l _ ,, . ., ..i .. ., _ n ... ' r ft irn I Weather Warmer VOL LI, No. 20-S ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1943 PRICE FIVE CENTS 'Weary Italian People Clamor for Peace - sj Russians Crash Through German Lines East of Orel 0 * * * * * * Reds Score Gains on Nazi Central Front 2,000 Axis Troops Killed in Soviet Drive As Zolotarevo Falls By The Associated Press LONDON, July 24, Saturday- Russian forces crashed across a river directly east of Orel, killing 2,000 Germans massed on the west bank, and scored fresh gains of two to four miles on the north and south sides of the beleaguered German central front pivot,'Moscow announced early today. German broadcasts said 18 Soviet divisions had begun a powerful of- fensive south of Leningrad, but offi- cial Russian dispatches were silent on developments there. Now Eight Miles From Orel The river crossing at Orel ap- peared to have put the Red Army within eight miles of the city- after a three-mile drive from Zolotarevo, the last village to fall in that area. Another Russian column was less than nine miles northeast of Orel. Several more villages fell to the advancing Russians who knocked out scores of German tanks and killed thousands of enemy troops yesterday in fighting .raging _clear down .to the Spa of Azov, said the midnight bulle- tin recorded by the Soviet Monitor. °'oth of Orel the Russians beat downsneveral fierce German counter- attacks near Bolkhov, wiping out a regi ent of enemy infantry. Bolkhov, kstone of a strong Nazi defense etwork 35 miles above Orel, fell to the Russians Thursday. Bryansk Railway Threatened The Soviet drive on the north also was wheeling behind Orel, endanger- ing the railway running northwest of Bryansk. One dispatch said Khara- chev, midway between the two cities on the railway, already was threat- ened. the Germans also lost heavily in the Belgorod sector and the Donets Basin to the south, and Russian for- ces again were attacking the Ger- mans in the northwestern Caucasus. Bombers Sink Japanese Craft By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, July 24. (Saturday) - Allied bombers smashed a Japanese attempt to run supplies to their strong base at Buin on Bougainville Island Thursday night, sinking a 9,000-ton enemy sea- plane tender and damaging one of four escorting destroyers. The seaplane tender, of the "Nis- shin" class, was sighted off the coast of Bougainville Island just at dusk. Heavy torpedo and divebombers, pro- tected by a strong force of fighters, sped to the attack and sent the ten- der to the ocean bottom. Today's communique from General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters contained no information on the progress of American troops closing in on the Japanese airbase at Munda, New Georgia. v Russian Army Presses Nearer Orel s R RUSSI V luke Rziiev.Lu iG r ; Luk ~;OSCOWGrk ovyazma Smolensk Tula. Ryazan 8ryansk OREL .VoronezhSaratov Kursk *Voronezh Kiev KIv Belgoro , Kharkov Von R s Stalingrad Izyum Vorosiilovgrad t g Dniepero- Vo petrovsk9 Staling ?'t Odessa Rostov . Tikhoretsk Sevastopol ® Krasnodar "::": .:..li Novorossisk 0 150 ?si!!!!Block'- .!!!Sea ''STATUTE MILS The attacking Russian Army is advancing steadily (arrows) nearer Orel, despite fresh German reserves being poured into the battle, according to a Soviet communique. In the Donets Basin, the Reds WLB Cautions Labor Against Wage.Increases Little Steel Formula To Hold, Despite Threats of Union Heads Murray, Green By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, July 23.- The WarLabor Board solemnly cautioned labor today against seeking "inflationary wage increases" even as President Roosevelt disclosed that the administration is endeavoring to reorganize the defense against inflation with a new price control and economic stabiliza- tion program. While acknowledging that no ideas have been agreed upon yet, the President told a press-radio conference that whatever decision is reached, Congress will have'the final word because-it will cost money. UMW Chief Lewis reported improving their positions Voroshilovgrad (arrows). Heavy battle line. Jap Positions On Kiska Hit By Task Force Heavy Yank Shelling Damages Island Air Strip, Starts Fires WASHINGTON, July 23.- ()- A Pacific fleet task force which pos- sibly included battleships heavily bombarded Japanese positions on Kiska Island yesterday, the Navy announced today. Enemy coast de- fense guns returned the fire but failed to damage any of the war- ships. The shelling, seventh of a deadly series probably designed to soften up enemy defenses for the battle of Kiska, followed by 24 hours an Amer- ican bomber raid aimed at knocking out the newly completed air strip on the island. Numerous hits were scored on the runway and camp area, and several fires were started, a communique said. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific, the Japanese for the second time in two days bombed the American base on Funafuti Island in the Ellice group on Thursday. The second raid apparently was heavier than the first, in which only three bombers participated and which resulted in no damage or injuries to personnel. In Thursday's attack two of the Japanese bombers were shot down The strategy behind the Japanese air attack on Funafuti was a sub- ject of no little speculation. Some persons here regarded it as the be- ginning of an enmy counter thrust directed at the center of the supply route between the Hawaiian Islands and the Solomon's-Australian area. south black of Izyum and southwest of line indicates approximate Thomas Says Basis Is Laid For New War WASHINGTON, July 23. - (A) - Norman Thomas, Socialist Party leader, said tonight that the United Nations are "laying the foundations for new war by their obvious inten- tion to perpetuate their own im- perialism." In an address prepared for a mass meeting in connection with a quar- terly meeting of the party's execu- tive committee, Thomas said : "Great Britain has not promised to restore Hong Kong to China. We have not repealed unilateral