u
ii r
fria
#aitt
Weather
fair andi Wa.;.Er
VOL. LIV No. 118 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1944
PRICE FIVE CENTS
Russians.
Railroa d
Race
46
Miles III
Thrust
'ow'
on
1
Crimean
in
Swift
Sevastopol
Yank Bombers Smash
Messerschmitt Plants
Italian-Based Planes Strike into Austria;
AAF Runs into Bad Weather over Germany
By The Associated Press
LONDON, April 12.-American 15th Air Force heavyweights from Italy
dealt a thundering blow today at Messerschmitt factories in Wiener-Neu-
stadt, Austria, as bad weather forced Liberators and Fortresses from Britain
to turn back after a 72-hour succession of big-bomber attacks against
German Europe from the west.
American Ninth Air Force Marauders and British Mosquitos from
Britain assaulted airfields, rail yards and other targets in France and
Belgium during the day, however, and hundreds of American Lightnings,
Thunderbolts and Mustangs made_
offensive sweeps against western Ger-
many and Holland.
Berlin Broadcasts Warning
The Berlin radio broadcast a warn-
ing tonight that "enemy. planes are
over northwest, central and south-
west Germany."
German planes caused a one-hour
alarm in London and anti-aircraft
batteries and searchlights were in
action. It was the first alert in the
capital since March 31.
It was officially announced that
some Liberator and Flying Fortress
formations penetrated over the con-
tinent from Britain but had to re-
turn to their bases as the weather
closed in. The Germans named
Wiesbaden and Frankfurt as among
the localities the big bombers ap-
proachdl, and said nuisance raiders
were over many parts of Europe.
Main Blow Dealt from Italy
The day's main blow, however, was
dealt by the Liberators and Fortresses
from Italy, officially described as out
"in great strength."
The raiders chose Wiener-Neu-
stadt, 27 miles south of Vienna as
their principal target, and also struck
at Fischamend Markt and Bad Vos-
lau, three and 15 miles southeast of
Vienna. Good results were reported.
The Germans said without confirma-
tion that Allied bombers also at-
tacked Zagreb, capital of the puppet
state of Croatia.
There were violent air battles as
German fightersrose to defend the
Wiener-Neustadt Messerschmitt plant
group, one of the most important re-
maining in Europe.
Trip to Chma
By Wallace Is
Request of FDR
WASHINGTON, April 12.-(P)-A
personal request by President Roose-
velt was disclosed today as the factor
which led Vice-President Wallace to
undertake a trip to China within the
next four months.
That circumstance set off new spec-
ulation in two directions:
1. Political-That the Democratic
convention may be called upon to
nominate a second-place successor in
Wallace's absence, which would save
embarrassment on both sides if an-
other man were chosen for the post
in which Wallace has been cam-
paigning to succeed himself.
2. Diplomatic-That American of-
ficials seek even strnger relations
with China and the government of
Chiang Kai-Shek, which might be
especially important this spring and
summer if, as seems likely, China is
still dependent on slender war sup-
plies flown in from India.
Wallace himself was silent, except
for a brief statement that anything
printed beyond yesterday's bare an-
nouncement that he hoped to visit
Chungking in the late spring or early
summer "is not true."
Sawyer To Play
For Fun Hour
Tohorrow' s Program
Open to All Students
Bill Sawyer and his orchestra will
furnish the music for the "Hour of
Fun" to be held from 7:30 to 8:30
p.m. tomorrow in Hill Auditorium.
Sponsored by the Union, with Dick
Chenoweth as master of ceremonies,
Byrnes Plans
For Federal Aid
oUnemployed
Director Foresees Need
Of Supplemental Help
To Post-War Workers
NEW YORK, April 12.-(A)-War
Mobilization Director James F.
Byrnes proposed tonight a system of
federal unemployment benefits, sup-
plementary to state benefits, fo
workers who lose their pobs when
war-boomed industrial activities
slacken.
Major Points Listed
1. The government must close
plants whenever they are no longer
needed in the war effort. "It will be
far better for communities," he said,
"to have plants closed now when the
employes can find other jobs than
to continue operating and later close
the plants when employes may not
be able to find jobs."
