M y p IlM r . 41t4 4)aittv WVeaflkr Showers and Thunderstorms VOL. LIX No. 149 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1943 PRICE FIVE CENTS Allies UMW Asked To Prevent Mine Strike WLB Acts To Stop Spreading Withdrawal Of Men from Work By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, April 26.- The War Labor Board asked high offi- cials of the United Mine Workers to- night to halt work stoppages in bituminous mines, but additional walkouts occurred. The board telegraphed appeals to John L. Lewis, UMW president, and other officers of the union asking that walkouts at Pennsylvania mines be halted and planned similar action with respect to mines in other areas. 9,500 Idle By mid-evening,' however, reports from western Pennsylvania said that about 9,500 men were idle, with 900 voting to return. At New York, where, wage negotiations had been conduc- ted, a source close to UMW officials who requested his name not be used, said he would "not be surprised if sporadic strikes in the industry which started last week began to spread without any word from Lewis," add- ing that Lewis had not forbidden such action. Lewis continued an unbroken si- lence on the whole situation. In addition to growing acuteness in the situation in the Pennsylvania fields, UMW unions in Illinois, In- diana and Alabama had notified op- erators that temporary agreements to continue vork while the New York negotiations were under way would run out at the week-end and that; work then would stop. 400,000 Involved These outlying fields, while not directly under the Appalachian con- tract, have agreements virtuallyj identical and running concurrently with the Appalachian contract. The total number of soft coal miners affected by a general walkout is esti- mated at 450,000 or more. Lewis, who ignored a WLB request to appear at a preliminary hearing, on the wage dispute Saturday,' snubbed the board a second time to- day. Hurl Nazis Injured Officer Endures Jeep Ride to Hospital ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, April 26-Lieut. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, who was wounded last Friday at the Tunisian front,'had to take athree-hour jeep ride to a hospital with a shell splinter lodged only a quarter of an inch from: his brain, it was disclosed today. The Commanding General of all U. S. ground forces was watching American troops advance in the Northern sector against German''ft"f:°7":..: forces defending the approaches to ' . Mateur when an Axis shell exploded near his forward observation post.s Life-Saving Helmet Fragments of the shell ripped into his body and struck his head. One of i........ , : . them pierced his helmet but lacked t f _ sufficient force to reach the brain. GEN. LESLEY McNAIR The steel headgear was credited of- ficially today with saving the Gener- admiring the green-painted head- al's life. piece as it lay on a chair beside his Although the area was under hospital cot. heavy fire from Axis artillery andI Boyle said a four-inch shell frag- mortars, General McNair then mentyslashed across the General's walked down a hill to the jeep. After left shoulder and smashed the tip of the three-hour ride, he underwent the collar bone. Another splinter, an hour-long operation for removal about an inch and a half long pierced of the shell fragments. He was re- his helmet and lodged against the ported to be progressing favorably, base of the skull. turn," the General told Associated Ne Es e Press correspondent Harold V. Boyle, Near Escape Snubs WLB 1 f r t Cigarette Drive Endls with $304 Of $500 Goal Falling short of its announced $500 goal, "Share Your Smokes," the Union-Daily drive aimed at sending cigarettes to our fighting men over- seas, collected $304, Erwin Larsen, '45, its chairman, announced yester- day. Before the drive ended the fol- lowing fraternities and sororities joined the 100 per cent contribution list: Phi Sigma Delta, Chi Omega, Sorosis, Theta Chi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma'Phi Epsilon and Chi Psi. The campus contribution, in ad- dition to the extra packs contributed by the tobacco company cooperating in the drive for the specitl sale days at the Union and the League comes to a total of 6,098 packs. As far as possible, Larsen said, "those cigarettes which we have con- tributed will be sent to Michigan men in the armed forces abroad." In place of the usual revenue tax stamp, the packs we have given will bear a label reading, "Good Luck, Good Smoking, from the Michigan Student body, University of Michi- gan, Ann Arbor." Packed in 50 carton packages, the cigarettes will be turned over to Army and Navy service units at ports of embarkation and then shipped by them to American fighting units all over the world. Jose Perdomo To Speak On Colombian Folk Music Jose Perdomo, Grad. L., of Colom- bia, will speak on "Survey of Colom- bian Folk-Music" at 8:30 p.m. today in the Assembly Room of the Rack- ham building in the sixth of a series of lectures on Inter-Americanism' sponsored by Latin-American Socie- ty. Perdomo, a graduate of the Na- tional University Law School of Col- ombia, is doing research work in In- ter-American Law here under a Un- iversity fellowship. Another quarter of an inch and the shell would have penetrated to the brain and he would have been a goner," said Col. Frank Y. Leaver at the evacuation hospital where Mc- Nair underwent the hour-long op- eration. (In Washington, the War Depart- ment said the 59-year-old officer would be incapacitated several weeks. He is expected to leave the front within the next day or two, it was said, and will return home for fur- ther treatment in the near future.) U.S. Holdings Go to Panama Senate Action Cedes Extensive Properties WASHINGTON, April 26.