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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 1945)
Furious Artillery Duel Flares on Okinawa Battle Line Weather FORECAST: Variable cloudlnut with showers tonight. Satur day, partly cloudy nd slight ly warmer with showers In higher mountains. Temp. Blrheit Yeiterdar 60 Lowest this Morning . Ttls, m., today . M....43 Free. Jl Fortieth Year 99 HIGHWAY HAS OREGONIANS T OLD Sister State Highway Com mission Backs Medford Route as Inter-region Link Sacramento, May 18 U.P.) The California Highway Com mission has instructed Highway Engineer George T. McCoy to inform Oregon highway repre sentatives that California favors designation of U. S. Highway 09 from Weed, Calif., to Ashland Ore., via Yreka, as part of the Interstate Highway System Commission Chairman C. H. Pur cell said today. Purcell said that so far as he knows the Oregon Highway Commission has taken no action on the question. An alternate route, through Klamath Falls, has been proposed and if the two states fail to agree the ques tion will be submitted to the U. S. Public Roads Administra tion, he said. Representatives of the Red wood Empire Association, the Yreka Chamber of Commerce and the Oregon Pacific Highway Association appeared before the commission today to present ar guments in favor of the Weed Ashland route. Those appearing included O. O. Steele, of the Yreka Chamber of Commerce, and Sen. Randolph Collier of Yreka. KILLER DOG PACK Miami. Fla., May 18 U.R) The dog pack which attacked and killed Mrs. Doretta Micko Zinke was wiped out -by rifle fire today, as their owner was held for a preliminary hearing on manslaughter charges. Acting at the request of Joe Munn, owner and breeder of the vicious Pit Bulldogs, sheriff's officers shot eight of the dogs at the quarantine kennels, then went to Munn'i shack where the rest of his more than 20 dogs were kept. Officers said Munn called the dogs a "bad breed" and said they ihould all be killed. The pack attacked and mangled Mrs. Zin ke Wednesday night. - BASEBALL American Boston Chicago . Ferriss and and Tresh. Garbark; Hayes Maj. Bill Bowerman Arranges Surrender Of 4,000 Germans Describing the mass surrender of 4000 German troops in an Italian battle sector, Major Bill Bowerma.i, former athletic coach for Medford senior high school a.. J now with the Tenth Mountain Infantry division, re centl wrote to Mrs. Bowerman, who resides at the family home, S08 Whitman avenue. Major Bowerman war acting as battalion commander on the day the event -took place, and thus happened to be one of the main participants in the surren der. He ordinarily is regimental supply officer for the 86th infan try regiment. "Day before yesterday I had quite an experience," the major wrote, "I got a report from a partisan (Italian) that there were 100 Germans IS miles behind our lines who wanted to surren der, so I got my driver and jeep and away we went We drove about six miles up a steep moun tain pass then out Into a beauti ful mountain valley containing half a dozen Alpine villages. As we drove through the small towns crowds of citizens would rheer and throw all kinds of flowers into the jeep. Talk To Lieutenant "We finally reached the vil lage we were looking for and there I talked with a German lieutenant. His men, about So of them, were standing around. It seemed that he could not move without orders from higher headquarters. I finally made out that their colonel tad been cap Medford United Pit Sam Hayes, Noted Radio Newscaster Is Grounded Here Sam Hayes, known to thou sands in past years as the Rich field reporter, expected to leave Meoford this afternoon for Sac raments,' Calif., after having been grounded here since Wed nesday by poor flying weather. In his party were Lee Woods, writer and co-worker, apd B. K Hopkins, pilot. Hayes, now engaged in a cam paign to have cities and other governmental units and organi zations select "living memorials" to honor war heroes, was to have spoken at Klamath Falls and Eureka, Calif., Wednesday and in Reno Thursday. Parks, swimming pools, recreation cen ters and other projects of this nature should be selected to honor dead rather than statues, monuments and similar memor ials fashionable in past years, Hayes told Medford people dur ing his visit here. Hayes now broadcasts for food companies on three different networks. U.S. RULES MODIFIED Washington, May 18 U.R) Censorship Director Byron Price today severely modified the press and radio code, removing many restrictions on news in this country, Europe and the Atlan tic. Restrictions continued in a new code apply largely to the Pacific and 'static war zone. Price said that every provision continued In force "is based sol idly and sensibly on visible se curity requirements related to the war with Japan." In keeping with the shift of war emphasis to the Pacific,1 he explained, the Office of Censor ship also has reduced its censor ship of mail and international communications across the At lantic. It has cut its personnel from a peak 14,500 in 1943 