4tit' oa 4 ~Aitl Occasional Rain VOL. LIV No. 115 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1944 PRICE FIVE CENTS Reds Repulse Nazi Thrusts in Baltic Area Heavy U.S. Day Raid Hits France Italian Based Planes Raid Bulgaria as RAF Leaves for Germany By The Associated Press LONDON, April 21, Friday.-Am- erican warplanes delivered the heav- iest daylight blow ever made from the air against an occupied country yesterday with repeated attacks upon northern France, and early today RAF night bombers were reported over Germany, keeping the assault going around the clock. The American attack was climaxed by a surprise sunset raid on objec- tives in France by "very strong forc- es" of Fortresses and Liberators, pro- bably numbering nearly 1,000. Yanks Blast Bulgaria It came at the waning of a long day for the Axis, which had been jarred in the early morning hours by a heavy RAF raid from Italy on the Bulgarian railway center of Plovdiv. But even as.the Americans were re- turning from the evening effort a huge RAF fleet was heard winging across the eastern coast and as late as 3:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. Eastern War Time) German radios still were broadcasting warnings that Allied planes were over western and south- western Germany. The suppertime attackers, accom- panied by between 500 and 750 Thunderbolt, Lightning and Mustang fighters, dumped approximately 2,- 500 tons of explosives on their ob- jectives. In addition Mustang fight- er-bombers blasted Nazi targets deep in northeastern France. Assault Surprises Enemy The assault undoubtedly was a surprise for the enemy, being one of the latest ever made by the Eighth Air Force and certainly the heaviest evening bombardment ever directed at occupied France. It was estimated that some of the bombs were plum- meted to their targets as late as 7:30 p.m. Cpl. Witkowski Will .Receive ,avy Cross "For extraordinary heroism" shown in action during the U.S. landing on Tarawa, marine Cpl.Hen- ry J. Witkowski of the V-12 unit, will receive the Navy Cross, in a ceremony at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Ferry Field. 'Presentation of the Navy's highest award will be made by Capt. Richard Cassidy, commander of naval forces on campus, following a parade of the entire navy unit, which includes 1,500 bluejackets, marines and coast guardsmen. Signed by Admiral Chester W. Ni- mitz, the letter which accompanies the medal is headed "U.S. Pacific Fleet, Flagship of the Commander in Chief" and continues, "In the name of the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief of the Unit- ed States Pacific Fleet takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Cor- poral Henry J. Witkowski, United States Marine Corps." The included citation reads: "For extraordinary heroism during action against enemy Japanese forces in Tarawa, Gilbert Island, Nov. 20, 1943. Armed only with a makeshift charge of dynamite, he braved heavy enemy fire to assault a pillbox which was preventing the landing of rein- forcements. When the dynamite fail- ed to explode, he again ran directly to the firing port of the pillbox and placed a charge which destroyed the emplacements. His undaunted cour- age and devotion to duty in the pre- sence of great peril to his own life were responsible for saving the lives of men who might otherwise have perished, and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United EStates Naval Service." In addition to twice carrying dyna- mite bombs through rifle and ma- chine gun fire, Cpl. Witkowski See NAVY CROSS, Page 6 Padgett Sent to Jackson Prison' William H. Padgett, convicted of Open Letter on Victory Varieties Dear President Ruthven: As representatives of the student body, we feel that the recent opposition to the second Victory Varieties show by the Butterfield Theatres ignores the need of varied entertainment for the servicemen and the student body on campus. Student-sponsored entertainment has been greatly curtailed as a result of the war, yet no substitute has previously been offered by either the University or the students to provide week-end diversion for the large number of servicemen now stationed on this campus. It has long been felt by the students that only three forms of enter- tainment are offered in Ann Arbor on week-ends; that of the movie theatres, taverns, and dances at the Michigan League. Unless a wider program of entertainment is offered the servicemen here, the University has failed to meet its obligation to these men. The servicemen on the campus, having but a limited time for recreation, are entitled to as complete and varied an entertainment program as it is possible to give them.. The Victory Varieties shows, as orignally planned, would have answered this need. Opposition to the shows centered around the policy of