-W)- The Senate approved and sent to the White House today legislation ceding to Panama extensive United States holdings in that country-an action President Roosevelt described as desirable to remove conditions "which do not make for confidence and friendship." The measure, which Senator Nye (Rep.-N. D.) protested should have been in treaty form, turns over to the Republic water and sewage sys- tems and real estate holdings in the cities of Colon and Panama, and liquidates a $2,700,000 dept repre- senting Panama's share in construc- tion of the Chorrera-Rio Hato High- way. An identification resolution was passed by the Senate at the last session of Congress but for lack of a quorum was not acted upon by the House until it approved the new measure April 13. The Senate completed legislative action by a 37 to 19 vote after shout- ing down a motion by Nye to delay action for two weeks until absent senators could be present. Chairman Connally (Dem.-Tex.) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warning against "hagg- ling in these critical times," declared: "We've got to recognize Panama's claims to these properties and her willingness to grant us valuable sites." Back Russia Halts- Relations with Exiled Polish Charges Cooperation With Nazi Propaganda Against Soviet Actions By The Associated Press MOSCOW, April 26-Soviet Russia has broken off diplomatic relations with the Polish government in exile, accusing it of cooperating with Ger- many in charging that the Soviet Union was responsible for the deaths of 10,000 Polish officers, it was an- nounced officially today. Tass, the Russian official news agency, said Foreign Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov handed the Pol- ish ambassor, Tadeusz Romer, a note here yesterday, denouncing the Pol- ish government and charging it with helping the Germans carry out a "hostile campaign" against Russia in connection with Germany's accu- sation that the Russians murdered Che Polish officers near Smolensk. Relations Violated Molotov's note, which said the re- cent behavior of the Polish govern- ment violated "all regulations and standards of relations between two Allied states," charged flatly that the Germans had killed the Polish of- ficers. The territorial question also was involved. The note charged that the Poles, by falling in line with Nazi propaganda, hoped to gain some ter- ritorial concessions in Russia. Friction has been rising for weeks between the two governments and on several occasions Russia has cau- tioned the Polish government in Lon- don. Consult U. S., Great Britain (Polish governmetoffices in Lon- don were closed over the Easter holi- day, and those officials reached in the city said the government had not yet received the statement. Diploma- tic sources emphasized that the note would be given the deepest consider- ation, and some took it for granted that the United States and Britain would be consulted before any action was taken or any reply made. (British sources said the break constituted a temporary success for Nazi propaganda, which long has been directed at splitting the United Nations. (These British cirles,who may not be identified by name, said however that the situation is not "impossible" and held hope for eventual reconcili- ation between the governments of Russia and Poland.) * ~* * Nazis Pushed Back South of Leningrad LONDON, April 27 (Tuesday)-(P) -Russian troops flung back a num- erically superior German attack force, annihilating about 800 of the enemy, in a resurgence of activity Monday on the northwestern front south of Leningrad, Moscow an- nounced today. The Nazi thrust carried Soviet forward elements back into a popu- lated place, but an immediate coun- terattack threw back the German forces before they had time to con- solidate their new position, said the midnight war communique, recorded here by the Soviet Monitor. About a battalion of German infantry was wiped out. Yanks Fight In North Tunisia 0 0tSTATUTE MILES BZITE CAPE "ms SERRAT.FI CAPvl BON.... 1Porto .CAPB iFarina: "Mateur =K ededa* TUNIS Tebourba a4 - Mediez el Bab Grombali ~oubelltat ~ '- , ..".eu Aebkret El Kourzamm'e: Bou Arada oBou D ebib na Enfiavle "SoukRobaa -Ousse tia' t SOUSSE "Kairouan i on e ~- Allied troops drove ahead in all three sectors of the Tunisian front, posing serious threats to the enemy's defenses. East of Goubellat (center) the Germans have thrown all available tanks into the fray with unsuccessful results. Advance forces of the Second Army Corps have advanced to a position only 10 miles southwest of Mateur. Allied infantry seized the fortified hill of Sidi Marrour, six miles east of Bou Arada (beneath arrow). Allied Troops in New Guinea Aided by New Aerial Support Germans Are Endangered in Central Area Yanks Crush Axis Defenses; Inflict severe Losses By WILLIAM KING Associated Press Correspondent ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, April 26.