Imperial Valley press., January 16, 1945, Image 1

About Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current

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WEATHER
Maximum Monday 78, minimum
Tuesday 40; 5 a.m. Tuesday 51, hu
midity 68; noon Tuesday 66, humid
ity 31; 5 p.m. Mon. 72, humidity 48.
BANK. DEBITS
Monday $1,390,389.47
Last Year $845,372.28
VOL. XLIII, No. 87
PRUSSIAN FORTRESS FALLS TO RED HORDES
Tanks Unopposed
In Sweep Across
The Luzon Plain
Frontal Attack Merges Into
One Spearhead Down Paved
Highways Toward Isle Capital
By WILLIAM B. DICKINSON
GENERAL MacAItTHUR’S HEADQUARTERS, LU
ZON, Jan. 16. (UP) —American tanks, mobile guns and
infantry swept on unchecked and apparently unchallenged
across the great central Luzon plains less than 75 air miles
north of Manila today.
The biggest invasion of the Pacific war entered its sec
ond week with American spearheads nearly 35 air and 40
road miles inland from the Lingayen Gulf beachhead
almost a third of the way to the Philippines capital.
Stiff fighting was under way along the Rosario-Pozor-
Rambling
eporter
An Anniversary—
Tuesday was a great day for A.
H. Rehkopf of El Centro. He said:
‘‘Forty-four years ago Tuesday I
first saw this land where, someone
has said, ‘we have summer all win
ter and Hell all summer.’ To me
the Hell of it is- the best of it. I
love it, the real summer time when
my shirt may be wet but my nose
is dry.”
•
Baby Corner—
Is there a baby scales in the
house?
A terrible situation has been un
earthed at the hospital at the El
Centro marine air station. They have
no scales in their out-patient de
partment to weigh the Marine babies
either new or a little older.
Imagine net being able to weigh
our future Marines and Marine res
ervists! An un-pretty state of af
fairs.
Doctors and nurses there want to
borrow some scales. They promise
to take good care of them and re
turn them in good order.
Telephone the Red Cross El Cen
tro 224.
Thank You—
Thank you, Public. You responded
nobly with the request for rooms.
We ll be back later for more help.
COUNTY RENEWS
PREDATORY CONTROL
Coyctes are on the increase in
California, so the Imperial county
board of supervisors Monday re
newed the contract with the federal
and state governments for their cus
tomary predatory and rodent con
trol program.
The contract calls for a salary of
$2400 a year for one man to trap
coyotes and other predatory animals
and rodents who prey on livestock.
Ag Prof Admits
Meloland Need
"Scope and facilities at Meloland
Experiment station will be increased
but why not strengthen the junior
college agricultural departments in
stead of starting a new non-degree
agricultural college at the station?”
were remarks made in El Centro
Tuesday by Professor B. A. Madson,
head of the agronomy division of the
University of California, under
whose supervision the Meloland
station operates.
He made the statement and asked
the question while discussing the
program advocated by the Meloland
Group and backed by many organi
zations in Imperial county.
“We plan to expand the facilities
and scope of the Meloland station,"
Professor Mac.y.) 1 said, “but it
seems to me that it would be better
to strengthen the junior college,
which needs strengthening, instead
of starting an entirely new educa
tional institution.”
He has been familiar with the
operation of the Meloland experi
ment station since 1911, he said.
Professor Madson advocated a
more expanded and better agricul
tural department at the junior col
leges which he believed would meet
the need for non-degree agricultur
al training.
“We would divert too much money
and energy from the station experi
mental work itself,” the professor
said, "if we started up a new college.
The entrance requirements could
IMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS
Complete World-Wide News from United Press Leased Wire Service, Entire NEA Features, with Valley News by the Largest Editorial Staff in South
eastern California. The Only local Daily Newspaper Serving El Centro, Calexico, Holtville, Imperial, Seeley and Ileber.
rubio line at the northeastern cor
ner of the beachhead, but the un
opposed frontal advance already had
carried to within nearly 30 miles of
the great Clark field air center and
perhaps a dozen miles of the provin
cial capital of Tarlac.
