Evening star. [volume], October 11, 1944, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Weather Forecast
Cteudy tonight, low near 48; fair,
windy, cool tomorrow.
Temperatures today—Highest, 63, at
1 p.m.; lowest, 46, at 7:68 a.m. Yes
terday—Highest, 63, at 2:24 pjn.; low
est, 49, at 7:47 ajn.
—--L_
Lote New York Markets, Page A-21,
Guide for Readers
Page.
Amusements . A-l«
Comics.B-22-23
Editorials .A-«
Editor'1 Artles.A-13
Finance_A-21
Lost and Found.A-3
Page.
Obituary _A-14
Radio .B-*3
Society .B-3
Sport* ..;..A-1»-19
Where to Oo_B-7
Woman’s Page.B-M
An Associated Press Newspaper
92d YEAR. No. 36,687.
_WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1944-^FORTY-SIX PAGES. ★★★
City Bom* Delivery, Daily and Sunday Bf /'TC'VrmC!
, »0e a Month. When 6 Sunday*, *1.00. ® X O.
_ .. . ...
Big Guns and Planes Blast City;
Nazis Rush Up Reinforcements
—' ♦ I --__
Assault Opened
Soon After Time
Limit Expires
BULLETIN.
LONDON UP).—'The Ger
mans rushed up troops late
today in an effort to reinforce
Aachen. A major battle was
developing.
(Map on Page A-3.)
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Oct. 11.—Massed
American big guns and dive
bombers today opened an assault
to destroy Aachen after its com
mander rejected a surrender-or
ciie ultimatum.
Heavy 8-inch guns. 155-mm. Long
Toms, and 105-mm. howitzers
thundered in an obliterating bar
rage and bombers hurtled down on
the surrounded city. By refusing
to accept the 24-hour ultimatum
for unconditional surrender or com
plete destruction, the German com
mander had sealed the doom of
the city and its 1,500 SS troops.
Gunners loosed the first salvos at
noon, an hour and 10 minutes after
expiration of the ultimatum.
As a test case. Aachen indicated
that the Nazi leadership at this
yme will see its cities destroyed
rather than yield.
Civilians Move to U. S. Lines.
White flags appeared over many
of the ancient buildings of Aachen
before the ultimatum expired, but!
they apparently were hung by civil
ians. Hundreds of civilians and a
handful of troops moved under truce
flags to American lines, but these |
came from outlying portions of thei
city away from the immediate con-;
trol of the enemy garrison.
It was estimated that 15,000 civil-:
ians, hiding in cellars of the already i
badly damaged city, remained ofi
Aachen's 165,000 prewar population.;
As the blows to level Aachen
began, American 1st Army closed
the ring tighter about the city. To
the north they seized Scharfenberg
and Bardenburg, advanced to
Wurselen and mopped up Germans
in the southern part of Haaren,
northeast of Aachen.
Battle in Winding Tunnel.
South of the siege site. American
3d Army men and Germans battled
underground in a winding tunnel at
Fort Driant before Metz, rlchochet
ting bullets off the walls. Dough
boys and Germans were so close
they could hear each other's orders.
The fierce struggle for surface
positions in the fortress continued
unchanged. Farther south, Amer
icans virtually cleared the enemy
from Parroy Forest, and scored
gains east of Luneville and Epinal.
A house-to-house fight was on for
Maiziere, 6 miles above Metz.
Canadians sliced the main high
way connecting the Schelde Estuary
island of South Beveland with the
Dutch mainland, lopping off the
escape route for thousands of Ger
mans holding there who have pre
vented Allied use of Antwerp port.
Schelde Beachhead Widened.
To the southwest, other Canadian
infantry widened their Schelde Riv
er beachhead to 4 miles, and drove 3
miles inland in the backdoor assault
on the Germans below the Schelde’s
mouth. Berlin said this sea-borne
landing east of Breskens opposite
Flushing had been reinforced.
Violent fighting continued at the
Canadian bridgehead over the Leo
pold Canal, spearhead of the push
from the south to knock the Ger
mans from the lower Schelde area.
The Allies heavily bombarded the
holdout port of Dunkerque on the
French coast.
Southeast of Aachen, the Allied
communique reported gains to the
southwest of Hurtgen and patrol
and artillery action near Monschau.
Heavy Enemy Losses.
On the 3d Army front a substan
tial bridgehead was reported estab
lished across the Moselotte River
in the Le Thillot sector, where
“heavy losses were inflicted on the
enemy.” The Longagoutte and
Gehan Forests were largely mopped
up.