to 9.999 on April 30. By August, the force will be reduced to less than 7,000; VALLEY FROST SEASON IS REPORTED NEAR END The frost season in the Rogue River valley is now nearing the finish, Frost Observer Ray J. Rogers reports. The season offi cially ends May 31st, but May 10 to ..5, has long been regarded as the unofficial date. Clarence Pankey, a veteran orchardist re calls but two or three times when frosts occurred after those days. Rogers reports the current rains are slightly retarding pear de . el- pment, and spraying. Pears are beginning to set and there is some drop, particularly among the Winter Nellis. tured by the partisans. We sent one man to another village to liberate him: "I told him that I was there to take t'-.em back to the American lines and take their weapons. He Uld me he could not move without orders from his general. (The colonel spoke perfect Eng lish). Then I asked to see his general and away we went again through a deep Alpine forest until we reached a castle on a lake. "There it was very much like a movie scene. All of the Ger mans were meticulously tailored and groomed. The general's of fice was a large room and there were staff officers all over the place. The general (by interpre ter) informed me that he had not 100 but 4,000 troops in that area. So I went with him to look over his troops in all the little vil lages. It was quite a deal. Disarming Arranged "We finally arranged that his troops would keep their arms and the next day I was to send men to disarm the partisans, then tl. i Germans would move down and be turned over to our commander. It was all quite sim ple. This isn't a very good ac count of it, but it was a rich ex perience." Major Bowerman left Medford three years ago for army duty and trained in Colorado for two years with the mountain divi sion. Two of his former stu dents, Sgt. Wilson Church and Sgt. Marc Jarmin are serving wilb hint in Iht mountain unit. Full Leased Wire MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, MAY 18, ALLIES CONSIDER Men Who Used Prisoners as Guinea Pigs May Face Indictment; More Taken' London, May 18 (U.R) The United Nations war crimes com mission was revealed today to be considering the indictment of leading German physicians and scientists for the deaths of thou sands of persons in nazi "human guinea pig experiments. Victims of ruthless human vivisection and experimental in jections were slave workers and political prisoners seized in ter ritories occupied by Germany, investigators for the commission said. Two groups' of investigators, one Czechoslovak and one Pol ish, were slated to leave London for the continent today at the invitation of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to investigate charges against the medical pro fession In Germany. Mora Taken The disclosure came as the bag of accused German war crim inals and nazi sympathizers grew steadily. Latest to fall into the allied net were said to be: Lt. Col. Otto Skorzeny mas ter German spy, liberator of Benito Mussolini and wanted as a war criminal for plotting the assassination of Gen. Dwight D. iMscnnowcr and other allied leaders. Leni Relfenstahl German actress and one time close friend oi Adolf Hitler. 1 Heinrich Hlmmler, No. 1 nazi war criminal, remained at large. ' Lieutenant-Colonel Skorzeny. wanted for an attempt to assas sinate Jiisenhowef. was caDtured at an unidentified spot in Aus- lr" Py the American seventh army May 13. Captured German a sent, said Skorzeny and other high nazi agents filtered through the American lines In British nnl. forms in six command ear. rfnr. ing-the Ardermes' counter-offen sive. SALE ANNOUNCED Sale of the bulldlne at 22a.22S West Main street to Carroll S. and Lotus Gray, Medford. was announced today by W. E. Thomas, trustee for the estate of his grandfather, the late I. W. Thomas. Sale prica was $11,000, i nomas stated. The brick bulldlne. erected In 1907 by I. W. Thomas, Is now occupied on the ground floor by Stamper and Goff Brothers hard ware store and on the second floor, by the. Oregon Rooms, managed by Mrs. George Warner for more than 20 years. It has zs-foot frontage and Is 140 feet long on the ground floor and 120 feet on the second floor. this floor containing 16 rooms. It Is understood that the Grays have purchased the building merely as an Investment and that the present tenants will continue to occupy the structure. The sale was handled through the Carl Tengwald agency. HORATIO ALGER STORY Ely, Nev., May 18 (U.R) C. Kinnear, who began his mining career 34 years ago as a common . laborer in Nevada mines at Goldfield, has been elected vice president of the Kennecott Copper Corp., one of the three largest copper mining companies in the United States, lt was announced today.' SIDE GLANCES B? TRIBUNE REPORTERS Pfc. Frederick Wood declaring that he is so Joyful to be home from the war that he's celebrat ing by doing all the cooking for his wife. Clarence Winetrout quoting figures of such size that a black board wasn t big enough to hold all the zeros. Ralph Koozer admitting that the best way to find out what goes on Is to stay home and just read the newiDapcrs. " g-S ZTa-zr . 