MERGE SPEARHEAD
Camiling, 23 road miles inland
from Lingayan and five miles inside
Tarlac province, fell Sunday to two
converging columns which advanced
nine miles from Bayambang, to the
northeast and Mangatarem, to the
northwest, and merged into a sin
gle powerful army aimed straight
at Manila. 4
Tarlac lies 22 road miles and 17
air miles south of Camiling and may
be engulfed by the advancing Am
ericans within the next 24 hours,
if it has not already fallen.
For the first time since General
Douglas MacArthur’s men began the
march back to Manila from New
Guinea, they are fighting under
the conditions in which their mech
anized equipment and great fire
power can best be used.
HIGHWAYS SPEED ASSAULT
Most important bridges between
the gulf and the front lines already
have been repaired and there are
long stretches of two-lane concrete
and gravel roads over which thous
ands of American vehicles can oper
ate at speeds up to 50 miles an
hour —another far cry from New
Guinea and Leyte.
American bombers stfuck out
ahead of the advancing trpops Fri
day and Saturday and heavily bomb
ed and strafed both Tarlac and the
Clark Field air center, as well as
air fields at Manila and farther
south. Supply and bivouac areas
were destroyed at Tarlac and large
fires started.
At the center of the beachhead,
other American forces advanced
five miles from Catablan to Urdan
eta, 16 miles southeast of Dagupan,
along the main highway running
east across the plains.
Units in the northwest corner of
the beachhead seized several hill
top positions in sharp fighting with
Japanese forces and gradually were
reducing enemy*positions with ar
tillery and mortar fire.
be modified so that anyone interest
ed in taking agriculture at the jun
ior colleges could do so even if
they do not have the necessary re
quirements under the present sys
tem.”
He did not say when the station
will be expanded.
Nip Crash Boats
Fail Destruction
By RALPH C. TEATSORTH
ABOARD ADMIRAL KINCAID’S
FLAGSHIP OFF PHILIPPINES,
Jan. 16. (UP)—A fantastic Japanese
plan to destroy the American inva
sion ships in Lingayen gulf by hurl
ing at them a fleet of “suicide
boats” can be revealed today.
The plan flopped because the
Japanese failed to exploit their
weapon to the maximum advantage
and because the American troops
advanced so fast that the “suicide
boats” became untenable.
The Japanese made a feeble effort
to sink our ships on the night of the
landing on the Lingayen gulf coast,
but caused only slight damage and
did not repeat the attack.
Z accompanied a V, B. Bevoifh
Six Pages
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.
(UP) —The War Manpower
Commission today moved to
facilitate drafting of 200,000
industrially-deferred men in
the 26-29 age category by setting
up a listing of critical and essential
industries to govern the order in
which they would be called. In gen
eral, men in the limited list of crit
ical employments will be deferred
the longest.
The list actually was based on the
year-old list of 35 essential indus
tries established in 1944 to guide
local draft beards in acting on occu
pational deferment requests. In its
new form, however, roughly one
third of the several hundred sub
headed occupations were listed as
critical. The remainder retained es
sential ranking.
Only seven industries were listed
as critical in all divisions. These
covered the production of aircraft
and aircraft parts; ships, boats and
parts; crdnance and accessories;
ammunition: metal shapes and
forgings for essential products; ma
chinery, and essential rubber prod
ucts.
War Mobilization Director James
F. Byrnes, in laying down rules for
calling up the 200,000 deferred 26-
through-29’s, said yesterday they
should be drafted on the basis of the
relative importance cf their jobs.
He listed five categories, and said
local boards should call men from
the initial categories before dipping
into the latter ones. They were:
1. Registrants not employed in
any of the 35 essential categories.
2. Those engaged in relatively un
important jobs in essential but not
critical occupations, and who may
be replaced "without difficulty.”
3. Those in relatively unimpor
tant jobs in the critical war pro
grams and those in such programs
Clear Tuesday, Tucst’ay night,
and Wednesday. Maximum tem
perature around 70 degrees. De
creasing wind Tqesday night and
Wednesday. Local light frosts
Wednesday night; lowest tem
peratures around 30 degrees.
