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VOL. LIV No. 81 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16, 1944
PRICE FIVE CENTS
Russians
Advance
In North
Nazis Retreat Toward
Pskov; Eastern Gains
Are Made Consistently
By The Associated Press
LONDON, Feb. 16, Wednesday-
The Russians in the north, moving
down along two railroads and a high-
way, have hammered the Germans
farther back toward the great com-
munications center of Pskov, bomb-
ing and shelling the Nazi retreat
lines choked with trucks, carts and
infantry, Moscow announced today.
The Russians were pressing the
Germans in five other sectors of the
eastern front as well and were mak-
ing gains so consistently they seemed
to have an excellent chance of
throwing the Nazis completely out of
Russia in the remaining five weeks
of winter.
Far south in the Ukraine the Rus-
sians were closing in for the kill on
an estimated 50,000' German sur-
vivors of a force of perhaps 100,000
trapped by the Red Army. The Mos-
cow midnight bulletin, recorded by
the Soviet Monitor from a broadcast,
said 1,800 more Germans were killed,
60 of their tanks wrecked and as
many as seven repeated German
attacks to break the encircling ring
from outside were beaten back.
Leningrad front troops, striking
down from Luga, killed over 1,400
Germans and captured 40 communi-
ties in one part of the drive for
Pskov. Once force reached the rail
station of Serebyanka and a mile
further the town of Kalbutitsy, 16
miles south of Luga and 75 miles
northeast of Pskov. Further east on
the highway Gorodets, 15 miles south
of Luga, was captured.
'Race Free'
CIO Canteen
Is Ridiculed
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-(P)-A
newspaper account of -the opening
here Sunday night of a CIO-spon-
sored servicemen's canteen, an 'occa-
sion attended by Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt, prompted this question in
the Congressional Record today from
Representative Charles McKenzie
(Dem., La.) :
"How can anyone be a party to
encouraging white girls into the arms
of Negro soldiers at a canteen dance
while singing 'Let Me Call You
Sweetheart'?"
McKenzie's question was contained
in a statement, which included the
article as well. He said he had ob-
tained House permission to have the
statement printed in the Record to-
morrow.
The article said the "labor can-
teen," operated for all servicemen
and women by the Washington CIO
Industrial Union Council, is the only
one in the capital "which invites
both white and Negro servicemen
and has both white and Negrb host-
esses."
Class of '44E
To Meet Today
A meeting of all members of the
Class of '44E will be held at 5 p.m.
today in Rm. 348, West Engineering
Building.
At this meeting announcements of
interest to those graduating this
semester and those graduating at a
later date will be made. Many ques-
tions regarding the graduating exer-
cises and alumni relations will be
answered.
It is also announced that Engi-
neering graduates will be able to
obtain their caps and gowns for Sat-
urday morning's exercises at the
League today and tomorrow from
3-5 p.m.
Allied Bombers
Roar Out for
Major Attack
East Coast Residents
Hear Planes Leaving
For over One Hour
By The Associated Press
LONDON, Feb. 16, Wednesday.-
(MP)-A great force of RAF heavy
bombers, making the first major op-
eration since the Jan. 30 raid on
Berlin, roared out over the east coast
at dusk last night and headed for
the continent.
East coast residents said the roar
of the engines of the bomber fleet
was incessant for more than an hour
as the planes headed toward the sea.
A hint that American air forces
were participating was contained in
a dispatch from Stockholm which
said that a United States bomber had
crashed near Faaborg, Denmark, dur-
ing a night air raid alert.
Radio stations in France, Germany
and Denmark fell silent and alerts
were reported in western Switzerland.
An all-out assault was made on
the French invasion coast during the
day by Allied planes of many types.
Two medium bombers and four fight-
ers were lost.
The bombardment of Pas-de-
Calais and its environs was begun by
formations of American Liberator
bombers and Thunderbolt fighter-
bombers which navigated over vast
areas of flak without a single loss.
JAG School
Leads Army
In Bond Drive
Michigan Goes Over
Bond Quoa; County
Also Over the Top
The total amount of bonds pur-
chased in the Fourth War Loan drive
by members of the Judge Advocate
General's School has been $32,318.75,
which tops the record of all other
Army units on campus.
The civilian personnel of the
school has contributed $,625 to the
campaign.
it was reported last night by the
Associated Press that the state sur-
passed its quota with $10,000,000 to
spare.
Washtenaw County has gone over
the top with bond sales totaling
$8,483,518, beating its goal of $7,477,-
000 by more than a million dollars.