Attention, however, centered large
ly on the dramatic situation at
Aachen. During the 24 hours which
the ultimatum ran, the Allied radio
at Luxembourg warned at intervals
hour after hour that the defenders
must make up their minds quickly,
or see the city leveled.
“We shall take the city either by
receiving its immediate uncondi
tional surrender, or by attacking
and destroying it,” said the ulti
matum, delivered inside the already
battered German metropolis yester
day by three American soldiers
carrying a flag of truce.
Narrow Corridor Remains.
The ultimatum carried to the
Aachen commandant spoke of the
city as "completely surrounded,” but
actually latest field and supreme
headquarters reports indicated that
a narrow corridor remained open
northeast toward the heart of
Germany.
The corridor, however, appeared
an almost certain road to death.
First Army machine guns could keep
the area under constant cross-fire.
The Allies turned a succession of
broadcasts toward Germany before
expiration of the ultimatum in an
effort to get word of Aachen’s fate
to all Germans. Associated Press
War Correspondent Don Whitehead
» said in a field dispatch:
“Hie American high command
wants them to know the story of
Aachen—wants them to know that
if their cities are to be made into
fortresses then they will be de
stroyed. What happens to Aachen
will set the pattern for every city
inside Germany.’*
Polish Premier Invited to Join
Churchill-Stalin Conferences
Mikola jczyk Expected
To Leave London Soon
For Moscow Talks
Bs the Associated Press.
LONDON, Oct. 11.—The exiled
Polish government’s Ministry of
Information said today that Pre
mier Stanislaw Mikola jczyk had
been invited to join the confer
ences between Prime Minister
Churchill and Premier Stalin in
Moscow.
The invitation, extended also to
Polish Foreign Minister Tadeusz
Romer, tended to confirm belief that
the long-standing Soviet-Polish dis
pute was a prime cause for Mr.
Churchill's trip to the Russian
capital.
It appeared here that Mr. Church
ill had gained the first objective in
an effort to end the dispute and
mend a potential lift in Allied rela
tions.
The cabinet of the exiled govern
ment, hurriedly summoned into spe
cial session, approved acceptance of
the invitation "in principle,” and it
is probable that the peasant-bom
PREMIER STANISLAW
MIKOLAJCZYK.
Premier and his Foreign Minister
will start shortly on their second
mission to Moscow.
•The invitation, and the fact it was
extended little more than 24 hours
after Mr. Churchill and Foreign
(See^QLls,PageA-20)
Strange Aachen Attack
Marked by Moments
Of Complete Silence
Many Citizens Displayed
White Flags at Windows
In Defiance of Nazis
By WILLIAM SMITH WHITE
and DON WHITEHEAD,
Associated Press War Correspondents.
OUTSIDE AACHEN, Oct. 11
(2:05 P.M.).—Aachen is being
burned and beaten before our
eyes today, but the final assault
has not yet reached the tre
mendous fiery scale we had ex
pected.
This is being written from a cap
tured German barracks on the edge
of the frontier city of 165,000, a
gateway to Cologne and the Ruhr.
At noon—this silent city not hav-!
ing answered the American ulti
matum for its unconditional sur
render-big guns began to bellow
against it and soon divebombers
came screaming in shrilly, in flights
waving from six to a dozen at a
time. Their bombs sometimes are
high explosives, sometimes fire
bombs.
The whole face of the city is
clouded in smoke which intermit
tently almost clears away.
Cathedral Unharmed.
The Aachen Cathedral, built in
796 and containing a throne of
Charlemagne, stands unharmed as
yet, and the sun is glistening now
on its lofty spire.
The Germans simply are sitting
like moles beneath their barracks
down in the main part of the town.
Their antiaircraft guns are not ac
tive against our planes, but a single
Messerschmitt-109 just challenged
us. It dropped two bombs near this
position and sailed safely through
our ground fire.
It is a strange attack. There are
moments of complete silence in
which birds can be heard in the bar
racks courtyard. And then it will
break out again—our artillery bursts
rolling through this valley, in which
Aachen is situated, like heavy planks
dropping on a concrete floor.
Hill Is Objective.
Just ahead Is one of the main
American objectives, Observatory
Hill. It commands the city from
the north and now it lies quiet, half
in the sunshine and half in the
shadows. A church surmounts its
crest.
