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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1945)
nn7 MM M fo) in am Jl Medford United Prat Thirty ninth Year Half of YANKS' SITUATION BRIGHTER DAILY IN GRIM BATTLE Invaders Now Hold Most of Central Air Field Japs To Fight To Last Man " Guam, Feb. 26 (U.R) Amer ican marines have a "firm grip" on nearly half of Iwo and their situation in the bloody battle for the island springboard 750 miles south of Tokyo "grows brighter every day," a ranking officer said today. The marines held the east west runway and two-thirds of the north-south runway of Iwo's central afr field. They were bat tling tirelessly to complete the conquest of the base and win more high ground overlooking the northern half of the island. Japs Claim Peak (Tokyo claimed that Japanese defenders on Mt. Suribachi coun terattacked the marines there, recaptured the summit and haul ed down the American flag fly It ing at the peak.) ("The Rising Sun has been planted over this mountain," Tokyo said in a broadcast record ed by United Press, San Fran cisco. Tacitly acknowledging the prospect of , eventual , defeat, Tokyo said the Japanese "will fight to the very last man.") The most optimistic official pronouncement of the week-long invasion came, today from aboard Admiral Richmond Tur ner's flagship off Iwo. The ma rine officer's assertion that the situation was becoming brighter by the day reflected confidence that the marines were over the " hump in the hardest fight of their 168-year history. The officer said the marines had won some of the high ground around the central air field, and now were concentrating on seiz ing more elevated positions for use in' the drive northward on ..i the island. V When the marines win peaks ' farther north, they will have ex cellent observation of the entire northern part of the island, the officer said, and spotters can di rect artillery and naval gunfire. (A Tokyo broadcast heard by the United Press in San Fran cisco said American casualties on Iwo had reached 22,000 "three marines a minute." Tokyo also claimed that Japanese planes had sunk an American submarine off Iwo.) E AT WAR PLANT Detroit, Feb. 27 (U.R) Maintenancemen and power house employes today Joined the strikers at the Chrysler Corpor ation's Dodge main plant, com pletely halting production of k guns, tanks, B-29 engine parts, and rockets. The War Labor Board ordered officers of the United Auto Workers (CIO) and company representatives to appear today for a show-ctiuse hearing. Union spokesmen said they might call a mass meeting of the 13.000 strikers to report the WLB hear ing. The walkout began Friday . as protest against the firing of seven men whom the company accused of loafing. SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Earl Wallace, sergeant in World War I, engaging World War II boys in strenuous chess conflicts at USO many nights of late. V Proud Psria Clarence Schmidt fudelns two ounces on the weight of his new son. Bill Hansen, ex-hardware ty- coon, all fouled up with paper attempting to wrap up a pack' Full Lnud Wire Iwo in Stars and Stripes Over Iwo Flahtlns Marines of the Fifth the Stan and Strtaes on the htaheit point of Suribachi volcano.. overlooking the bloody, rugged from Guam to Ban Francisco By Center of Tokyo in Ruins After Double Bomber Raid '' Guam. Feb. 26 (U.R) Much of the center of Tokyo was be lieved in. flaming ruins today following yesterday's record one two air assault by more than 200 Superfortresses and 1,000 carrier planes. Some fires may be smoulder ing on Emperor Hirohito's palace grounds. Bombs leu near the stables bureau of the imperial household ministry on the palace JAPANESE IGNORE Manila. Feb. 26 (U.R Trap ped Japanese in Manila ignored a surrender ultimatum today nnri American troona immediate ly began an annihilation drive against the enemy remnants holding out in three government buildings. The final assault on the last enemy pocket in the capital rami, am nther American forces pushed into the foothills of the Sierra Madres mountains east of Manila in an attack on the 25-mile-long Kobayashi line. An estimated l.uuu lanancai .Tnnnnp-- helieved commanded by Rear Admiral Iwabuchl, were lodged in the three buildings and faced certain doom. Washington. Feb. 26 (U.R) Rep. Clair Engle, (D., Calif.) in troduced a bill today to permit currency expansion by an up ward revaluation ot gold instead of a reduction of gold reserves. Mrs. Roosevelt Denies Advocating Regulation of Size of Families . Washington, Feb. 26 (U.R) Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt to day encountered a barrage of press conference questions about whether she had advocated birth control, as charged by various Catholic spokesmen. She insisted, however, that when she discussed family sizes during her news conference a week ago "I did not mention birth control." Instead, she add ed, she said then that K there were 12 children in a family. It was Important for the family to have enough to feed the children properly and to give them de cent living conditions. The first lady also pointed out today that her church she is an episcopalian had "never taion itftjj nai"t people u MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, Marines' Grip Division's 28th Regiment hoist soil of Iwo Jima. Photo radioed u. o. navy raaio-xeiepnoio. grounds, as well as near Omlya palace, residence of the em peror's mother, a mile and a half away, Tokyo said. . .