Gaulle was sent from the Big Three meeting place at Yalta six days in advance of Mr. Roosevelt's arrival in Algiers, the announcement said. ' The President told De Gaulle be had "hoped very much to meet him in continental France" . but "time pressure" prevented his going to Paris. - He was most disappointed,, the White House added, when ad Vised that "official business" did hot permit the general to come to Algiers. - ' Return Time Unset The announcement gave no indication of when the President would return to the White House. But it declared that at no time during his journeys was he out of instant touch with the executive mansion or "other of ficials in Washington." Upon his return to Washing ton be will have travelled about 14,000 miles, the White House said. Mr. Roosevelt left Yalta some time after the Big Three parley ended Feb. 11, the White House revealed. He and his Immediate party drove to the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. "At Sevastopol the President saw scenes of stark destruction," the White House said. "The President said he lacked words to describe adequately such dev astation." From there, TJ. S. army air transport command planes took the President and his party to Egypt in a 5V4 hour flight. He "was received aboard a U. S. navy auxiliary ship in Great Bitter Lake, a part of the Suez canal. Before noon of the same day he was on deck to greet his first visitor King Farouk of Egypt. Earnest Discussion They conducted "earnest dis Night Life Curfew Decree Brings Nation-Wide Howl Washington, Feb. 20 (U.PJ Government agencies prepared today for the job of enforcing what may become the most un popular nation-wide order since prohibition a midnight curfew on bars, theaters and other amusement places. Curtailment of the nation's night life, beginning next Mon day, was decreed by War Mobil ization Director James F. Byrnes late yesterday in the hope of saving coal, transportation, and manpower. In announcing the midnight curfew, Byrnes said it should "impose no real hardships" and that he was "convinced people will gladly comply." But Immediate reaction by congress, cafe owners, and the public indicated that support of the drastic order would be far from unanimous. in Nazi Line at Japs Completed. at Conference cussion" of many questions af fecting American-Egyptian rela tionships, the White House said. Later in the day, Halle Selas sie, I, emperor of Ethiopia, and members of his staff called on the President. U. S. Minister to Ethiopia J, K. Caldwell and other Ethiopian officials accom panied the King. The following day "amid col orful and impressive cere monies" King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia called on the President after an 800 mile flight from the Red Sea port of Jidda to meet Mr. Roosevelt. "It was the first time in his life that he had left his coun try's soU," the White House commented, "and this was inter preted by members of his party as an unprecedented honor for the visiting Chief Executive of the United States." SLOW CANADIAN DRIVE 0N.RUHR Paris, Feb. 20. (U.PJ Fierce German counterattacks slowed the Canadian first army drive on the Ruhr, today after the allies had cleared all but a small cor ner of Goch and. outflanked the Rhine stronghold of Calcar. German armored and infantry reserves were reported stream ing into the Mass-Rhine corridor in a determined effort to stem the Canadian offensive which already had cracked through the toughest fixed Siegfried line de fenses before Goch. . Practically all of Goch, at the center of the 17-mile-wide cor ridor, was in allied hands after 24 hours of furious house-to-house fighting. Field dispatches said Scottish and Welsh in fantrymen were rooting out the last die-hard Nazi snipers from the ruins of the town, while their main forces were pushing on to the east, west and south against opposition. Bad weather again hampered the allies aerial support all along the western front, although British bombers swung out ahead of the stalled U. S. ninth army to pound Juelich. ROBERTA HILL University of