discouraging student competition with established Ann Arbor businesses. This has been construed as meaning competition with the local movie theatres. However, on this basis, entertainment for the students, such as the May Festival, the Oratorical Lecture series, the Choral Union con- certs, and the annual dances should be outlawed as interfering with the attendance at these functions points out the need of an even wider program of entertainment. We feel that the Victory Varieties shows would answer this need. Therefore, we ask that you give us permission, as students, to sponsor the Victory Varieties programs. -Victory Varieties Student Committee LETTER SENT BY STUDENT COMMITTEE--The Victory Varieties Student Committee sent this letter to President Alexander G. Ruthven explaining their stand on future presentation of Victory Variety pro- grams for campus audiences. Copies were mailed to members of the Board of Regents. The letter was sent after objections by Regent Edmund C. Shields had forced cancellation of part of the show to be given tomorrow night. The Regents are expected to take action on the matter at their meeting today and formulate a general policy, according to members of the committee. Eddy Howard To Be Featured In Variety Show Tomorrow Schoolmasters Annual Meeting Enters 2nd Day 2,500 Educators Will Attend; 17 Conferences To Be Featured Today Going into its second and biggest day, the 58th annual meeting of the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club will feature 17 departmental conferences and hear five outstanding lecturers today. Approximately 2,500 educators and teachers from schools throughout the state will be in Ann Arbor to attend the meeting. Changes in Program Two changes have been made in the program, according to Dean Edward H. Kraus, president of the club. The annual dinner has been transferred from Ann Arbor High School to the Union Ballroom at 6 p.m. And R. W. Cordier and Prof. Dwight L. Dumond will speak at the general session at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow replacing Edgar B. Wes- ley. A business meeting of the club will be held at 8:45 a.m. this morning in the Rackham Auditorium. This will be followed by a general session at 9:45 am. at which Dean Kraus will speak on "World Responsibilities of Education" and Robert C. Wallace will talk on "Looking Ahead in Ed- ucation." Halifax To Speak At 11 a.m., Viscount Halifax will address the Honors Convocation in Hill Auditorium. The University Wo- men's Glee Club will sing at 7:30 pm. in Pattengill Auditorium of Ann Arbor High School and the club will hear Willys R. Peck, former United States minister to Thailand, speak on "The Wartime Cultural Ex- change Program with China." Departmental conferences will be held during the day in the fields of art, biology, business education, clas- sics, education, English, geography, guidance, mathematics, modern lan- guage, music, physics-chemistry-as- tronomy, physical education, library science, social studies and speech. Other Groups To Meet Also scheduled to meet today is' the annual Confeernce on Teacher Supply and Demand and the Michi- gan High School Forensic Associa- tion. Tomorrow Carl Joachim Hambro, formerly president of the Norwegian Parliament and the League of Na- tions, will speak at 10:45 a.m. in Rackham Auditorium. Jap Forces in China Near Chenghsien CHUNGKING, April 20.-P)-Re- inforced by several thousand men, Japanese forces driving on the im- portant North Honan railway junc- tion of Chenghsien advanced today to within 13 miles of the city from the southeast, the Chinese command an- nounced tonight. The Japanese, seeking to clear the Chinese-held portions of the north- south Peiping-Hankow railway, gain- ed ground toward Chenghsien from the northwest as well, 613 TO BE HONORED: Russians Viscount Halifax To Speak At Annual Convention Today Viscount Halifax, British Ambas- sador to the United States, will speak at the 21st annual Honors Convoca- tion at 11 a.m. today in Hill Auditor- ium. All University classes, with the ex- ception of clinics, will be dismissed at 10:45 a.m. to attend the Convo- cation. The Ambassador has been a repre- sentative of the British government most of his life, having served as a Member of Parliament, Parliament- ary Undersecretary for the Colonies, president o fthe Bureau of Education, Minister of Agriculture and Viceroy of India. He was Secretary of State for War and Foreign Minister under Cham, berlain before the war and he has been Ambassador at Washington since 1940. The Convocation is held every year to honor outstanding scholastic achievements of students at the Uni- versity.mThis year 613 students will be recognized including 122 seniors who have at least a B average and rank in the highest ten per cent of the class; 58 juniors, 61 sophomores