There is not the slightest stir vis
is grayish, there it is brown. At
Hundreds of white flags which
civilians had run up this morning
before expirsAion of the ultimatum
are no longer there. Storm troopers
presumably pulled them down.
Fires spring up and then are ex
tinguished. The smoke above the
doomed city is multicolored—here it
is grayish, there is is brown. At
still other places, such as to the
right of the cathedral, the smoke is
(Continued on Page A-4, CoiuamT)
President Will Speak H
At 4 P.M. Tomorrow
President Roosevelt is spending
part of today working on the Co
lumbus Day speech he will broad
cast tomorrow afternoon.
The heads of the diplomatic mis
sions of all the other American re
publics, except Argentina, have been
invited to the White House to hear
the President’s speech, which goes
bn the air at 4 o'clock.
Laurel Results
FIRST RACK—Purs*, $2,000; maiden
2-year-olds: claiming; 6 furlongs.
Talasea (Wright) 242.90 95.40 42.50
Teddy Laas (Bowers) 6.10 4.70
Toil Away (Jemas) 6.10
Time. 1:16%.
Also ran—Bob O'Sullivan. Geneva Mum,
Lacacia. Omashane, Plight Man, Dnauit
able. Bridle Bar, Devil's Bit. Red Figure.
SECOND RACK—Purge, $1,500: 3-year
old i and ud: claiming; 6 furlongs.
War Won (McCoy) 125.50 31.10 13.70
Selmalad (Mann) 4.60 4.60
Ginjjerman (Fltigerald) 4.80
^rafeVaSE Pu?.nvald&
Charm, Miss Veo. Half Inch and Primarily.
a A. Crleafull-B. C. Rifktn entry.
(Dally double said $1,125.50.)
Entries for Tomorrow, Page A-1S.
Albanian Port Taken
By British, Isolating
Germans on Corfu
Allied Patrols Active;
Evacuation of Greece
Admitted by Nazis
INVASION OF GREECE gives Par
tisans new life after years of guer
rilla*warfare. page A-3
By the Associated Press.
ROME, Oct. II —British troops
In Albania have captured the
port of Sarande (Porto Edda),
isolating the German garrison
on the island of Corfu, it was
announced today.
An official announcement from
Allied headquarters said also that
"patrolling is active" in Greece, but
there was no indication whether the
land forces of the Adriatic have
moved beyond captured Corinth to
ward Atheng
(The Germans yesterday ad
mitted their forces were evacu
ating Greece, the Berlin cor
respondent of the Stockholm
newspaper Dagens Nyheter re
ported. The correspondent added
that farther north, in the Bal
kans, the Nazis were using spe
cial troops in an effort to free
their retreat line from attacks
by Yugoslav Partisans.)
Sarande, supplv port for the
Germans on Corfu, was captured
after a hard battle, it was said.
500 Prisoners Taken.
About 500 prisoners were taken.
With the port in British hands
there appeared little possibility that
the Germans on Corfu, last reported
to total a regiment, would be able
to escape to the mainland.
"The troops who first penetrated
into the western outskirts of the
town met with stiff resistance, but
the launching of a big attack with
artillery support resulted in the
taking of the area,” said the official
description of the Sarande battle.
“Pockets of resistance continued
but by 10 am. October 10 these had
been overcome and consolidation in
the town and on the hills overlook
ing the port was completed.”
Mopping Up Continues.
Mopping-up operations continued
around the town of Gjashdle.
Both air and naval operations
were reported in connection with the
Allied campaign to wipe out the last
enemy units in the whole of the
Balkans. Balkan Air Force Beau
fighters with Mustang escort at
tacked barracks and rail yards at
Kriz, in Yugoslavia, 30 miles south
east of Zagreb.
At Senj, on the Dalmatian coast
southeast of Fiume, an enemy ship
was left afire when Beaufighters hit
it with 25 rockets.
The naval command announced
that the British destroyer - Wilton
and a heavily armed landing craft
shelled German troops and gun posi
tions on the Albanian coast north
of Corfu Sunday with good results.
Germans Report
2 Big Red Drives
North of Warsaw
Memel Encircled
By Russian Forces,
Berlin Announces
BULLETIN.
NEW YORK (*).—Cluj,
capital of Transylvania and
sixth largest city of Romania,
has been captured, the Ro
manian command said today
in a special broadcast com
munique.
Er the Associated Presi.