5-' United Press Full Leased Wire , -- 1 , , - S1ETTI1S SEEKS 10 SPEED JOB OF Heads of 4 Commissions of United Nations Called Into Conference by Secretary San Francisco, May 18 (U.R) A United Nations' con ference Committee today unanimously approved, 42 to 0, the principle of giving the General Assembly of the pro posed world organisation power "io discuss and make recommendations" on any mat ters affecting international re lations, subject to certain spe cific exceptions. San Francisco, May 18. (U.R) Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., today called the heads of the four commissions of the United Nations conference to his apartment to discuss ways of speeding up the work of draft ing the chapter for a world security organization, The commissions are ready to begin public sessions at which decisions of their subordinate technical committees will be de bated and cleared for final con ference action. The first such meeting is scheduled for tomor row, on judicial organization. Limitations Talked The big five have been study ing ways all week to speed the work here and to bring the con ference to a reasonably quick close, Stettinius was expected to convey the big five ideas to com mission heads. Those ideas include proposals for limiting the time a delegate can . speak, limitation on the numbar of times delegate can speak, and combining similar amendments for purposes of de bate. June S is currently regard ed as a tentative very tentative deadline for ending the con ference. The four commissions are the major units into which the con ference has been divided. They in turn have been broken down into 12 committees in which the technical work of drafting a world charter is done. Meanwhile, it was understood that no Russian reply on the regional issue has yet been re ceived. A big five meeting was called off at the last minute yes terday because no instructions had arrived from Moscow and as of noon (PWT) today no new big five meeting had been sched uled. Former Camp White Soldier Killed In Action On Okinawa Second Lt. George Weiner. stationed at Camp While for a time with the 383rd Infantry of . aotn Division, was killed in action on Okinawa, according to information received here by M.. and Mrs. Mark Goldy, Berk eley Way, friends of Lt. and Mrs. Weiner. While here the young man was a staff sergeant and he received a field promo tion during the action on Leyte. While the Werners were in Medford they resided at the C-ldy home and Mrs. Weiner served as secretary in Mr. Goldy's office. Information on the officer's death was received from ..Irs. Weiner's parents who reside in Chicago. The widow Is now there with her parents. 26 DIVORCE SUITS FILED DURING MAY So far during May, 2t suits for divorce actions have been filed in Jackson county, according to the county clerk's office records. This is more than one per day. Some of the suits have been filed by men In the military services who have been bn overseas duty for several months. Filing of suits to quiet title continues in a steady manner though exceeded the last few weeks by the divorce suit wave. Titles to much of the land along Rogue River recently purchased witii a government patent, in cludes a clause providing dam age suits may be filed only for the improvements on the land but not for the land itself, in case of flooding. SWEDEN, JAPAN BREAK London, May 18. U.R The Swedish domestic radio said to day that Denmark has broken relations with Japan and the puppet Chines government at tanking. 1945. rOl - i 'P0- :rv i ftp tto Essex-class carrier, USS Franklin, dive bomber. Picture shows debris Carrier Franklin Will Make Comeback From Worst U. S. Ship Disaster of War By Joseph L. Myler United Press Correspondent Washington, May 18. (U.R) Big Ben has come back from the most terrible U. S. ship disaster in this war and will fight again on borrowed time. Behind her in the bloody Pa cific, where for IS hours she was a flaming funeral pyre for heroes, she left more than 1,000 casualties as the price of her survival-. It was -the heaviest price thus far paid by an Ameri can fighting ship, in World War II. It was twice the cost of the entire battle of the .Coral Sea. Poised For Strike Big Ben Is the USS Franklin, 27,000-tdn Essex class carrier. An hour after dawn' on March 19, as she stood 60 miles off Japan, she ' was ' as proud and trim a warship as ever rode the waves. She was a carrier divi sion flagship poised to strike with other -units of Vice Adm. Marc Mitscher's task force 58 at remnants of the Japanese fleet in the inland sea. A few minutes later, .because one Japanese dive-bomber got through, she was a volcanic chaos of bursting bombs, flam ing gasoline, and exploding rock ets and gun ammunition. By nightfall she counted her heroes high in the hundreds, her dead at 341, her missing at 431, and her wounded at more than 300. Big Ben's story can be told now because ' she came back. After steaming 12,000 miles