Oregon, Eugene, Feb.y20 (Special) Roberta Hill, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Wertz of Medford, was one of 18 University of Oregon wo men initiated into the Oregon chapter of Pi Lambda Theta, women's national education hon orary, at a ceremony in Gerllng er hall February 18. Rep. Joseph Baldwin. R.. N. Y., opposed the action as un necessary and said it probably would lead to reopening of speakeasies. "Members of the armed forces on leave must have their enter tainment and they will get it some way or other," he said. "No such curfew is sounded in London or Paris and 1 don't think It's necessary here." Byrnes made it clear there was to be no lingering for a last drink or dance under the mid night curfew. "By closing at '12 o'clock midnight' it is meant that pa trons shall leave in time to per mit full closing by that time," he said. Purpose of the action Is pri marily to save coal but Byrnes gave no,hintj as to whether the cunew wouia oe jmea wun warmer weather. xlUARY 20, 1945 APPEAL BY F.D.R. OR FORCE IS Senate Military Affairs Com mittee Rejects Legislation Despite New Plea. Washington, Feb. 20 (U.R) The senate military affairs com mittee today tentatively rejected Tvork or else legislation, de spite a new presidential appeal for its passage. By a vote of 12 to 6 the com mittee turned its attention in stead to less drastic plans for mobilization manpower for war production. The vote was taken in a closed meeting after receipt of a spe cial plea from President Roose velt for legislation embracing the principles of "work or else legislation. The Jest came on a motion to consider instead a less drastic measure proposed by a bi-parti san group of five senators. Seven Democrats and five Re publicans voted to consider the substitute proposal. They were: Democrats Johnson of Colo rado, Downey, Chandler. Kil gore, Murray, O'Mahoney and wagner. Republicans Burton, Thomas of Idaho, Wilson, Ttevercomb and Bridges. Four Democrats and two Re publicans voted to continue con sideration of the house approved "work or else" bill. They were: Democrats Thomas of Utah. Hill, Maybank and Stewart. Republicans Austin and Gur- ney. . v . . Having voted to devote its at tention to the substitute pro posal, the committee then began considering whether that meas ure should be amended. Manila. Feb. 20 MP) Ampri. can big guns were pulverizing Manila's 400-year-old, wall today for a final assault on a one-square-mile pocket of stubborn Japanese defenders south of the Pasig river. With the hean art lltenr KIo.. tag a path through the thick wan around tne original Spanish city, the end of the 17-day-old battle of Manila was in sight. Units of the 37th infantry di vision were firmly entrenched around the dwindling Japanese pocket and 11th airborne troops were rapidly cleaning up Fort McKinley on the southeast out skirts of the city. 1 The final phase of the Manila campaign came as paratroops and infantry slowly dug out fa natical Japanese holdouts from the caves and tunnels of newly invaded Corregidor. Other Amer ican forces also were cleaning up enemy remnants on Bataan peninsula. Mickey Rooney To Get Pay Increase When Discharged Hollywood, Feb. 20 (U.R) M. G. M. studios announced today that on his discharge from the army dimunitive screen star, Mickey Rooney, will begin a seven-year contract at $5,000 a week. The contract Includes a $150, 000 bonus to Rooney, Inc., whose stockholders are Rooney, Sam H. Stiefel. fnrmpr PhllaHplnVilfi . hibitor, and Attorney Morton unsKin. Rooney's former contract paid him $2,000 a week. TWO AIRMEN KILLED North Bend, Ore., Feb. 20 (UP) Two U. S. navy airmen were killed late Monday when a torpedo bomber, in which they were taking off from the North Bend naval auxiliary air station, crashed and burnrrt on the sand i dunes across the bay. Tribune United Pn 1 1 WO JIMAI ToblliMPt, if PVaT W'r" 5tMmphlbfyi jT I MILK I (Acme leupnoio Two divisions of U. S. Marines 30,000 men storm Iwo Jlma from an 800-shlp armada and within first two hours of bitterest fighting seen In Pacific had established a 