-. . Hit Near Paleee (The American broadcasting station in Europe said about 29, 000 square yards -in the heart of Tokyo was in flames following the double raid, NBC monitors reported. BBC, heard by Blue network, said part of the Im perlal Guards barracks was de molished by a bomb which fell in the palace precincts.) Radio Tokyo said "enemy night bombers" following up the daylight raids crossed the Jap anese coast in the direction of the capital at 9 p. m. yesterday (Tokyo time), but did not say whether they had dropped any bombs. It was expected - that planes from Vice Admiral Marc A. MIt scher's task force 58, the world's greatest concentration of aircraft carriers, would send the attack Into a second day today. 1.000 Tons Dropped - However, there was no word to this effect from either Pacific fleet headquarters or radio Tokyo up to mid-morning. At least 1,000 and probably more tons of demolition and fire bombs were cascaded on Tokyo in the twin raids yester day. Together, they constituted the heaviest assault ever made on Tokyo, one twice as heavy as the heaviest German raid ever made on London during the height of the 1940-41 blitz and approaching in weight those now being made on Germany by the allies. ing common sense in determln- ing the size of their families. Mrs. Roosevelt also said it Is "Important that the mother of the family be healthy." "I think that the Catholic church agrees on that," she add ed. Asked about tendency of rich families to have few chil dren, she said: "Rich people have tendency because of their material com forts to become selfish' and sel fish people don't want to have children. There Is a little dixit culty Involved In having chil dren after all, they Just don't drop from Heaven. '"Outrageous" was her word for the practice of apartment houses and hotels to refuse to take children. LABOR FOR PAY ENDS TODAY FOR Balance of Session Will Be On Own Expense 664 Bills Introduced; Few Pass Salem. Ore.,. Feb. 26 (U.R) Oregon's legislators get the last pay for them of the 1945 ses sion today, the 50th of the 43rd legislature, and from now on are on their own financially. As one legislator put it," now we let our secretaries feed, us." No controversial bills are up for final passage in either the house or senate today, with per haps the biggest potential fire works of the day scheduled in hearing this afternoon on house joint memorial 7, which asks the deportation of all alien Japanese and those American born who have demonstrated dis loyalty or announced dual cit izenship. - Hot Debate Looms In the house, hot debate Is forecast on a divided committee report over house joint resolu tion 6, which' asks that a 29 per cent limit be placed on federal income taxes, and the repeal of the 16th (income tax) amend ment' to the national -oonetitu- tion. A majority of the house taxation and revenue recom mended "do not pass' while a minority supported the resolu tion. Seven - salary Increase bills were due for senate action, with more expected to come to the floor this week. Action on house bill 306, pro viding for the office of registrar of elections in Multnomah coun ty, was postponed in the senate late Saturday when It was laid on the table. The bill, one of the most bitterly contested of the session, caused a Democratic mi nority to start "lowdown tac tics in the house last week In an attempted filibuster to pre vent the bill s final passage. 664 Bills In. - A total of 664 bills have been Introduced to the session so far The house has passed. 230 of its own bills, the senate 112. Seventeen new laws .are on the Oregon statute books today after their signature by Gov Earl Snell Saturday. Most of them are corerctive and admin istrative in nature. Among them are bills 03. B 340 and 341) which give vet erans preferential rating In civil service examinations, and automatically extend leaves of absence for state officers in mil itary service when they are re elected. The latter bill also qual ifies them for re-election. E CLOSE TO BALTIC London, Feb. 26. (U.R)- So viet armored forces pushed to within 60 miles or less of the Baltic today in powerful drive to split Germany's northern de fenses. Tanks and Infantry struck out through Pomerania for the Bal tic after breaching the Nazi line based on the Danzig-Stettin rail way at a point midway between those two big seaports. A thrust to the sea In this area would, slice off the north' eartern tip of Germany, along with the Polish corridor and the free state of Danzig. Tens of thousands of German troops in the area would be cut off from all escape, except by sea. On the Berlin front, the Ger mans appeared to have thrown In their aerial reserves In an at tempt to break up Soviet prep arations for a frontal assault on the capital from their bridge- Ito the east. - - RIBUNE