2. The recent report by Bernard M.
Baruch and John M. Hancock recom-
mending machinery for speedy ter-
mination of contracts and disposal
of surpluses has "gone far to dispel
the fog of controversy" over these
subjects. He said legislation is need-
ed to carry out the recommendations.
3. Steps have been taken "to pro-
tect the farmers from a repetition"
of the widespread bankruptcies and
foreclosures which followed World
War I.
Post-War Benefit Planned
4. Congress already has provided
mustering out pay for men and wo-
men in the armed services and edu-
cational and other benefits have been
or will be provided.
5. With the end of the war, there
should be an end of the wartime sys-
tem of taxation. Saying "we must
avoid" the delay of the six months it
usually requires for Congress to enact
a general tax bill, Byrnes disclosed
that an interdepartmental committee
"is now working under the direction
of the Secretary of the Treasury up-
on proposals which he will submit to
the Congress at the proper time."
13 Mexicans
Arrested in Plot
MEXICO CITY, April 12. - (A') -
Arrest of 13 persons in connection
with an investigation of a reported
plot against the lives of President
Avila Camacho, his brother Gen.
Maximino Avila Camacho, and for-
mer Presidents Plutarco Elias Calles
and Lazaro Cardenas, was announced
by police tonight.
The alleged plot, however, was not
officially linked with Monday's at-
tempted assassination of the Presi-
dent by Lt. Antonio De La Lama
Rojas, who died today of a bullet
wound inflicted by guards when he
attempted to escape.
Five of those arrested were over
60 years old. Two women were among
those held.
Italian King
To Relinquish
Throne to Son
Prince Umberto Will
Rule Country When
Allies Capture Rome
By The Associated Press
NAPLES, April 12.-King Vittorio
Emanuele III announced today that
he had decided "irrevocably" to with-
draw from public life and turn his
kingly powers over to his son Umber-
to "on the day on which the Allied
troops enter Rome."
The slight, 74-year-old monarch,
whose 43-year reign has covered the
rise and fall of Fascism in Italy, ap-
pointed his tall son "Lieutenant Gen-
eral of the realm" effective on the
uncertain date of the Allied entry in-
to the capital. Allied representatives
expressed approval of the decision.
When Crown-Prince Umberto
receives royal powers from his fa-
ther he will in effect be his father's
regent. The king is said to have no
idea of abdicating.
The King has been opposed by the
leading Italian political groups main-
ly on the contention that he had been
too closely tied up with Fascism, and
a few months ago many of these par-
ties had favored abdication in favor
of his seven-year-old grandson, the
Prince of Naples, under a regency.
The political leaders insisted then
that the 39-year-old Umberto was
tarred with the Fascist brush as
much as his father.
The, King's declaration to his
people today, formalizing what he
already had indicated he intended
to do, opened the way for the for-
mation soon of a new war govern-
ment by Marshal Pietro Badoglio
with the participation of at least
three and probably all of Italy's
.six political parties.
The Monarch's decision was entire-
ly on his own volition, a spokesman
for the government said.
Industrial Board
JAP LOCOMOTIVE-Pfc. James O. Barrett (left), Philadelphia, and Cnl. Thomas A. aerer,
Newark, N.J., examine a Japanese gas-driven locomotive on Majuro in the Marshalls.
Submits Cost of
Living Report
WASHINGTON, April 12.--()-
The National Industrial Conference
Board today challenged the asser-
tion by labor members of the presi-
dent's cost of living committee that
the Bureau of Labor Statistics index
is an inadequate guage for making
wage adjustments.
George Meany and R. J. Thomas,
the labor members, concluded in a
recent report that living costs had
gone up 43.5 per cent in the last three
years, compared with BLS index fig-
ures showing an advance of 23.4 per
cent.
The NICB cited these objections to
the food price section of the Meany-
Thomas report:
1. Ten cities is too small a sample
upon which to base conclusions for
all cities.
2. Prices in January, 1941 were tak-
en, at least in part, from newspaper
advertisements and compared with
either shelf or ceiling prices in 1943.
There is an apparent lack of com-
parability of quality from period to
period under this procedure.
3. Uniform dates in 1943 were not
used, not even within a city.
4. Neither the same kind nor the
same number of items were priced in
each city.
5. Percentage increases for each
item were averaged to arrive at a city
figure and a general conclusion was
drawn from these city increases
without any apparent regard to size
of city. Items were not weighted.