4500-yard-Iong beachhead, extending Inland 500 yards to the edge of Surlbachl Yama airfield. DEIS IN HOUSE STAGE SLOWDOWN E Salem, Ore., Feb. 20 (U.PJ The Oregon house of represen tatives today faced possible con tinuation nf an ore Bnizeri "slow. down" of legislative procedure, which started yesterday, 42nd day of the second wartime ses sion. The delaying tactics were started by a group of Democratic representatives when a bill (H. B. 306) passed the house, 40 to 18, after an hour and a half's aeDate, over their strenuous ob jections. The bill calls for creation of the office of registrar of elec tions In Multnomah county, ap pointed by the county commis sions. Democrats, headed by Rep. Warren Erwln, Portland, attacked the bill. After the bill had passed, a coterie of Democrats, armnrent- ly headed by Rep. M. J. Gleason, Multnomah, set out to make the nouse miserable by slowing pro cedure as much as possible. This was done by invoking house rule 46. which calls for the reading, section by section, of every bill up for final pas sage. The rule is usually sus pended by common -consent, in asmuch as representatives are ordinarily familiar with a hill and it consumes at. least twice as much time as reading bills by uue only, tne usual procedure. SHEEP DOG KILLS 6-YEAR-OLD BOY Tillamook. Ore.. Feb. 20 (U.R) While a controversy raged in Los Angeles over disposal of a terrier that killed a child, the killing of a 6-vear-old bov hv a sheep dog was revealed here toaay. The victim was William Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs Dave Brown. He was bitten While DlaVinS With tho Ana Knn. day at the farm home south of nere. DAVID LLOYD GEORGE IN SERIOUS CONDITION London. Feb. 20 fil m n.,,M Lloyd George, 82-year-old Brit ish statesman and World War I prime minister, was reported in serious condition at his home In Wales tonight after a week-long niness complicated by his age. iu.iiniw insiiinsran, reo. 2u. uj.rj n-l. w. uubu wiiciiuweiu, n., mm., biu louBy o.uuu acres ox lanri flPar T.nmnr Pnlrt tia- kann declared surplus and available I ....... u.. tl.n i ...I board. Chenoweth said the land. uutiu. wuciiuwcui vaiu uiv 1BI1U. I.. ...in..., i . t .1 lumicriy vuiiivaicu oy iinpaiiene naiiy it. ijuug, ruriianu, Anna internees at the Amache War Re- Louise Bonner Pardew, Port location Authority camp near land; George L. Parks, East Yam Lamar, Is some of the best in hill; Esther Rae Rankin, Port the state. Full Ltaitd Wire NO. 281. Passing Girl Used As Target By Boy With Stolen Rifle Cleveland. Feb. 20 (U.R) ' tKHeM ft. A is il Carmella Ventrlglio, 16, died to- the western shore. Consolidate day because a boy with a stolen tag their lines, the marines pivot sun throuffht she mad a "swell ed on their rleht flunk for tha moving target" as she walked down a street. . She was wounded In the abdo- men Saturday night while on her way to a dance. Ernest Lovac. lfl. cnnfosRed to police that he had fired the shot that killed a person he aian t even know. "I shot at her because she was a moving target," he admitted, "but I didn't know I'd hit her until I read about it in the papers the next day. Then I knew it was bad." LEND-LEASE TOOK IN PAST 4 YEARS Washington. FpVi. Sn fllPi congress was told today that the united Mates has poured $35. 382.000.000 into the war ma chines of its allies in a little less than four years of lend-lease operations. But dcsDlte this steady flow of aid to other nations, the for eign economic administration said in its 18th quarterly lend case report, Americans have $35,382,00010 Deen deprived of only small per- hall the offices of the city super ccntaRes of such hard-to-get com- Impendent, treasurer, recorder modltles as meats, huttpr and j . ... . ah , j, . 7. clgarets. All lend-lease butter g0"? '? RuSS'a 8n2 rf "V?' S;'sy Zir C6nt ' thC total U. S. supply, Clgarets Cited For every clearet uhlnnpri under lend-lease in 1944, for ex- ample, Americans at home smoked 55 while 26 were sent to American forces overseas Lena-leases importance as a cause of dottiest!