United Pin FuU Ltued Wire .1945. The waarinesi ef three vears- Mlna A. Aason of Minot. N. D.. transport plane, part of fleet that of Bataan" back to the United friend, MaJ. C. M. Braaden (right) ton Field. Calif. & tkJo ..9 5 f" (i "Angels of Bataan" Say Japs Deliberately Starved Them f r. San Francisco, Feb. 26 The "Angels of Bataan,'' 68 radiant ly happy army nurses returned to this country after 3 years of horror In the Philippines where they suffered under a brutal Jap anese starvation policy,' toaay set about regaining their health 7 Tl OF Victor Bursell, Central Point; Mayne C. Henselman, Medford; Ruby Nelson, Eagle Point; Mil dred Haines, Ashland; Vern Matthews, Eagle Point; Leta Kyle, and Cyrus Scott Hamil ton, Central Point, were drawn as members of the new grand jury at the opening of the Feb ruary term of the circuit court this morning with Circuit Judge James W. Crawford, Portland, presiding. District Attorney George W. Neilson informed the court he anticipated a short session for the deliberations of the grand jury that opened following in structions of the court. The case of Fred A. Wolf, 63, charged with the slaying of Percy Harold Ijames, as the cli max of a sidewalk altercation in Gold Hill, early this month, will not be called until later. The preliminary hearing for Wolf was postponed in justice court last Friday, until March 10. One of the main witnesses Is absent from the county. Almost a score of Gold Hill residents saw the fatal affair, and are scheduled to be called, authori ties said. G. . Wolf Howl At Nazi Blonde Costs Him $60 ' With the 80th Division in Metterdorf, Feb. 26 (U.R) The good old American line "how about a date, Blonde?" turned out to be a $60 question for a GI wolf today. As MPs marched a line of German civilians through this captured town today a soldier, whose name Is unrelcaseabld, spotted a cute young blonde German girl. Before thinking, he popped the automatic Yank question for the situation. The only answer he got was from a lieutenant who slap ped a 160 fine on him for tra tenlting with. Uw enemy. . . NO. 285. V ' I r,,j of war vanishes Instantly for Lt. as she steps from huge army air carried her and 67 other "Angels States, and is greeted by an old ol Army Nurses corps, at nimi . ' in the army's Letterman General hospital. They arrived at Hamilton Field, Calif., Saturday, aboard four giant Skymasters just three weeks after their liberation In Manila. A band played as they walked down the ramp, smiling and excited. A crowd of 1,500 persons gathered around "the great ships burst into loud ap plause. After Jubilant reunions with relatives who had learned of their arrival in time to greet them, the nurses cllmed into army trucks to be taken to the hospital. , , All Emaciated None was seriously ill. Their major trouble was lack of food. All were thin and a few were emaciated. There was not a men tal case among them. Lt. Gwendolyn Henshaw, an attractive brunette from Los An geles, said she was 'absolutely convinced" the Japanese delib erately were starving the nurses. 'They confiscated our ware house, although they had plenty of stores of their own," she said. "No one could bring food In Our weight plummetted down. 1 lost 40 pounds and some of the others lost even more." Every U. S. military success brought a reduction In food ra tions for the nurses. Lt. Hattle Brantley, of Jefferson, Tex., said that from 300 grams about three-quarters of a pound in the fall, the ration dropped to 250 and then In December to 189 grams 24 of which were salt. ; On January 31, the nurses felt they had the final evidence of the Japanese campaign. The enemy jailed Dr. f . D. Steven son of their hospital staff be cause he refused to eliminate the words "starvation and mal nutrition" from Santo Tomas death reports. Not Molested They said the Japanese never physically molested the army nurses. They did not prick them evith bayonets nor did they strike them. iiny-iour of the 68 women arrived at Hlckam Field in Honolulu, Wednesday, for a three-day preview of paradise. Still dazed by their overwhelm Ing reception, they slept most of the way on the last lap of the journey to California. Among those whose health was more seriously affected was Ma). Maude C. Davison, Can nington, near Toronto, Ont, het weight dropped from 135 to 80 pounds. Lt.. Vivian Weissblatt, Portland, Ore., wife of United Press War Correspondent Franz Weissblatt, suffered shrapnel wounds In the last Santo Tomas ladling. o r Arm 17 J Columns of erwolf Division Within Sight of City Paris, Feb. 26 (U.R) Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges plunged an American First army spearhead through the Rhlneland town of Blatihelm today to within HVi miles Long Tom artillery range of Cologne. "Germans are surrendering on all sides," First army ' dispatch said. It added that Hodges' men had counted upward of 4,000 prisoners today, and the Germans were complaining ol their lack of support by artillery, air forces, and armor. Paris, Feb. 26. (U.R) American armored column plunged to within 13 miles of Cologne and 17 miles of Duesseldorf today at the center of