and 97 freshmen who have at least a half A and half B average; and 99 members of the Army Specialized Training Program. Eighty - seven graduate students who received fel- . . . I 1 -K-ill 5,000 n Poland Soviets Bomb German Troop Trains, Sink Four Large Transports Eddy Howard and his orchestra' will be featured in a free Victory Var- ieties concert and nationwide broad- cast from the stage of Hill Auditor- ium beginning at 8:15 tomorrow night. Sponsored by the Coca-Cola Com- pany as part of their "Victory Par- ade of Spotlight Bands," the show will be broadcast from 9:30 to 9:55 p.m. and will pay special tribute to the Army, Navy and Marine trainees stationed on campus. The first floor of the auditorium will be reserved for men in uniform, students with identification cards, faculty members and guests until 8:10 p.m. The general puplic is wel- come to attend the performance. Howard is famous as the composer of such popular hit tunes as, "Care- less," My Last Goodbye," and "If I Knew Then." He has been featured Vocalist with the orchestras- of Dick Peck To Be at Center Today Chinese Students May I Meet with Speaker Chinese students and others inter- ested in China will have an oppor- tunity to meet Willis R. Peck, special assistant in the Office of Public In- formation, who is to speak today at the Schoolmasters' Club, from 10 to 10:30 a.m.. tomorrow at the Interna- tional Center. Dr. Gale, director of the Interna- tional Center, said that the Chinese students would be especially inter- ested in meeting Peck, as he was born in China and has had a great deal of experience there. His father was one of the early medical missionaries in China. After being graduated from the University of California in 1905, Peck returned to China for a short period of teaching before entering the lan- guage service of the Department of State at Peiking. For many years and under a succession of American ministers to China he served as Chi- nese language secretary. Dr. Gale added that Peck is one of the "'foremost authorities on the language, both written and spoken, of China." Peck will also be the guest of the Committee on Intercultural Rela- tions at a luncheon to be held at noon tomorrow in the Union. Romanians Must Fight or Withdraw Jurgens and George Olsen, who is a University alumnus and former drum major of the Varsity Bandl Howard left Jurgens to organize his own orchestra and has become well-known through his work in the- atres, hotels and on the radio and records. Co-Op Delegates Go to Antioch Delegates from the Michigan In- ter-Cooperative Council will leave to- day for a conference of the Midwest Federation of Campus Cooperatives to be held during the weekend at An- tioch College, Ohio. Those members chosen to repre- sent the ICC are Mat Chernotski, '46, Dick Fandell, '47E, and 'Eleanor Hunn, '45. As representatives of the executive council of the Federation, Michigan delegates will be in charge of a panel discussion on "Starting a Campus Cooperative." Further dis- cussions will be held throughout Sat- urday and Sunday. The conference has been called to help cooperatives throughout the mid-west strengthen and develop campus cooperatives. A study will be mnade on questions of ownership, in- corporation, capital investment, and patronage. Allies Bombard Jap Airfields in North Sumatra KANDY, CEYLON, April 20.-(P)- Allied bombers and fighters taking off from powerfully-escorted carriers somewhere in the Indian Ocean blasted Japanese air fields, shipping and other installations at Sabang and Lhonga in northern Sumatra early yesterday, destroying at least 22 enemy planes on the ground, Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten's southeast Asia headquarters announced today. A strong force of battleships, crui. sers, destroyers and submarines prowled about the Allied carriers while their planes carrier out the second attack on the Dutch East Indies since they fell to the Japanese in March, 1942. Allied naval 'planes took a similar crack at Sabang in December of '42. Heavy bombs weighing up to 1,000 pounds were showered on the two bases, leaving many fierce fires burn- ing. Two Japanese merchant ships of 4,000-5,000 tons received direct hits in Sabang harbor and two de- stroyer escort vessels were set afire by strafing. The enemy appeared to have been taken completely by sur- prise, Mountbatten's communique said, replying to the attack only with anti-aircraft fire. The Allied task force under British Admiral Sir James Somerville suf- fered no damage, and only one Allied plane fell into the sea. Its pilot was saved by a submarine which surfaced under fire from Japanese shore bat- teries. By The Associated Press LONDON, April 21, Friday.