House Studies
Record Navy
Appropria lion
Committee Accedes to
Billion Dollar Request
For 'Largest' Fleet
h By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, April 12.-- Con-
gress ended its Easter recess today
by setting to work on a record $32,-
647,134,336 Navy appropriation bill
intended to give the world's largest
navy the punch for final defeat of
Japan and Germany.
Warned by the men who operate
the fleet that the end of the war is
not in sight, the House Appropria-
tions Committee acceded to virtually
every request for funds and sent to
the floor for expected unanimous
approval the bill boosting to an es-
timated $362,000,000,000 the nation's
war outlay since July 1, 1940.
Only a relatively small amount,
$803,685,164, was trimmed by the
committee from budget estimates,
with the explanation that the purse
strings would be kept open to meet
with any future requirements, That
such needs are by no means unlike-
ly was indicated in testimony by'
James V. Forrestal, Undersecretary of
the Navy, who told the committee
that the appropriations were prelim-
inary to major operations in both
Atlantic and Pacific.
He did not say for the record
whether he had in mind the inva-
sion of. Western Europe, but urged
that no cuts be made in Navy funds
"until the middle of this summer."
By the end of that 90-day period, he
said, the major event he had in mind
"will, I think, have occurred."
The appropriation"cleared the way
for continued construction of thous-
ands of landing barges to carry our
fighting men.
Waste Paper Drive
To Be Held Today
City collection of wastepaper and
rags will begin at 8 a.m. today.
Students and townspeople are
asked to bundle their urgently-need-
ed wastepaper and old rags and place
them on the curbstone in time for the
collection, according to George H.
Gabler, chairman of the Washtenaw
County Salvage Commission.
Japanese Trap Seen in India;
Pressure Eased in Kohima
By RAY CRONIN
Associated Press War Editor
A brighter picture of the Asiatic war situation, from the Allied view-
point, developed Wednesday.
Observers at New Delhi felt that the Japanese invaders of India might
be running into a trap while far to the northeast and east in the Pacific
area American airmen against blasted Japan's Kurile Islands within about
1,000 miles of Tokyo, and continued their hits against the Carolines and the
Marshalls.
There was mounting belief in New Delhi that the Nippon invaders, their
invasion bases endangered from the rear by hard-fighting air-borne Am-
erican, British and Indian troopsj
might be entrapped and face even-
tual extermination. '
SITUATION BRIGHTENS:
Japanese pressure in the Kohima
sector was eased as British and In-
dian forces officially were announced
Wednesday to be counter-attacking.
Apparently there was littlebchange
around the Allied Imphal base, 60
miles southward.
The air-borne forces were striking
Nippon bases near the Indian border,
the only supply centers for the Jap-
anese driving against Kohima and
Imphal.
The Tokyo radio claimed terrific
fighting was going on 13 miles north
of Imphal and said a general attack
on the city was imminent.
A U.S. Pacific fleet headquarters
announcement said American Libera-
tors swept in from the northeast and
plastered Marsuwa and Onnekotan,
in the Kuriles, Monday. These is-
lands are located just south of much-
bombed Paramushiro. The last pre-
viously announced Kurile raid was on
Onnekotan 18 days ago.
Biddle Reopens
CIO Inquiry
WASHINGTON, April 12.-(/P)--
Representative Smith (Dem., Va.)
announced today that Attorney Gen-
eral Biddle has reopened an investi-
gation of activities of the CIO politi-
cal action committee.
Smith said he had turned over to
Biddle's assistant, G. Maynard Smith,
material in his files which he con-
tended last week justified a grand
jury investigation. Justice Depart-
ment officials said they were check-
ing this mate-ial but declined further
comment.
Previously, Biddle -had announced
that an investigation made at Rep.
Smith's request disclosed no evidence
that the CIO group had violated the
Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes
Act. The announcement brought
from the Virginian a charge that
Biddle's investigation was confined
to questioning of the CIO officials.
Petitairn1 cf n. Rj a
'+ .rn ntreers
To Study Draft.
A meeting to discuss the recent
developments in draft deferments
and how they will affect senior
engineering students now in the
University will be held at-4:15 p.m.
today in Rm. 311 of the West
Engineering Building.