Complete reports for the January-
February drive which ended last
night have not yet been received.
Totals from the University drive
will be made available tomorrow.
National Goal Made
For Bond Campaign
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.--(P)-The
$14,000,000,000 Fourth War Loan
went over the top by $191,000,000 to-
night a few hours ikfore the mid-
night deadline for the campaign.
°Although the drive ended for "big
money" participation, war bond pur-
chases reported to Federal Reserve
Banks during the remainder of the
month will be counted toward the
final total to be announced by Treas-
ury Secretary Morgenthau on March
2.
Tonight's treasury announcement
gave no breakdown between individ-
ual and corporate subscriptions, but
individual purchases yesterday still
were more than $1,800,000,000 short
of their $5,500,000,000 quota.
Abbot, Fisher To Leave
Today for Washington
Dr. C. A. Fisher and Prof. Waldo
Abbot will leave for Washington, D.
C. today to follow up the University's
application for a wider coverage by
the proposed FM radio broadcasting
station.
Yank Bombs and Shells Turn Benedictine
Monastery into Smoke-Shrouded Inferno;
Green Islands Occupied by
Allied Troops
Solomons Campaign
Completed, 22,000
Japs Are Isolated,
MacArthur Declares
By The Associated Press
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Feb. 16,
Wednesday.-American and New Zea-
land troops occupied the jungle-cov-
ered Green Islands Monday, complet-
ing the campaign for the Solomon
Islands, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
announced today.P
Japanese forces estimated at 22,000
dispersed through the Solomons "are
now isolated from their sources of
supply at Rabaul (New Britain)"
and face starvation and disease "from
the military blockade which renders
their position hopeless," MacArthur
said in a communique.
Only Machinegun Resistance
The Allied troops from Adm. Will-
iam F. Halsey's South Pacific Com-
mand, met only machinegun resist-
ance as they landed.
Allied forces holding the Green Is-
lands, also call Nissan, can now stop
the Japanese from running supplies
by sea to their isolated comrades who
still cling to air and sea-battered
points on Choiseul, Shortland, Bou-
gainville and Buka Islands. Allied
air superiority in this sector is un-
questioned.
Warships Protected Landing
The landing was protected by war-
ships as big as cruisers and appar-
ently took the Japanese by surprise.
The enemy's machinegun fire did no
damage to the landing craft, a naval
spokesman said.
The communique today reported
another of the almost daily air raids
on Rabaul. Planes from the Solo-
mons air force struck Vunakanau,
Tobera and Lakunai airdromes with
111 tons of bombs, and hit Kavieng
and Panapai airdromes on New Ire-
land with 113 tons.
Seven Planes Shot Down
The Allied airmen shot down seven
of 40 intercepting planes at Rabaul
and probably five others, destroyed
or damaged eight niore on the ground
and started many fires with smoke
rising "thousands of feet," the com-
munique said. The attackers lost
three fighters at Rabaul, but met no
interception at Kavieng and Panapai.
Occupation of the Green Islands
climaxed the South Pacific drive
which started Aug. 7, 1942, with the
Marine landings on Tulagi and Guad-
alcanal Islands.
Knox Reports
Blockades of
Axis by British
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-o)-The
sea-wise Allies have forged new
blockades in Europe and Asia and
there are increasing signs that the
Axis is starting to wince.
Navy Secretary Knox told today
how the British navy has roped off
the Bay of Biscay as forbidden to
Axis shipping. This seals off the coast
of France. London went even furth-
er in its disclosures-the Admiralty
announcing that a 7,000-square mile
area skirting both French and Span-
ish coasts now is "dangerous to ship-
ping." That means mines, anywhere
from Cape Finisterre, Spain's west-
ernmost point on the shoulder north
of Portugal, to Ireland.
An all-out blockade of Europe's
west coast chops directly at any sea-
going aid the Japanese can give Ger-
many.
U. S. Marines Advance
Under Fire in
Battle for Naniur
Top: Marines keep close to the ground on a Namur Island beach in the Marshalls as Japanese gun-
fire whines overhead. Box in foreground contains m edical supplies.
Bottom: A U.S. tank breaks over the brow of a hill followed by Marines in the 24-hour battle for con-
trol of Namur. At right: Marines set up communi cations center to keen headquarters informed of
progress.