-: shortages "has Deen greatly overstated In nu merous false rumors," FEA said ciuus laiifl rumors, rDA sam. The renort HM not r-arrv the iininl . iii.i . uaua, icbtci Ul MUnsmiUai HDH President Roosevelt. It showed i-iiai lena-iease exports rose in ucLcmuer 10 91.01tf.uuu.uuu aiier a shortage of shipping had cut them below the all-time high reached. In the pre -invasion -two members of the Libera months. tor's crew parachuted to safety 0REG0NIANS LISTED WITH ISLAND FREED Sftvpral Ol-tfntilnna ... nomaH on a partial list of American civilians who have been liber- me wavy department will ex ated in the Philippine Islands tend Its present ordnance testing released today bv the war de- station at Invokorn. ri north. nartment. I uisira are r-ari dames, uer- truae w. ana suzanne ureen. an ui rui uuiiu; xveunem n, ami uaiena u r i m e s, Tionmouin; 1 .Tnmaa T. Ramh-Ia Tama- A Edward .' and Charlotte Marie v;v,v -il . rt ti i . a r Kidder, Roseburg; Mary M. and; niuuer, nusvuiuDi iviuiy ivi. ailu t t tir t n i l i . land. THIRD OF ISLAND NOW POSSESSED BY LEATHERNECKS Nimitz Men Open Powerful Attack With Tanks and Flame Throwers. By William Tyree United Press War Correspondent Admiral Nimitz' Headquar ters, Guam, Wednesday, Feb. 21 (U.R) American marines have captured the main airfield on. Iwo Jima, occupied approxi mately one-third of the island, and opened a -powerful attack led by tanks and flame throwers against fanatically resisting Jap anese, it was disclosed today. In bloody fighting, the 4th and 5th marine divisions estab lished a straight east-west line across the island north of the air field. Then, with a spear head of tanks pfitlmatprl hv Tokyo to number 300, the leath- AmerVa Prmroprl nran,4 bmhIh.. -K i.u.u BgOilUI the entrenched enemy, aerial ob servers reported. Bloody Fighting Fleet Admiral nh.if.r W Nimitz announced capture of the air field, richest single prize on the bleak, eight-square mile is land 750 miles south of Tokyo. A headquarters spokesman later said the fighting continued as bitter as that in anv nf h bloody battles across the Pacific from Guadalcanal, to Tarawa, to Salpan. After canturlns- the air flairl the marines drnvA nrrna tVi narrow neck of Iwo and reached offensive. Automatic riflemen moved ahead with the tanks and flamethrowers in the vansuard ' the attack against the enemy's I interlocking pillboxes and con crete DunKers. Defense Snllt The. JaDanesa defnnHor Viavn, been split into two pockets 1y tne drive which slashed across the southern end of the island. Marines stormed ths farhiririinct flank of towering Surlbachl vol cano, irom the crater of which the enemv wan rainlns -hail. on the Americans, ' A Japanese Domei new agency disnatch broarlra-t i Tokyo radio said 300 American tanKS nave been landed at the marine beachhead. Tokyo re ported that in one sector alone, neia Dy iu.uoo marines, there were ISO tanka Tho claimed 30 had been "blasted.". A number of hii.efnpa niaj.-i will be closed Thursday in ob servance or wasnington s birth day, a legal holiday in Oregon, All courthouse offices will be closed, and all county depart- ments and agencies. At the rlt "" vaier uupanment WU De closed whlio Th. ,-..... t...", "Elective service boards and do-' "ce deP"nt wiU rema'in D Roth hnnfc. k. i..j As a news nrlnt mruprvufiJ measure thorn win ha r. of the Mail Tribune Thursday. 10 CREW MEMBERS DIE IN CRASH OF LIBERATOR Walla Walla, Wash., Feb. 20 (U.PJ The Liberator bomber re- nnrffit mt!n. ... --""s uum me waiia Walla army air base elsht ii nan warn fniinJ 11 1 1 . . ' wwiiu J limes SOUUl- wes' of Troy, Ore., yesterday "iciuuers 01 tne crew - .uuuu iu imve Deen Killed Instantly, it was announced to day- turned to the Walla Walla field uwwo uie LTBsn ann nrm ro. wme day. I POCKETS TPflTm Washington, Feb. 20 (U.PJ ward tn norm It r.,rtho. AnA-t. nienis wun roCKetS Which Drob- amy win continue there after me war, itep, UlBlr ngle, D. uaiif., announced today, I . No Papar Thursday In order to conserve newsprint The Mall Tribune will not publish on Wash Ington'r birthday, Thurs day. Feb. 22. OFFICES CLOSE THURSDAY