Carrier Planes
Range, Strike,
The China Coast
Task Force Batters Area From
Hong Kong to Amoy After Hitting
Daring, Successful Saigon Blow
PEARL HARBOR, Jan. 16. (UP) —Carrier planes of
the Third Fleet, turning north after wrecking 69 ships off
French Indo-China, lashed the China coast from Hong Kong
to Swatow with bombs and bullets yesterday for the second
straight day, Tokyo broadcasts revealed today.
A Pearl Harbor communique re
ported without elaboration that Ad
miral William F. Halsey’s air ttrik
ing forces had opened the attack
Sunday along a 350-mile stretch of
the coasi from Hongkong ncrth
through Swatow to Ano.v.
Following through Monday, Tokyo
said, about 70 carrier planes bcmbed
fleet party that discovered the hide
out of the Japanese suicide boats
yesterday. An LCI skippered by Lt.
(jg) W. Craw of New York city,
took us into Sual bay on the west
side of the gulf, where the boats
had been abandoned.
The hideout was just north of the
town of Sual in a coconut grove
that made it difficult to spot from
the air. The Japanese apparently
fled two or three days ago as the
Americans approached the base.
We found 22 boats measuring 18
feet and seven inches in length.
They had been equipped to carry
two dept hcharges and two spares
on the rear. They could be dropped
in. the normal manner or set off as
the boat crashed Into the side of a
WMC Moves to
Draft 200,000
Men 26 to 29
Agriculture Taken
Off List in Move
To Step up Draft
utiyuu in cum v/g& ci 11
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 5)
WEATHER FORECAST
EL CENTRO, CALIF.
British, Yanks
Seize Initiative
On West Front
Tommies Launch Roer Offensive
As Seventh Storms Upper Rhine
Joining Whittling Down Bulge
PARIS, Jan. 16. (UP) —Lieutenant-General Sir Miles
C. Dempsey’s British Second Army opened a new offensive
today against the German bridgehead west of the Roer
river in the area of the Dutch border town of Sittard, 17
miles northwest of Aachen.
National Service
Law Opposition
Studied by FDR
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16. (UP)
President Roosevelt today conferred
with high military officials and con
gressional advisors on the outlook
for obtaining national service leg
islation in view of the renewed op
position that the proposal has met.
The President was considering
sending a special message to con
gress on the subject.
In hLs annual message to congress
on January 6 Mr. Roosevelt renew
ed last year’s plea for universal ser
vice legislation, asserting that it
was necessary to provide the arms
to win the war.
He also asked for “work or fight”
legislation to make more effective
use of 4-F’s. This is the subject of
current hearings by the house mili
tary affairs committee, and also has
run into considerable opposition.
NAM JOINS OPPOSITION
Only today, both the National As
sociation of Manufacturers and the
Congress of Industrial Organiza
tions went on record against the
pending “work or fight” bill, as
well as the more stringent national
service plan.
The NAM said the work-or-figUt
principle, which it supported, can
be carried out effectively through
a voluntary program plus legislation
to give the war manpower commiss
ion more authority to enforce its
labor ceilings and hiring controls.
It is not necessary to put industry
and labor "in a straitjacket by com
pulsory legislation,” the NAM said.
CIO CLAIMS MISTAKES
CIO President Phillip Murray
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 4>
Bv MAC R. JOHNSON
and machine-gunned Hongkong,
Canton and Swatow, the latter mid
way between Hongkong and Amoy.
Five planes were shot down and
three damaged, Tokyo said.
“The damage to our side was neg
ligible,” the broadcasts added.
FORMOSA ATTACKED
Formosa, Japanese island bastion
athwart the tea approaches to the
China coast, also apparently was hit
both days. Pearl Harbor confirmed
Sunday’s attack and a Tokyo broarr=
cast yesterday said 200 carrier
planes raided the island next day.
The Third fleet moved nearly 800
miles north for its latest attacks cn
the China coast after scoring its
largert one-day toll of the war olf
French Indo-China Friday the
sinking of 41 ships totaling 127,000,
tons and damaging of 28 others to
taling 70,000 tens.