V-Ball Tickets
Will Remain
On Sale Today
The allotted sale of tickets for Vic-
tory Ball which will be held March
3 in the Sports Building will continue
today from 1 to 4 p.m. in 'U' Hall and
from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Union Travel
Desk only.
The committee indicated that each
group on campus-Army, Navy, and
civilian-have been given a certain
number of tickets in proportion to
their number to insure an equal dis-
tribution.
After today's sale all remaining
tickets will be put on general sale at
times and places to be announced.
Taking its cue from the many col-
leges and universities represented on
campus, V-Ball will play host to the
nation's colleges featuring the music
of Les Brown and Fletcher Hender-
son.
The elimination runoff in the V-
Ball barber-shop quartet contest will
be run off tomorrow evening and all
entries will be contacted.
Daily Date Service
Gets Big Response
"Truly a great service," said one
student.
"It is remarkable what they are
doing," said another.
This is just a sample of the res-
ponse that has met The Daily an-
nouncement of a Date Bureau for V-
Ball.
It all started when a certain Box 15
asked in a Daily classified ad for a
man to take her to the big dance.
Now that Box 15 has "got her"
man, her many friends and admirers
have taken advantage of this new
Daily service and have registered.
Every method known to man is
being used to speed up the match
making, but always in an intricate
system there will be time lost, one
Daily date maker said yesterday.
Girls, all kinfds and . . . interested
in using this Daily service are asked
to appear in person at The Daily
office between 1 and 6 p.m. today
for a personal interview.
The avalanche of female interest
has overshadowed the resorvoir man-
power and all men-no specifications
-interested in furthering a good
us oma likewise avail themselves
Graduation Address To
Be Given-by Dr. Hannah
Dr. Frank A. Hannah, president ofE
Michigan State College, will give thet
principal address to the University's
second mid-year graduation exercises
at 10 a.m. Saturday in Hill Auditor-1
ium
President Hannah, a nationally
known figure in education circles will
discuss the "Debt We Owe."
Mid-year exercises were initiated
for the first time last year after the
Board of Regents adopted the speed-<
Qualifying Test,
For Am-12, V-12
1
To Be March 15
Students, now enrolled in the Uni-
versity, who wish to take the quali-
fying examinations for either the
Navy V-12 or the Army A-12 special-
ized training programs to be given
March 15, are asked to secure the
necessary application blanks and
forms in Rm. 2, University Hall be-
fore the final examination period,
Walter B. Rea, assistant dean of
students, said yesterday.
These forms should be filled out
completely, with the exception of
the applicants' signature, and re-
turned before Feb. 26. They must be
signed in the presence of either Dean
Joseph A. Bursley or Dean Rea.
Students who took this test on
April 2 or Nov. 9, 1943 and who are
still eligible to apply for the college
programs, are required to take the
March 15 test if they wish to be
considered again.
Applicants for the Navy program
must be between the ages of 17 and
20, must be in college, a high school
graduate, or a high school senior
who will be graduated by July 1,
1944, and must be in good physical
condition. Requirements for the
Army program are the same, except
that an applicant may be 22 years
old.
Although eligibility to take the
test is not dependent on a high
scholastic record, the competition is
keen and only those who have a good
school record are likely to qualify.
The examination will be given at
9 a.m. in the Rackham Auditorium.
ed up academic program which keeps
the University in full operation the
year around.
Special awards and degrees will
be given to 489 graduating seniors,
about half the number which were
granted degrees last year.
The Rev. Ernest C. Stillhorn of the
Zion Lutheran Church of Ann Arbor
will deliver the invocation.
All University classes with the ex-
ception of those in ASTP and in the
School of Education will be dis-
missed at 9:45 a.m. Saturday to per-
mit both students and faculty mem-
bers to attend the exercises.
Dr. Alexander G. Ruthven, presi-
dent of the University, who intends
to leave shortly after commencement
for a Pan-American Education Con-
ference in New Mexico, will deliver a
few introductory remarks.
Cam paign for
Book Collection
Is Co-Iintiuig
Up to date, 50 books have been
collected in the local World Student
Service Fund campaign for more text-
books to be sent to prisoners of war
all over the world.
"This is a very unimpressive total
for a university of this size," Mary
Jane Hastreiter, president of Pan-
hellenic said yesterday. "Since one
of the best ways of keeping the mor-
ale of prisoners of war high is to
supply them with reading material,
we should certainly be able to dig
into our stockpile of books and con-
tribute some of them to this worthy
cause."
Sponsored by Assembly, Panhel-
lenic, the Union, the International
Center, the local drive will continue
through to the spring term to per-
mit students to discard this semester's
books.