Dean Ivan Crawford, Prof. Lewis
M. Gram, Chairman of the De-
partment of Civil Engineering,
and Harold S. Anderson of the
Building and Grounds Department
will present a summary of recent
Selective Service directives and
will answer any questions.
Ruthven To Give.
Informal Talk
An informal discussion on religion
in education will follow the talk to
be given by President Alexander G.
Ruthven at 8:15 p.m. today in Lane
Hall.
Sponsored by Inter-Guild, the so-
cial meeting and discussion will
bring together leaders of the Protes-
tant, Catholic, Jewish and Far-East-
ern groups..
All ministers, student leaders, pres-
idents and Inter-Guild representa-
tives of various religious groups are
cordially invited to attend.
Second Zone
Defenses Are
Split by Reds
Kerch Peninsula Nazis
Withdraw to 'Sacred
Goal' for New Stand
By The Associated Press
LONDON, April 13, Thursday.-
Shattering the second deep zone of
German defenses in the Crimea, the
Red Army has raced 46 miles in a
single day down the central Crimean
railway from the vicinity of Dzhan-
koi to a point only 11 miles north of
Simferopol and 46 miles above Sev-
astopol, the "sacred goal" of the
three-way offensive to liberate the
peninsula, Moscow announced last
night.
Kerch Peninsula Cleared
A simultaneous thrust from the
east has cleared the enemy from all
the Kerch peninsula, a communique
said, and the speed of the Soviet ad-
vance indicated that the German and
Romanian forces in the Crimea, fail-
ing in repeated attempts to stand,
were withdrawing swiftly toward
Sevastopol, perhaps to attempt to du-
plicate the historic defense which the
Russians made under siege there in
1942.
On the mainland, the Red Army,
demonstrating its ability to maintain
multiple offensives, stormed the Uk-
raine city of Tiraspol, 53 miles north-
west of Odessa, and immediately
hurdled to the west bank of the
Dniester River; pushed deeper to-
wards the north Romanian oil fields
by capturing Falticeni, hastened the
encirclement maneuver against Chis-
inau in Bessarabia; and squeezed the
Skala pocket on the first Ukraine
front around a ragged remnant of
10,000 Germans.
Reds Capture Booty
From April 1 to 10 the Germans
west of Skala lot '26,000 dead and
6,988 captured, while Russian booty
included 187 tanks and self-propelled
guns, declared the Soviet night com-
munique, recorded 'by the Soviet
monitor.
The whirlwind campaign to free
the Crimea, which the Germans and,
Romanians have held since Septem-
ber, 1941, consisted of a thrust from
the east after an amphibious landing
at Kerch, and two drives from the
north.
The Germans themselves said in a
communique that on the northern
Crimean sector "German troops dis-
engaged themselves in hard fighting
toward positions farther south" In
plain language, they retreated-46
miles in a day.
Post-War Group
Will Meet Today
Education for religion will be dis-
cussed at' a Post-War Council panel
at 7:30 p.m. today in the Grand
Rapids Room of the League.
Dr. Edward Blakeman, student re-
ligious counselor, the Rabbi Jehudah
Cohen, director of the Hillel Founda-
tion, Claude Eggertsen of the educa-
tion school and the Rev. C. H. Loucks
of the Baptist Church will be guest
speakers.
Some of the questions to be con-
sidered are: the possibility of intro-
ducing religious instruction into pub-
lic schools, the place of religion in
the United States and religion in the
post-war world.
SHARP-SHOOTING HERO:
Congressional Medal of Honor
Awarded to American Indian
STOP YOUR GROANING, MEN:
Ensign Credits PEM for Rescue
v
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, NA-
PLES, April 12.-(AP)- Second Lt.
Ernest Childers, 26-year-old sharp-
shooting American Indian from Bro-
ken Arrow, Okla., today received his'
country's highest award, the Con-
gressional Medal of Honor, given
only once before in the Italian cam-
paign.
helped him in his heroic exploit just
two weeks after the landings at Sa-
lerno.
On Sept. 22 he was receiving aid
for a painful fractured instep when
he learned his battalion was pinned
down by heavy machinegun and mor-
tar fire. Disregarding his injury,
Editor's Note: The following is an
excerpt from a letter received by Mrs.
"I stood nearby and saw it hap-
pen. I immediately nut a ladder
kept encouraging him to save his
strength and calming him down