112 PLANES HIT
Two light cruisers and 10 destroy
er escorts were among the ships
sunk or damaged. Two convoys, one
of 11 ships and another of 19, were
wiped out completely and a third
decimated. A total cf 112 enemy
planes waf destroyed and 50 dam
aged.
•Sixteen American planes were lost,
but surface forces apparently es
caped undamaged. It was one of the
most one-sided victories of the Pa
cific war.
Fighters paved the way for the
tContinued on Pnge 6, C«fl. 8>
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1915
Simultaneously the American
Seventh Army at the opposite end
of the western front seized the init
iative along the upper Rhine,
stormed the German bridgehead
north of Strasbourg, and gained al
most two miles to the outskirts of
Gambsheim, nine miles from the
Alsatian capital.
The new Allied blows were struck
as American and British troops,
grinding down the wilted Ardennes
salient, were occupying its one-time
anchor post of Houffalize, which the
Nazis abandoned, and closing against
St. Vi'th, the last big German-held
base west of the Siegfried line In
that sector.
'British tanks and troops, attack
ing frem the famous Dutch corridor
between Belgium and Germany,
struck into swiftly defended terri
tory bounded by Sittard, Roermonc,
on the Maas 15 miles to the north,
and Geilenkirchen, 11 miles south
east of Sittard.
The drive was aimed into the
southern flank cf the German bulge
westward into the British positions
along that border : pgicn of the
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 3)
Officers Ask
County Boost
Salaries SIOO
Elective officers of Imperial
county Monday asked the county
board of supervisors to grant them
a raise of SIOO a month each, ad
just salaries of some appointive of
ficers to compare more favorably
with ether salaries paid by the
county, and adopt a sliding scale for
payment of all salaries in all county
departments.
The recommendations were drawn
up by the elective officers at the
request of the 'board of supervisors
and accepted for consideration
later.
Department heads drew up what
they considered a lair and efficient
way to handle the salary problem
within departments.
County School Superintendent E.
L. Hiteman acted as spokesman for
the county employes, explaining that
the department heads wished a bulk
allotment made to each department
for payment of salaries, wanted a
minimum and maximum salary for
each department, anc asked the
board to permit department heads
to allocate the salaries among the
employes.
“That is our idea.” Supervisor A.
Y. Preble said. “Department heads
know which employes are most val
uable to them. Under this system
the beard will not have to act as
referee between departments.”
The board will act later on the
suggestions made Monday.
Supervisors Urge
Expansion of
Highway Patrol
“Expand the personnel and facil
ities of the 'California Highway pa
trol even if it means increasing the
motor vehicle license fee $1 for each
vehicle in the state," was the gist
of a resolution passed by the Im
perial county board of supervisors
Monday.
The resolution passed by a vote
cf 4 to 1, Supervisor Hugh T. Os
borne of El Centro voting agaiiast it
and' Supervisors I. Schlatter of
Calexico, Dave Vencill of Holtville,
A. Y. Preble of Imperial and B. M.
Graham of Brawley voting in favor
of it.
r Supervisors some time ago en
dorsed a program of expansion and
improvement of the squad in Im
perial county by increasing the per
sonnel to 26 men and clerks and
equipment to 15 automobiles and a
radio transmitter. The program
was drawn up by Captain Mark
Hebblethwaite to show what is
needed to make the patrol more ef
ficient and better able to handle
traffic problems within the borders
df the county
State's Fixed
Costs Increase
Is 35 Million
Warren to Recommend
Boost, Democrats to
Ask Line Item Budget
SACRAMPINTO, Cal., Jan.
16. (UP) Governor Earl
Warren today disclosed that
the state’s fixed expenses for
the next two years will ex
ceed those for the 1943-45 biennium
by $108,000,000 and that he will rec
ommend an increaf e ol $35,000,000
in ordinary, controllable expenses.
In a partial review of his budget
estimates the governor did net,
however, reveal what the total es
timate of state spending will be for
the two years beginning next July 1.