under her own unquenchable power, Big Bon, unrecognizably seared and battered and mangled Is home at long last in a berth at the Brooklyn (NY.) navy yard. CITES REPORTER Washington, May 18 (U.R) The house world war veterans committee headed by Rep. John E. Rankin, D., Miss., today cited a newspaper reporter for con tempt because he refused to divulge some of the sources of news stories he had written. The reporter, Albert Deutsch of the New York newspaper PM, said he had received the Infor mation given him in "strictest confidence." He rejected the committee's demands on grounds of "professional ethics and per sonal Integrity." The committee is investigating published charges by Deutsch and others that veterans do not receive adequate care In veter ans administration hospitals. SIGNAL DEPOTTO BE BUILT AT SACRAMENTO Washington, May 18 (U.R) The war department today auth orized construction of a new signal depot near Sacramento, Cal., at an estimated cost of about $7,000,000. The construc tion will Include four ware houses comprising 1.000,000 square feet of space, 1,000,000 square feet of open storage, a rail yard, shops, buildings and quarters. . . i -3 NO. 49. (Acm Telephotot operating approximately 60 miles from Jap coast, Is victim of attack by Jap hurled in the air as the great ship is wracked by blasts, while fire-fighter race away to dodge explosions. There she will be made whole again. Jap Lands Lucky Punch The Japanese bomber, its ap proach undetected, caught the carrier at the moment of great est vulnerability when Its planes were being launched, its gaso line lines were full and flowing, and its bomb and rocket stores exposed. From the time the enemy's two 500-pound armor-piercing bombs found their marks until the agony was over. Big Ben took enough punishment to kill a hundred ships, enough to wreck a city. In the hours of her ordeal, 200,000 pounds of the carrier's own bombs, rockets and ammu nition blew up, and an estimated 12,000 gallons of high octane aviation- gasoline either burned In cascades of flame or exploded In volcanic eruptions. Of the ship's complement of more than 2,500 sailors and men of air group 13, many scores died In a flash. Other hundreds were blown Into the sea, where many drowned. Fire, fumes and smoke trapped and killed still others below decks. Many Saved Heroic rescue work, brilliant seamanship, and incredibly effi cient damage control operation saved many hundreds. The exact number of survivors remains undisclosed because the navy does not want the enemy to know just how many men the Franklin carried. But at least 708 of the crew survived to sail the carrier from the scene of disaster, and other hundreds of sailors and airmen were removed and kept in the Pacific. The Japanese reported Big Ben sunk, and the navy admits that "she should by all accounts have gone to the bottom." But Big Ben refused to die. For seven hours packed with deeds of heroism unrivaled in this war she lay dead In the water. For nine hours she had no communications, no electric ity, no drinkable water. For 15 hours fires burned in Niagaras of flaming gasoline at first; In smouldering, fume generating pockets at the last. . Hear Jap Shore Before Big Ben came to life again and shook off the tow lines of friendly ships, she had Fire Five Women At Camp White For Fraternizing Camp White, Ore. Four fe male civilian employees current ly working in the Clothing and Equippage Shop at this Installa tion and one in another depart ment, were dismissed from their jobs for fraternization with Ger man Prisoner's of War, Colonel John R. Young. Post Commander announced today. In making the announcement. Colonel-Young stated that the civilian employees had been re moved from the positions they held after repeated warnings against fraternizing with Ger man prisoners. ' Fraternizing with prisoners of war." Colonel Young stated, "will not ba tolerated at . this camp, " drifted within 38 miles of the Japanese home island of Shi koku. At one itme, a time of hor ror for men trapped below decks, she listed 20 degrees and seemed to be on tha verge of capsizing. But Big Ben refused to die because her skipper, 47-year-old Capt. Leslie E. Gehres of Coro nado, Calif., said "I won't aban don this ship"; because her crew would not be cowed by death; because her officers and men, those that lived, did all the right things at the right times. Before the March battle, Big Ben had destroyed 199 enemy planes, 148,500 tons of enemy warships, 275,000 tons of merch ant vessels, and for extra mea sure three Japanese destroyers and four cargo craft. 