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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" .-'
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Sr. 2i A1J nUti. S "V
I . A. SIMNT
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U. S. siK Hiaj VN" '!
Aathaa tji..ii ;:; jw
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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.