He emphasized that the total would
not be as high as $700,000,000.
Warren also announced he fa
vored annual, instead of biennial,
state budgets and said that if an an
nual budget syrtem were used he
would faver some of the features
of close control of spending by the
legislature indicated by the term
“line item” budget.
Assembly Democrats announced
earlier they would urge adoption of
the line item type of budget which
would prevent shifting of mcney
from fund to fund.
The governor said his budget esti
mates show that the state’s fixed
chaiges for the next two years will
total $485,000,000, including $215,-
000,000 made mandatory by the con
stitution and $270,000,000 demanded
by law. The total is more than the
entire budget estimate submitted tc
the legislature by the governor in
1943.
The $35,000,000 increase in ordi
nary expenses over that being spent
during the present two years in
cludes $13,000,000 to $15,000,000 for
construction and improvement of
pi isons. institutions and other state
buildings, to be started as scon as
possible, the governor said.
The remaining $20,000,000 increase
is for the “normal administrative”
costs, he said, and includes in
creases of $5,500,000 for the Univer
sity of California and state colleges,
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 7>
Dead Engineer
Piloted Express
In Utah Crash
OGDEN, Utah, Jan. 16. (UP)—A
dead engineer piloted the speeding
20-car mail and express train which
thundered out of the pre-dawn
darkness December 31 and ploughed
into the rear end of the passenger
section of the Southern Pacific's
crack "Pacific Limited,” killing £0
persons and injuring four-score
more.
Such was the testimony this
morning by Colonel Prank B.
Queers, pathologist at Bushnell
General hospital, Brigham City,
Utah, who conducted an autopsy on
the body of James McDonald, 64,
gray-haired veteran engineer of the
fast mail-express.
County Refuses
Road Route Plan
Exact routing of the proposed Im
perial county link in the transcon
tinental, interregional highway to
be built after the war must be
shown the Imperial county board
of supervisors before they will en
dorse legislation to make it possible.
Tentative routing across Imperial
county by-passed all towns and fol
lowed a line through the rural areas
that would mean new construction
instead of utilization of existing
the supervisors were told
by men who appeared before the
board Monday afternoon to discuss
the proposal.
WOULD CROSS COUNTY
The proposed post-war road un
der discussion would enter Imperial
county at Yuma, cross the county
from east to west and link up with
the San Diego county link at the
county line.
“We know the route marked on
the map is not supposed to be fi
nal,” Supervisor B. M. Graham of
Brawley said, “but it would be un
wise for us to endorse legislation
making construction of such a road
possible.”
CHAMBERS DECRY ROUTE
Secretary W. G. Duflock of the El
Centro Chamber of Commerce ex
plained that the road shown on the
map being considered would be one
of the so-o*Ued "limited' access
Five Cents
Nazis Evacuate
Silesia Before
Flanking Drive
Russian Avalanche Carries to
Polish Communications Center
As Assault Grows on East Front
LONDON, Jan. 16. (UP) —Moscow announced today
that the first White Russian Army, joining the all-out Sov
iet winter offensive, had smashed westward from the Vis
tula up to 37 miles on a 75-mile front in a mighty onsurge
flanking Warsaw to the south and carrying to the out
skirts of Radom.
The Red Army captured Radom today, the Moscow
radio reported.
One German report placed the Russians already to the
west of Radom, 56 miles south of Warsaw and 25 miles west
of the Vistula, and the fall of the communications network
appeared imminent.
Russian spearheads already were within 45 miles of
Silesia and threatened the ancient Polish capital of Krakow.
There were reports of uncertain reliability that the
Nazis in panic already had begun the evacuation of some
industrial centers in Silesia.
The Germans declared that Radom was the “center of
gravity” of the Red army assault which now had spread to
envelop almost the entire eastern front in what the Ger
mans acknowledged was the bloodiest fighting of the war.
NAZIS WHEEL RESERVES
Nazi reserve divisions were being wheeled hastilv into
Tokyo Claims
Yanks Raid
Portuguese City
By UNITED ,PRESS
Tokyo radio claimed that Macao,
Portugnese-owned territory on the
China coast, was bombed and straf
ed by U. S. carrier planes Tues
day.