a 150-mile allied offensive are closing in on the Ger man Ruhr and Rhineland. Vanguards of the American 1st army's 104th Tlmberwoll di vision already were In sight of Cologne's bomb-scarred spires on the broad military highway leading northeast from Dueren to tha Rhine. YANKS CLOSE IN ON BLATZHEIM Field dispatches said the tank-led doughboys of the 104th cap tured Golzhelm, five miles northeast of Dueren and 19 miles west southwest of Cologne. Pushing beyond the town, against still patchy enemy -resistance, the Yanks were closing in swiftly on Blatzheim, 12 miles from Cologne and only four mile short of the Erft river the last natural barrier To the north, vanguards ot the the Nazi stronghold of Erkelenz on beyond the town of the outskirts of Venrath, seven miles front the Industrial center of Muenchen-Gladbach and barely 17 mile) a from the Rhine bend at Duesseldorf. NINTH ARMY TAKES MANY TOWNS Golkrath, 2V4 miles west ot Erkelenz, fell to the Ninth army, along with Kuckhoven, Hasselwetler, Kauthause, Wockerath and Billlngen, one to three miles east and northeast ot the town- American armor was across the and First army fronts and the advance on the Rhine was expected to pick up speed from here In. - - More than 1,700 Germans were captured by the Ninth army and well over 1,000 by the First army yesterday, and another 790 captives were bagged In the drive Field dispatches reported increasing sign of German demorali zation, particularly on the southern .wing of the offensive front where Lt. Gen. George S. Patton' 'American Third army was be ginning to roll in a wide end run toward tha Moselle valley and , Coblenz, on the Rhine. i CANUCKS THREATEN NAZI FLANKS Patton' advance and a renewed drive on the Ruhr by Gen. H. D. G. Crerar's Canadian First army in the north poised a deadly threat to the flanks of the hard-pressed Nazi divisions falling back across the Rhineland on the Cologne. Four days after the start ot the big push for the Rhine the Ger mans still had been unable to launch a single major counterattack and had lost the key height overlooking the Roer from which their big guns might have been able to halt the flow of American tank and supplies Into the Rhineland. ' . : . .. ., t LIST OF MISSING Sgt. Ray Casebeer, former president of the Medford senior hleh school student body and Tiger gridiron star, has been de clared missing In action In Ger many according to a war depart ment .message to his mother, Mrs. Elsie Casebeer, Central Point. Set. Casebeer is missing as of Feb. 9. the message stated. Sgt. Casebeer, Infantryman with the Fourth Division, had been overseas since early In November and had been in Lux emburg and Germany since then. He enttred the service In February of 1944 after having completed high school the month before. Only other local relative of the well-known sergeant Is Mrs. Don Ross, Ross Lane, a sister. (Aem lelevhoto) Paced by V. & Ninth Army, a great offensive opens toward Cologne, u. B. First and British Second ArmlM were said to be siding. U. F to south and Csnadlin VP Ta 'MH" .-' Cga. IiV AwyViu' :' Sr. 2i A1J nUti. S "V I . A. SIMNT , r Jar El a9? V icoiMMi U. S. siK Hiaj VN" '! Aathaa tji..ii ;:; jw A I Scmlr", , U. I. 171 Aimr A ,, It. Vllk. J I ' FRANCE -fc.u. ; 1 VOt 1 before Cologne. U. S. Ninth army outflanked from the east and west and thrust river In force on both the Ninth on Erkelenz today. ' BY 2,000 PLANES London, Feb. 26 (U.R) Al most 2,000 American plane dropped more than 1,250 tons ot high explosive bombs and at least 600,000 Incendiaries on Berlin today In the greatest day light raid of the war on the Ger man capital. Upwards of 1,200 Flying Fort resses and Liberators shepherded by 700 or more strafing fighter cascaded a great weight of ex plosives and fire bombs onto three big railway stations near the heart of Berlin. This was the 14th straight day of a record aerial offensive against Germany. The Berlin blow was struck In support ot the Red army. It was. designed to disrupt communlcaflons vital to the German troops In tha front lines 30-odd mile from Berlin. RAF Joins In The great air fleet pounded Berlin for an hour In what Nazi propagandists called a terror at tack. The Royal Air Force joined In the daylight offensive against the retch. A big force of Lan caster bombers escorted by Mus tangs smashed at synthetic oil plant In the Ruhr Industrial cen ter of Dortmund. The Amerltun onslaught was aimed primarily at Berlin' rail yards, the core of all German transport. The attack was directly la support of the Red army force massed along the Oder river Una 30-odd miles east of Berlin. MORE 0REG0NIANS ON LIST OF LIBERATED The names of two Oregon residents are Included on tha last list of the war department giving names of civilians liber ated in the Philippines. The list, released this morning, Includes the name of Chester S. Magnu son, Roseburg, Ore., and Mrs. V. Welsblatt. North Bend. A list released late Friday af ternoon Included the names of Harriet L. Richard, Mr. Wynna T. Judge and Claire Fuentes, all of Portland. V Vr--v. . ratm In ftin WaTW sco rose from B per cent la c ,M to 19 per cent to 1944.