-Vic- ious, large-scale German counter- attacks on the long-quiet Baltic front near Narva in Estonia, and in the southeast corner of old Poland near Stanislawow were beaten off by the Red Army yesterday, with a total of 5,000 or more Germans killed and many captured, Moscow announced early today. The Red Army force contributed to resumption of bitter warfare in the Baltic area by heavily bombing Ger- man troop trains concentrated at Rezekne and Gulbene in Latvia and V____ UNT__ HALFAX a shale-oil plant at Kiwiili in Es- tonia, the Soviet midnight communi- lowships and scholarships will be que said, while in the far south Rus- honored as well as 61 other honor sian bombers and torpedo planes students and 68 students who have sank four large transports and a received special awards. destroyer trying to escape from the ~--- -besieged Crimean port of Sevastopol. of ArmedOthers Wrecked H eadsfd Besides the transports sunk, nu- merous others were wrecked or set Forces Request afire. it was announced. In attacking on the Baltic front, which has been quiet for six weeks, the Germans sought to wipe out a Soviet bridgehead on the west bank Knox, Stimson, Land of the Narova River southwest of Narva, using massed infantry, tanks Say Law Is Needed and self propelled guns after power- To Staff War Plants ful artillery preparation. The communique was silent on the WASHINGTON, April 20. - land fighting for Sevastopol but dwelt Waringthenaton hatit ace aon the havoc wrought at sea as the. WGermans and Romanians struggled manpower crisis which may imperil to flee from that death trap. the mightiest military undertaking 2,000' Dead Left in history, heads of the armed forces On the Baltic front no major de- renewed their demand for r d velopments have been reported by .nMoscow since early in March. Today legislation tonight. Such a law is the Soviet communique said the Ger- urgently needed to keep vital war mans assaulted with big tanks and plants staffed with replacements for infantry Soviet positions on the west workers gone to war, they empha- side of the Narova Rover, only to be sized, beaten back, leaving more than 2,000 n ' dead on the field. "False public interpretations of deadonhefield what are only local victories on the perimeter of the enemies' strong-ICanadian Ford holds may indeed imperil victory when we thrust at the foes' heart." Pt In a joint statement Navy Secre- Plant Strkes tary, War Secretary Stimson and Maritime Chairman Emory S. Land Com any Terminates declared 1,400,000 more men will be taken by the armed forces this year Bargaining Agreement -most of them "drawn from' vital industries" which not only must find WINDSOR, Ont., April 20.-(P)-- replacements but in some cases will Operators at all plants of the Ford have to step up production. Motor Company of Canada were at "Someone must step up to the a standstill tonight after swift-mov- bench, the lathe and desk of every ing developments which started when war worker who leaves to fight for day-shift workers left their jobs at his country," they said. 11 a.m. for a "half holiday" to discuss Shortly before their statement came a, dispute with the company over out the House Military Committee grievance procedure. recommended that 4-F's who refuse A little more than an hour later, to take essential war jobs be drafted t company notified oker i( Ie for non-combat duty in the Army and that it was terminating the collective Navy. bargaining agreement which has The committee plan was aimed been in force since Jan. 15, 1942, and directly at some 3,623,000 men now issued a statement saying the "gen- classified 4-F--unfit for regular milIsuealst kasabreachof that o itary duty.-eratr tract. Debate Finals Feature Hazel Park, Kalamazoo "C At a mass meeting this afternoon the members of the union--Local 200 of the UAW-decided to continue the walkout unless the company acceded to demands for the reinstatement of four suspended union stewards and continuation of the union-company contract. Picket lines took up positions at the company gates, but no one attempted to enter, the afternoon shift remain- ing off work. State Delegates Support Dewey By The Associated Press Gov. Thomas E. Dewey's conven- tion suport for the Republican presi- dential nomination was increased yesterday to 209 delegates, 175 more than his nearest opponent, when Michigan Republicans in state con- vention praised their native son and put 41 more delegates into his claim- ed column. It will require 530 convention votes to nominate a candidate. The state convention did not bind the delegates, but commended the ARCHIE CARMICHAEL NORAL McNEELY Hazel Park Hazel Park Highlighting the Michigan High WILLIAM SHUMAKER Kalamazoo since the preliminary debates, inI which 96 high schools throughout DONALD GRIFFITH Kalamazoo Kalamazoo will be represented by William Shumaker and Donald Grif- tension Service and the Forensic As- sociation. Dr. Donald E. Hargis, For-