450 STUDENTS IN MUSICALFI AT Approximately 450 students of Grants Pass, Ashland and Medford high school participated In a music festival at Medford senior high school Thursday and some 350 took part In a colorful concert that evening presented at the gynHMnrttim; by massed groups' from all three schools. Guest directors were Karl Ernst, school music supervisor of Port land and John Stehn of the Uni versity of Oregon and these musicians served as critics dur ing the day. With Mr. Ernst directing, the girls' chorus of 104 voices sang three numbers and he also di rected the mixed chorus of 124 voices in a group of three num bers. The 52-piece orchestra, un der the direction of Mr. Stehn. present two numbers and the 143-piece band was also directed by the university musician for a group of three numbers. Appearing also on the evening concert was a vocal number by students from each school cho sen by Mr. Ernst as the super ior number offered by that school during the day for criti cism. Representing Medford was Its mixed a cappella choir, while both Ashland and Grants Pass were represented by their girls' sextets. The Ashland senior high school band, chosen by Mr. Stehn as the outstanding band of the day, played in the evening concert. A special feature of the day was a concert given at 1 p.m. by a woodwind ensemble from the University of Oregon. This provided a pleasant rest period for the high school students. Final echo of the day was pro vided by a group of Medford students who made a round of friendly serenades through the t town. I Music directors of the various high schools are Nora Lunde.j vocal, and I. A. Mlrick, instru- -mental, Ashland; Cloyd Riffle, j vocal and Martin Trepte, Instru j mental, Grants Pass; Mabel Nan-1 sen, vocal and Sydney bouck.h instrumental, llcdlord, ( 10TH MY MEN SLUG MY INTO Tokyo R e p o r t s American Fleet Out of Marianas for New Blow at Empire. Guam, May 18 (U.R) A great artillery duel of unprecedented fury in the Pacific war flared along tha Okinawa battle line to day as 10th army forces slugged their way, yard by yard, into the three wrecked bastion towns of Naha, Shurl and Yonabaru. - Tokyo reported without sup porting allied evidence that a powerful American fleet steam ed out of the Marianas last Sun day or Monday, presumably for new forays against the Japanese empire. Inside Bastions ' Front dispatches indicated U, S. ground forces now were bat tling inside Shuri and Yonabaru, as well as in Naha, where ma rines of the sixth division ex panded a hard-won bridgehead across the Asato river. The enemy had reported earli er that American troops broke int Shuri, the inland anchor of the Japanese defense line lying midway between Naha on the west coast and Yonabaru on tha east. Nowhere were tha Americans making big advances. Fiercely resisting Japanese, supported by the heaviest concentration of ar tillery ever assembled by the en emy in tha Pacific war, limited Yank gains to yards and feet. Front dispatches said marine deep inside Naha wera cracking fanatic Japanese resistance there. But later reports said the leatnernecKS in Naha ware "pinned to many positions," and that only small amounts of equipment had crossed the Asato . river at the edge of the city. Artillery Busy Shells from big Japanese and American guns crashed cease lessly into the lines of struggling infantrymen strung out along tha five-mile coast-to-coast bat tlement. East of Naha, tha first marines and two army divisions the 77th and 98th attempted to awing the American flank south ward. The 77th was attacking Shurl while the 86th stormed Yona baru. A Tokyo broadcast, referring to tha purported U. S. fleet movement out of tha Marianas, said "although it Is not definitely known whether it is directed to ward the Okinawas or not, its activities require a rigid watch." By United Press As the bloody battling con tinued across the southern end of Okinawa, more heavy air blows against tha enemy's homeland were disclosed. The 21st bomber command an nounced that four of Japan's largest oil supply plants had been "rendered inoperative" in a raid by 400 Superfortresses on southern Japan May 10. A delayed dispatch from a task force off Japan revealed that carrier planes delivered a "50 per cent knockout blow" on a hitherto unknown aircraft as sembly plant In north central Kyushu last Monday. Detailed reports on yesterday's second big B-29 fire raid on Na goya, Japan's third largest city and Its greatest aircraft manu facturing center, still awaited reconnaissance photogra phs. Crewmen reported all of south ern Nagoya, Including the huge Mitsubishi aircraft works and the dock area, was left In flames. On Mindanao in the Philip pines American troops were re ported closing in on Valencia and its two-strip airfield after a six mile advance along the Sayre highway. To the north other forces met stiff Japanese mortar and artillery fire In a push south. The two forces were 31 miles from a juncture. 16-YEAR-OLD HELD ON AUTO THEFT CHARGES A 18-year-old Medford boy was remanded to the county Juvenile officer yesterday when he plead guilty in justice court to a charge of auto theft, accord ing to a report on file today. JAPS SAY SUBS SUNK By United Press Tokyo radio claimed Thurs day that Japanese Air Units sank two Allied submarines off the eastern roast of Java May 10 and 11. The broadcast was heard by United Press, San Francisco. Seventh War Loan Drive "E" Sales to date 1150,811 Quota $1,067,000 Total Sales to Date $440,769 Quota 82,087,000