LONDON, Oct. 11.—Two great
new Russian attacks north of
Warsaw were reported today by
the Germans, who announced
the evacuation of their frontier
bastion of Taurage, just across
the border in Lithuania from
East Prussia.
“The autumn oflensive is in full
swing,-’ Berlin said. "It may now
be said that the general attack on
East Prussia has opened. This of
fensive was expected. The thrust
past Lomza (in Northern Poland t
is directed toward Allenstein and
Danzig, and the thrust from Memel
is toward Tilsit and Konigsberg.”
capital of East Prussia and a city
of 368,000.
The new Russian drives were lo
cated north of Warsaw and south
of Roznan, which lies near the
Narew River northeast of the de
stroyed Polish capital. The Ger
mans acknowledged local breaches
which they said were "cleared or
liquidated.”
Taurage lies on the Jura River
20 miles from Tilsit on the road be
tween that city and besieged Riga,
capital df Latvia.
Russians Push to Point
Within IS Miles of Tilsit
MOSCOW, Oct. 11 <£*).—Russian
troops today fought within 7 miles
of Memel and 15 miles of the East
Prussian rail center of Tilsit after
slashing to the Baltic Sea above the
port, cutting land routes for up to
150,000 Germans still in Latvia and
Lithuania.
(The Berlin radio announced
today that Menlel had been sur
rounded by the Russians.)
Yet another death trap was being
fashioned in a Soviet drive south
east of Memel, which Hitler annexed
to East Prussia early in 1939 from
Lithuania.
Advancing along the last 50 miles
separating them from the sea south
of Memel, the Russians swept along
the Niemen River in a lightning
move which appeared likely to cut
off from three to five enemy divi
sions between Taurage and Kirisch
es Haff.
10 Divisions Trapped.
Ten German divisions, totaling
perhaps 150,000 Nazis, were trapped
yesterday in a Latvian pocket north
of Memel when Gen. Ivan C. Bagra.
mian's battering ram overran the
Baltic beaches 15 miles above the
besieged and shell-rocked port.
(A Moscow dispatch received in
London by Reuters, British news
agency, said Red Army artillery
had begun shelling of Tilsit with
heavy batteries brought to ad
vanced positions on the Memel
front.)
German forces being compressed
into the triangle formed by Memel,
a tiny strip of Southwestern Lithu
ania and the Niemen north of Til
sit included a large number of tank
men and crews of self-propelled
guns, who have lost their weapons.
Red Air Force bombers and fight
ers attacked German shipping at
Memel and Riga, with low-flying
Stormoviks joining the assaults on
transports and warships in both
harbors. Other aircraft bombed and
strafed convoys and individual
vessels off the coast from north of
Memel to Konigsberg.
At Riga, advance armored units
were reported probing the city’s
outer defenses in repeated strikes.
The Bagramian offensive, which
already has mauled and crippled six
German divisions, compressed the
remnants of 10 other divisions into
(See RUSSIA. Page A-IOJ
Kidnaped Baby Found in Maid's
Home Disguised With Sun-Tan
By tne Associated Press.
DETROIT, Oct. 11.—Robert James
King, 4-month-old white child ab
ducted 10 days ago by his newly
employed colored nursemaid, has
been returned safely to his parents,
Paul H. Wencel, chief of detectives,
announced today.
A woman in whose home the
child was found is being held. Mr.
Wencel said she gave her mms
as Mrs. Eleanor Smith, 33, and that
she had sought to delude her hus
band into believing the child was
theirs by altering its complexion
with sun-tan make-up. Positive
identification of the child has been
made through footprints, Mr. Wen
cel said.
“It’s my baby,” cried Mrs. Clar
ence King when she and her hus
band arrived at police headquarters
and saw the child.
Mrs. Smith's husband, Eugene, I
i .8
also taken to police headquarters,
was released after making a state
ment. Detectives said they were
convinced he had no knowledge of
the abduction.
Holding Mrs. Smith on an open
charge pending further investiga
tion, police said the identification
bureau had reported the print of
one finger found in the King home
corresponded with one of Mrs.
Smith’s prints.
A Detroit private detective also
was assisting Dayton (Ohio) police
in another kidnaping not linked to
the King case.
Detectives wont to the Smith
home yesterday, accompanied by Mr.
King and hu 17-year-old son, Em
ory, Mr. Wencel said, but they were
told hr Mrs. Smith that the child
was iU and his eyes should not be
exposed to bright Rights.