-Steadily hacking down Axis defenses in hard fighting, Allied forces have seized im- portant heights on each of the three main sectors of the Tunisian front, and in the central area posed critical threats of smashing through to the Tunisian plain for a surge that would crumple all the enemy's moun- tain lines. French troops drove to within nearly three miles of Pont Du Fahs on the southern front, and on the central sector east of Goubellat, 30 miles from Tunis, First Army armor was reported clashing in a finish fight against all the tanks that the German command could muster, with heavy losses already inflicted on the Germans. Germans Fall Back German troops fell back yesterday before the American attack to the north, with advanced elements of the Second Army Corps. coming within three miles east of Sidi N'Sir, and only some 10 miles southwest of Mateur, rail and highway junction between Tunis and Bizerte. The French striking at Pont Du Fahs have advanced 121/2 miles in 36 hours of fighting, the French com- munique said, and east of the Kebir Dam have captured the strong post- tion of Diebel Chirich. Allied infantry seized the fortified hill of Sidi Marrour, six miles east of Bou Arada, and repelled enemy counterattacks. A military spokesman declared there was "general improvement in all our positions all along the line" yesterday despite "very hard fighting against very hard opposition." Axis Shows Exhaustion The Axis forces-which headquar- ters announced today had lost 66,000 men killed, wounded and captured between Jan. 1 and April 15-were clinging desperately to their moun- tain positions, and beginning to show signs of exhaustion in the face of the incessant Allied land and air at- tack maintained for four days. The Allied advance was eating into their defenses at the rate of two to three miles a day, and Allied spokes- men said the Axis loss of strategic hills overlooking the plain along which the Pont Du Fahs-Tunis road runs could have been avoided if they had had reserves to throw into the battle. on Three By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, April 27 (Tuesday)-- Allied ground troops who hold ridge- top positions overlooking the Japan- ese-occupied village and airstrip of Mubo, New Guinea, were given a fresh burst of aerial support Monday War Loan May Surpass Goal Two Million Excess Seen by Treasury WASHINGTON, April 26.- (R)- The Treasury's $13,000,000,000 sec- ond war loan moved into its final week today with a momentum that apparently will carry it at least $2,- 000,000,000 beyond its original goal. Undersecretary of the Treasury Daniel W. Bell announced subscrip- tions totalled $12,328,000,000 Satur- day night and were coming in at the rate of about $300,000,000 a day. On Wednesday, Thursday and Fri- day the Treasury will throw open its books to $2,000,000,000 in commercial bank subscriptions to two per cent bonds and an additional $200,000,000 in Treasury bills. Thus on the basis of subscriptions to date and the bank subscriptions of which the Treasury is assured later in the week, the second war loan, greatest financing campaign in history, will be substantially over- subscribed. Fire Causes Damage in Kessel's Fashion Shop A basement fire of undetermined origin yesterday caused minor dam- age in Kessel's Fashion Shop, 217 S. Main Street. Firemen had to break down the doors at the rear of the building in order to gain access to the fire. No merchandise was burned, but there was smoke damage. by a formation of Boston attack planes. The raiders twice bombed and strafed the area, which is on the approaches to the vital Japanese Huon Golf bases of Lae and Sala- maua. Mubo is only 15 miles below Salamaua. The Bostons centered their attacks upon a hill a mile and a quarter northeast of Mubo where a small force of Japanese is entrenched. Due to extremely stormy weather, lasting for several days, air activity throughout the sector northeast of Australia was on a small scale and in the northwest was limited to rec- onnaissance. A Flying Fortress bombed and strafed Gasmata, on the southern tip of New Britain, destroying a wire- less tower and a building. The raider then strafed two other New Britain posts, Ubili and Arawe. A delayed report disclosed that a single heavy bomber attacked the airdrome at Fischhafen, on New Gui- nea's Huon Peninsula, Sunday. The pilots had icing