The unconfirmed enemy claim re
corded by United Press in San Fran
cisco said “the wanton attack was
launched by United States Grum
man carrier-borne planes.”
“Macao’s harbor facilities and city
quarters were relentlessly bombed
and strafed resulting in heavy dam
age to property and a large num
ber of casualties of citizens of the
port city,” the broadcast said.
Growers Scan
Incentive Flax
Pay Benefits
Interest in a rider on the $30,000,-
COO federal crop insurance act was
high in Imperial Valley today with
flax growers attempting to find out
if they will get “incentive payments”
for planting over their quota of flax.
According to the United Press
Tuesday, the WFA will make $5 per
acre incentive payments up to a
national goal cf five million acres.
In addition to the planting pay
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 2)
roads,” meaning that it would be
I 'possible to get to it from by-roads
at intervals of a mile or so. This,
he said, would make the road of
only limited use to the farmers and
I other residents of Imperial county.
"Roads should lead to towns,” said
Charles Nice, seen*.ary of the Braw
ley Chamber of Commerce, “and we
; see no reason for by-passing towns
even on tentative routings. This
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 1)
Burma-Yunnan
Link Forged
MPITKYINA, Burma, Jan. 16.
(UP)—A Chinese first army patrol
pushing down the Shweli valley
from newly captured Namhkan, con
tacted a patrol from the Chinese ex
peditionary forces today five miles
nothwest of Muse as the drive to
reopen the China-India land route
neared completion.
Chinese force in Burma and the
expeditionary force In Yunnan pro
vince. The, Chinese still were faced
witft reducing the Japanese strong
DO YOU KNOW-
That in Imperial Valley several
different props can be grown on
the same acre at the same time?
It's the Weather
Phone 300
~ ■'''“'ft MtIVVIVU llltu
action in an effort to slow down
the ever-increasing pace of the Red 1
army advance.
The Germans identified the Sov
iet forces engaged in the Radom
area as Marshal Konstantin Rokos
sovsky’s first White Russian army.
Radom was one of the prize stra
tegic goals of the Soviet offensive,
controlling a network of eight good
highways, leading north to Warsaw
and northwest to Tomaszow, 48
miles distant.
The Soviet advance south of War
saw was on a front so broad and
the penetration already was so deep
that the possibility that the Polish
capital would be completely flanked
and open to assault from the rear
j was emerging.
AIR FLEET JOINS ATTACK
With improvement of weather the
Red air fleet joinec. the battle,
harassing Nazi efforts to bring re
serve forces into position. The Ger
mans said they had brought up
fresh armored forces which de
stroyed 122 Soviet tanks but frank
ly admitted the Russian advance
was rolling forward at all points.
The German High Command re
ported the loss of Schlossberg, 28
miles northeast of Insterburg and
14 miles inside East Prussia, in vio
lent fighting at the northern end of
the 800-mile Soviet offensive front.
Schlossberg, transport junction
and hedgehog base in the network
of German homeland defenses, fell
to the Russians "despite a grim de
fense by our troops." a Berlin com
munique said, giving weight to its
earlier reports that massed Soviet
iorces were hammering the whole
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 1)
County Grants
Four-Lane Road i
Right-of-Way '
The dream cf a four-lane highway
to be built between El Centro and
Brawley in the post-war period was
a shade nearer reality Tuesday.
State highway commissioners
Monday asked the county board of
supervisors to grant them a right of
way on some ccunty property near
the north city limits of El Centro
so the four-lane route will be pos
sible.
Supervisors voted to grant the
right of way.
hold at Wanting, 26 miles northeast
of Namhkum, before the main sup
ply route is entirely cleared.
(A Japanese Domei dispatch mon
itored by the United Press in New
York said the Yunnan expedition
ary force had suffered more than
2J.000 casualties in the battle far
wanting and thut its latest attempt
to attack the garrison’s flank after
crossing the Lungchuan river near
Muse had been repulsed.)
Narnhkam was believed to be the
last strong point of resistance be
fore wanting.