The child then was examined in a
(See KIDNAPING.
t-—-- ■ --—__
California Democrats
Fear Many in Party
Will Fail to Vote
Leaders, However, Claim
President Will Get
Majority of 400,000
By GOULD LINCOLN,
Star Staff Correipondent.
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11— Dem
ocrats in this hitherto Roosevelt
stronghold of Southern Califor
nia—Los Angeles—have only one
fear. It Is that the potential
Roosevelt voters will neglect to
go to the polls on election day;
they fear that too many men
and women, interested In the
war and their own personal pur
suits, with money in their
pockets, will fail to vote.
Even so, these Democratic leaders
are predicting that Mr. Roosevelt
will carry California with a lead of
400.000 votes over Gov. Dewey. More
impartial observers take a different
view. Few of them doubt Mr.
Roosevelt will win—but they do not
see so wide a margin of victory for
him. They believe it may be a close
election here. If it is it may not be
until November 23, when the ab
sentee ballots are cast, that the re
sult will be known, for there will be
a large soldier vote.
Pacific Vote Uncertain.
Nor is it entirely sure that the
soldier votes, many of them coming
from the Pacific area, will be as
largely tor Mr. Roosevelt as Demo
crats would have you believe. This
is the word brought back from the
Pacific by men who have been there.
Further, a considerable number of
Federal ballots—the so-called bob
tail ballot—have been sent back to
California by men in the services
illegally, for the time for using this
form of ballot has not arrived and
the men were supposed to use the
State ballots. It has leaked out
that many of these illegal ballots
showed a preference for Gov. Dewey.
Republicans in this State are really
putting on a campaign. The Demo
crats complain the Republicans are
spending money like mad. Some of
this money has gone for a private
poll among the voters, and this poll
shows Gov. Dewey slightly in the
lead. There is still another poll,
taken at the instance of a group of
attorneys, and it, too, gives the edge
to Gov. Dewey.
In Ios Angeles County, which has
more than 40 per cent of the entire
vote of the State, is located the
heart of the movie industry. Holly
wood is far more divided in its presi
dential‘affections this year than it
has been in past Roosevelt cam
paigns. While a preponderance of
the movie people, actors and pro
ducers still appear to favor the
President, Gov. Dewey has a big
following among them, too.
Largest Political Rally.
The Democrats have attempted to
laugh off—but not too successfully—
the big Republican rally here when
nearly 95,000 persons turned out to
hear Gov. Dewey speak. This was
the largest political gathering ever
held in this or any other American
city.
Another thing that cheers the
Republicans lies in the fact that in
the primary elections for senatorial
(See LINCOLN, Page A-9.)
Today's Political
Broadcasts
8:18 p.m—WOL, Representa
tive Dirksen, Repub
lican, of Illinois,
speaking from Chi
cago.
10:30 pm.—WOL, Gov. John
W. Bricker, Repub
lican vice presiden
tial candidate, speak
ing from Tacoma,
Wash. '
10:55 pjn.—WRC, Fannie Hurst
speaking from New
York on behalf of the
Democratic National
Committee.
-wir
Mrs. Roosevelt Urges Parents
To Teach Girls Self-Protection
More Police Around Hains Point Suggested
In Comment on Dorothy Berrum Slaying
Mrs. Roosevelt today blamed
the parents of America who let
their daughters come to Wash
ington “unprepared,” for such
incidents as the murder of 18
year-old Dorothy Berrum.
Parents afraid or embarrassed to
describe “the evils of life” to their
children can do a great deal of
harm, she said, and added that
youngsters of 18 are likely to feel
that they are capable of taking care
of themselves, and able to judge
their companions at a moment's
glance, unless instructed otherwise.
“No cne, evidently, told these
youngsters that in having a good
;time you run certain dangers. You
should not let your children go off
| where they must be responsible for
themselves unless you are convinced
| they are capable.” she said.
Mrs. Roosevelt also said that more
police around Hains Point and care
| by the services in examining men
returned from war zones might help
avert further such incidents. She
said, however, she was not at all fa
miliar with the details of the Ber
rum murder and therefore her sug
gestion of more police might not
necessarily be a sensible one. She
stressed that she had not followed
the case closely enough to know
whether any possible derangement
in the marine was a result of war
service or had occurred before.
A proposal that teen-age girls
brought to Washington for Govern
ment jobs be "sent back home” was
made by Ray H. Everett, executive
secretary of the Social Hygiene So
ciety, as cme part of a four-point
program to solve what he called "one
of our greatest war problems.”