trouble, a rare ex- perience in the tropics. One plane even reported encount- ering a heavy snowstorm over the New Guinea mountains. Ground activity in General Doug- las MacArthur's- command area has been limited to patrol activity vir- tually ever since the end of the Allied conquest of the Papuan Peninsula. Fronts CLASS EXPOSURE: French Play To Be Presented Today Shows Corrupt Society John L. Lewis, UMW president, who had, paid no attention to the WLB's summons to a hearing Sat- urdaay, also ignored its recent re- quest for assistance on an investi- gating panel. Lewis calls WLB a "court packed against labor." DR. GOEBBELS' MACHINE PROVES SUCCESSFUL: \ 3 Soviet-Polish Rupture Seen as Victory for Nazi Propaganda "Le Monde ou l'on s'ennuie," a comedy of manners by Edouard Pail- leron will be given at 8:30 p.m. today in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre by the French Club. "The success of this comedy lies' entirely in the description in highly resounding words with little meaning in themselves of a society whose cor- ruptness and ambition are in part responsible for the catastrophe which has befallen France. In the happy days when this was written one could laugh at such a society; now, per- haps, it will make one think," Robert Berahya, Grad., who plays the part of the suave professor, Bellac, in the: play, said yesterday. The audience is introduced to this society in the first act through the dialogue between the Sous-Prefet Paul Raymond, played by Frank MacLear, and his wife Jeanne, played by Helene Sieg. Raymond wishes to be a prefet and has come to this salon to gain the favor of influential people, especially Toulonier, the "Secretaire General" played by War- ren Shwader. The position as head of the "jeune ecole," now held by one Revel whose death is eagerly awaited, is sought by tesse de Ceran, played by Sally Levy, is slightly disturbed at such a de- parture from the literary alms of her salonand at her son's preference for Suzanne instead of the aristocratic Lucy. But through the wit and shrewdness of the Duchesse de Re- ville, played by Constance Taber, all ends well. "Those who partake in a French play have the advantage of receiving a thorough training in French dic- tion and natural intonation," Prof. Charles E. Koella, director of the play, said yesterday. "The more the war approaches the continent, of Europe, the more the French lang- uage becomes an urgent necessity, as it is the language best understood and most used on the continent," he continued. Germans May Close All Universities in Holland LONDON, April 26.-- ()- Aneta, the Netherlands News Agency, said tonight that German authorities are considering the permanent closing-of virtually all universities in Holland because more than 85 per cent of the By GLENN BABB Associated Press Correspondent The rupture between Soviet Rus- sia and the exiled Polish govern- ment is a disturbing setback for the United Nations. It must be registered as an undeniable suc- cess for Doctor Goebbels' propa- ganda machine. It illustrates once more the tragic snarls the United Nations must untangle if their cooperation is to last beyond the destruction of their enemy number one, Hitler. postwar boundaries, the status of ing. It added that the Polish gov- former Polish citizens in Russian ernment had never received a territory and this issue of Polish satisfactory reply to its requests prisoners taken by the Red army to Moscow for -information about in 1939 when it marched into east- their fate and that it was asking ern Poland to effect, in agree- the International Red Cross to ment with Germany, the Fourth make an investigation. Partition of Poland. Two weeks ago But the note which Foreign Com- the Goebbels machine began ham- missar Molotov handed the Polish mering at its story of the Katyn ambassador yesterday, declaring graves. In brief it was that the that the Polish officers were mur- Germans had discovered in the dered by the Germans themselves, forest of Katyn, near Smolensk, made it clear that no such investi- the graves of 10,000 Polish officres gation could be expected before the Union has no intention of relin- quishing the territory she obtained in the 1939 partition of Poland, This totalled 78,000 square miles, with a population of 13,000,000, approximately half of the Republic of Poland as it existed from 1919 to 1939. Except the small Vilna area, which was allotted to Lithunia when that former republic was ab- sorbed into the Soviet Union in 1940, all this territory has been in- corporated into White Russian interested in maintaining unity among the Allies for the job of de- stroying Hitler and in ensuring agreements after the war that will guarantee peace and stability. British, moreover, has commit- ments to some of the eastern peo- ples who hope for national rebirth when this war is over. She can not forget that it was to help Pioland that she staked her existence in the greatest of all wars. In the Atlantic Charter the two- English - speaking powers have