Receptacles for the books have
been placed in the League, Interna-
tional Center, the Union and The
Daily.
Students wishing to contribute
books should conform to the follow-
ing specifications: Books can be in
any subject and must be in current
use, unless they are classics in their
Grey-1 U Iiiformed
[Nazi Soldiers Flee
Like Ratsf from
Lofty Stronhold
By The Associated Press
NAPLES, Feb. 15.-American bombs
and artillery shells turned the an-
cient Benedictine monastery atop Mt.
Cassino into a smoke-shrouded in-
ferno today, sending some 300 grey-
uniformed German soldiers racing
like rats from the lofty stronghold
they had employed to obstruct an
Allied drive to the relief of the Anzio
beachhead.
Fortresses Blast Buildings
Waves of four-engined Flying Fort-
resses first blasted the closely knit
group of buildings atop the 1,800-foot
peak with tons of explosives, and as
the smoke from this bombardment
billowed skyward, big guns from the
valley below sent hundreds of shells
screaming into the monastery build-
ings.
There was no immediate indication
of the fate of hundreds of Italian
civilians who took shelter within the
monastery in recent weeks and who
were warned by the Allies yesterday .
to get out "at once" for their lives.
Guns in Monastery
The slopes of Mt. Cassino were
honeycombed with Nazi gun em-
placements and there were machhnb-
gun nests in the monastery itself.
The was only one decision: the mon-
astery had to be removed as a dom-
inating point of the battlefield.
At last report, advanced units were
within about 600 yards of the crest
of the mountain. Once the monas-
tery is cleared of Germans, the Al-
lies will look squarely down into the
battered streets of Cassino and will
have a superlative vantage point from
which to launch future operatios.
Use of the main highway from Cs-
sino to Rome then will be denied to
the Nazis, and the enemy's position
in Cassino will rapidly become unten-
able.
(Today's German communique said
Mt. Cassino abbey was bombed "al-
though no German soldiers were eith-
er in the monastery or the vicinity.
Heavy damage was caused.")
FIJR.explains
Abbey Shelling
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-(/)-
President Roosevelt declared today
military necessity forced the Allies
to turn their guns on the ancient
Benedictine monastery in italy $-
cause the Germans converted it into
a fortress to shell our troops.
He told his news conference the
Nazis made a target of the famed ab-
bey by using it as a vantage point for
their fire against our forces. Then
he made public an order issued by
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower last Dec.
29, which directed his men to respect
historical monuments "so far as war
allows."
"If we have to choose between de-
stroying a famous building and sac-
rificing our men," the order added,
"then our men's lives count infinitely
more and the buildings must go.
Nothing can stand against the argu-
ment of military necessity."
Army Officers
Engineer Coup
3 Argentine Officials
Are Forced To Resign
MONTEVIDEO, Feb. 15.-)-A
bloodless palace coup engineered by
a group of reactionary army officers
forced the resignation today of three
Argentine state officials and may
have jeopardized the position of
President Pedro Ramirez.
The shakeup resulted in the resig-
nation of foreign minister Alberto
Gelbert, under-secretary of the for-
eign office Oscar Ibarri Garcia and
presidential secretary Enrique Gon-
zalez. It represents a victory for the
nationalist forces in the government
who were opposed to the rupture last
month by Ramirez of diplomatic re-
lations with the Axis.
DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS REPORTED:
Russo-Fin nish Peace Talks Begin
By The Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 15.-Direct
peace negotiations between Finland
and Russia appeared to be under
way tonight and Colonel General
Eduard Dietl was reported to have
urged Hitler to order evacuation of
his troops in northern Finland.
Dietl Gets Sport Officers
A German source said there were
indications that a number of sport
officers, essential for a large-scale
Finland's foreign minister, Sir Hen-
rik Ramsay, posed a hypothetical
question to the American charge d'
affaires regarding the American atti-
tude toward Finland in the event
German troops were withdrawn.
The question might well have been
prompted by knowledge on Ramsay's
part that the Germans were con-
sidering evacuation-a move which
to Sweden, Mme. Alexandra Kollon-
tay, and expects to meet her again.
Whether this meeting resulted in
any formula whereby Finland could
quit the war was not disclosed.
Madame Kollontay returned to
Stockholm today after spending sev-
eral days in an outlying resort.
No Progress in 24 Hours
A Helsinki dispatch, quoting an
"authoritative source," declared there