“Most girls under 20 are too im
mature to be running loose in
Washington.” he declared.
Mr, Everett laid the blame for
(Continued on Page A-2, Column 5.)
{Mayor of Cleveland
{Made Issue in Threat
ITo Strike 64 Plants
Lausche, Democratic
Choice for Governor,
Attacked by Mechanics
By the Associated Press.
CLEVELAND, Oct. 11.—Mat
thew L. Smith, national secre
tary of the Mechanics’ Educa
tional Society of America, today
termed Mayor Frank J. Lausche,
Ohio’s Democratic gubernatorial
nominee, “the fly in the oint
ment” in a dispute at the Cleve
land Graphite Bronze Co. and
reiterated a threat to call sym
pathy strikes in 64 war plants in
Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey.
Mr. Smith said 68,000 MESA mem
bers would walk out at 10 a.m.
(central war time) tomorrow if
the dispute involving discharge of
one employe is not placed before an
arbitration panel.
Refusing comment on a telegram
from Undersecretary of War Robert
Pk Patterson, who asserted the
strike Whuld be “a stab in the back
of American soldiers." Mr. Smith
declared the unaffiliated union “has
always been ready to follow the War
Labor Board’s provisions” for arbi
tration.
WLB Ordered Arbitration.
The WLB last August ordered a
tri-partite panel to arbitrate the
controversy, consisting of a com
pany member, a union member and
a public member to be appointed by
Mr. Lausche if the company and
union failed to agree upon the pub
lic representative.
“If Lausche will step out of the
picture, we’ll call off the strike im
mediately," asserted Mr. Smith.
He said he telephoned William H.
Davis, chairman of the WLB in
Washington, and quoted Mr. Davis
as Saying the board would “make
other provisions for the appoint
ment of a third party to an arbitra
tion panel if Lausche steps out.”
Terming Mr. Lausche “the city’s
most notorious strike-breaker,” Mr.
Smith declared the Mayor, “who
apparently fears the public will learn
he is not supported by all labor
groups in his gubernatorial cam
paign, has been the fly in the oint
ment in settling this dispute.
“Lausche Could Step Aside.”
“Mr. Lausche* participation in
the panel is optional, and he could
step aside in the interest of har
mony. Instead, he insists on stay
ing in the picture and as long as
be continues that stand the issue
will remain deadlocked.”
Mr. Lausche, campaigning at
Youngstown, commented: “The de
termination of the method of set
tling the dispute was made by the
(See STRIKE, Page A-5.)
Petrillo Case Sent
Back to White House
By Musicians' Action
Union Tells Roosevelt
It Won't Remove Ban
On Producing Records
The next move in the “Petrillo
case" appeared today to be up to
the White House.
In a nine-page telegram, James
C. Petrillo, head of the AFL Ameri
can Federation of Musicians, yester
day rejected President Roosevelt's
request to remove the union’s 26
month ban on production of musical
recordings, telling the Chief Execu
tive such a step would take business
away from concerns that have
agreements with the AFM.
Stephen T. Early, White House
secretary, said the Petrillo telegram
had been turned over to Stabiliza
tion Director Fred M. Vinson. He
recalled that it was on the recom
mendation of Mr. Vinson and War
Mobilization Director James F.
Byrnes that the President had asked
Mr. Petrillo to lift the ban.
Mr. Petrillo said that since the
prohibition went into effect on Aug
ust 1, 1942, the union had entered
into contracts with 105 firms and in
dividuals; that they were producing
nearly 4,000,000 records a month,
and that the restrictions now af
fected only two companies—RCA
Victor and Columbia.
Firms and President Silent
There was no immediate comment
by the President, and the companies
also were silent.
According to an Associated Press
dispatch from Chicago, Mr. Petrillo
told the President “There is only one
solution to this problem the Federa
tion can accept, and that is for these
two companies to sign the same
contract as the other companies
have signed if they wish our mem
bers to work for them in making
recordings and transcriptions.”
Mr. Petrillo acknowledged that in
1942 and in January, 1943, he had
said that if President Roosevelt
asked him to lift the ban he would
comply. He then cited statistics on
the agreements signed and record
production, and asserted the union
"has been placed in a position
whereby the offer made by me no
longer has any further application.”
"Public Is Getting Recordings.”
“The only good that would crane
out of the lifting of the ban,” the
union leader said, “would be to per
mit these two companies to resume
the manufacture of records for civil
ian use, with resulting tremendous
profits to them, and that would be
accomplished by taking the business
away from those companies who
have signed with the American Fed
eratlon of Musicians and who are
(See PETRILLO. Page A-4~)
Isles 200 Miles
From Japan Hit
By Navy Flyers
58 Surface Vessels
Struck or Destroyed
In Ryukyus Attack
(Map on Pape A-10.)
Br the Associated Press.
PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUAR
TERS, Pearl Harbor, Oct. 11.—In
the boldest naval stroke of the
Pacific war, the free - roving
American 3d Fleet struck 200
miles south of Japan, defying
both Japan’s home fleet and air
force Monday by pouring carrier
planes in overpowering strength
against the Ryukyu Islands.
As the climax of powerful blows
delivered since August 30 in the
Philippines, Palaus and Bonins, Ad
miral William P. Halsey's task force
wiped out 89 planes and sank or
damaged 58 surface craft—every
vessel sighted—in the Ryukyus, 500
miles from the China coast.
Not one American warship was
hit by the enemy in an operation
which, in many ways, was more
daring than the 1942 carrier-based
plane strike at Tokyo inasmuch as
the carrier in that case retired while
the planes flew on to China. In
Monday s strike, Vice Admiral Marc
A. Mitscher's carriers stayed around
for the raiders’ return.
14 Planes Downed.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, an
nouncing the Ryukyu raid in a com
munique yesterday, said the planes
swept over the 570-mile long chain
"in great force.” They shot down 14
planes, wiped out 75 on the ground
and could find no warship bigger
than a destroyer. It was among 12
definitely sunk. Japan’s home fleet
kept out of sight and the home
based air force did not come to
Ryukyu’s aid.
<A Japanese imperial commu
nique today said 400 American
planes carried out Monday’s at
tack on the Ryukyu islands.
(The communique, heard by the
Federal Communications Com
mission, said the American raid
ers attacked from 7 am. to mid
I afternoon.
(It said American planes ranged
from Amami Oshima, 200 miles
south of Japan, to Miyako Island,
nearly 500 miles farther south
near Formoso. Okinawa Island
was named as one of the targets.
(Tokyo claimed that "more than
26 of the enemy planes were shot
down.” and asserted only "slight
damage" was done.’
500 Surface Craft Hit.
Admiral Mitscher's task fores
raids, which have overwhelmed such
strategic are%s as Manila, have re
sulted since August in knocking out
more than 1,100 enemy planes and
500 surface craft ranging from de
stroyers and big cargo vessels down
to luggers.
In all these raids not a warship
has been damaged.
Yesterday's communique on the
Ryukyu raid said: “There was no
damage to our surface ships and
our plane losses were light.”
Significantly, in demonstrating
how the American fleet can disperse
its units in strength, this blow fell
one day after battleships spent all
day Sunday blowing to bits the Jap
anese defenses on Marcus Island,
more than 1.500 miles east of the
Ryukyus,
10th Palau Isle Secured.
In another communique last night.
Admiral Nimitz announced that 81st
Division troops which invaded a 10th
island in the Palaus Sunday com
pletely secured it within 24 hours.
It is the tiny island of Garakayo, to
the north of the larger American
holding of Peleliu. The 10 islands
and islets provide the Yanks with an
expanding base within 515 miles of
the Philippines.
Three hundred miles south of the
Philippines at invaded Morotai, Gen.
Douglas MacArthur announced to
day, fighter planes and patrol-tor
pedo boats broke up an enemy at
tempt earlier this week to reinforce
1 Japanese remnants holding out
against American forces which land
|ed September 15. Eighteen barges
| were sunk or damaged in the action.
| A few barges may have put some
i troops ashore but a spokesman said
j there was no cause for any concern
about the American situation.
kcsuiis Listen.
| In the detailed account of the
Ryukyu attack, based on admittedly
‘preliminary reports,” Admiral Nim
itz said these results were achieved:
Sunk—A destroyer, a mine-sweep
er, a submarine tender, two medium
cargo ships, two small cargo ships,
five coastal cargo ships. Total, 12.
Probably sunk— Two medium cargo
ships, four small cargo ships, one
medium oil tanker, seven coastal
cargo ships. Total, 14.
Damaged—Three medium cargo
ships, six small cargo ships, one de
stroyer, two small oil tankers. Total,
12.
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