Chinese. exclusion, and we have intensified our own racial tension. Churchill has announced bluntly 'we mean to hold our own. I have not become the King's First Minister to preside over the dissolution of the British Em- pire.' This statement has not been changed or modified in any way by Mr. Churchill or protested by our government. "As it stands, it means that Amer- ican boysdare fighting tosrestore Burma and Malaya to British rule and keep India under British rule." Detroit Garbage Collects As Employes Strike DETROIT, July 23,-(A)-Garbage went uncollected in many sections of Detroit today as approximately 2,500 employes of the Department of Pub- lic Works, engaged in a jurisdictional dispute and demanded wage increase away from work. Their action brought from Mayor Edward J. Jeffries and the City Council an ultimatum that unless they were back on the job Monday morning they would be dismissed. Answers Labor's Announcement Mr. Roosevelt's announcement car FDR Declares Rome Bombing Was Necessary Military Needs, Not Retaliation Dictated Hitting Eternal City WASHINGTON, July 23.- (P)- Still hopeful that Rome will be de- clared an open city, President Roose- velt emphasized today that Mon- day's bombing of the Italian capi- tal's munitions and railway facilities was dictated by military necessity to save the lives of Allied fighting men -and not for retaliation. The Chief Executive offered no assurance that the swelling air might of the Allies would not again return to Rome; to the con- trary, he' declared that the more the Allies -could keep military traf- fic from operating between Rome and the south the better it would be for the Allies. He told his press-radio conference that the Allies for more than a year had sought without success to have the Italian Fascist leaders declare Rome an open city, a move which would free it from attack, and added that he still hoped it would be so made. An open city is one which con- tains no troops, defenses, mili- tary installations, military factor- ies, or transportation facilities uti- lized for the movement of military supplies or personnel. The power in possession, having thus demili- tarized the city, then could declare "open," probably subject to an in- spection by a third party to see whether the conditions have been met. In discussing the raid on Rome, Mr. Roosevelt described the city as an important military center with airports, munitions factories and im- mense marshalling yards for the transport of troops and guns to southern Italy. Lt.Dur fee, U' Grad uate, Is ne less than 24 hoiu1rs after organized labor asked him for a retail price rollback to Sept. 15, 1942, levels or abandonment of the WLB's "little steel" formula. This formula de- clares in general that wage increases granted to compensate for higher living costs shall not total more than 15 percent of wages paid on Jan. 1, 1941. The board announced today it has no intention of scrapping the little steel formula although "other divisions of the anti - inflation army may weaken." Presenting its position in an opin- ion denying wage increases to Los Angeles transit workers who struck yesterday for a 24-hour period, WLB told labor that before making wage demands discordant with the sta- bilization program, "labor should look to what is likelynto happen if that program is broken down." WLB Will Hold Line Declaring that the board intends to hold the line againstinflation "in- sofar as demands for inflationary wage increases are concerned," the opinion observed: "The time has come for labor to realize that if we are going to stop inflation we cannot continue to raise wages in the wage brackets which are not substandard. "However, having made sacri- fices in the form of unrealized wage increases and decrease pur- chasing power, labor is in an ex- cellent position to voice the de- mand that prices be rolled back to reasonable levels and that the cost of living be strictly controlled." William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, and Phillip Murray, head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, said yes- terday that unless price levels of 10 months ago are restored, labor will discontinue support of the entire stabilization program and seek re- moval of Price Administrator Pren- tiss Brown. 18-Year Voting Limit Opposed By Teen-A gers NEW YORK, July 23.--(P--A ma- jority of 85,916 students in 1,000 American high schools are opposed to lowering the legal voting age to 18 years, the Institute of Student Opinion has announced after a sur- vey. Fifty-three per cent of the boys and girls participating expressed op- position to the constitutional amend- ment proposed by Senator Arthur Vandenberg (Rep.-Mich.) Forty- three per cent favored the idea and four per cent had no opinion. The result was described as start- ling by M. R. Robinson, Director of the Institute, which was set up in April as a channel of expression for the nation's youth. The Institute is sponsored by the Scholastic Maga- zines, of which Rbinson is publisher. Prior to the poll, Robinson said, "a number of prominent educators, teachers, principals and superinten- dents" were queried on the probable outcome and "in all cases they ex- pressed the belief that youth would be strongly in favor of the amend- ment.' Former University Scowling UMW leader John L. Lewis (above) has finally waved the white flag by recognizing the WarLabor Board and agreeing to+ appear before it in support of a+ contract to settle the mine contro- versy. * *. * Lewis Agrees To Appear Before WLBJ Letter to Chairman Says Miners Ready To Support Contract By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, July 23.-Ending, at least temporarily, a long and bit- ter feud.John L.-Lewisformally rec- ognized the War Labor Board today' and agreed to appear before it in support of a contract which, he hopes, will be a model for settlement of the entire mine labor controversy. Lewis's written offer to come be- fore the board, which the president of the United Mine Workers pre- viously has scorned, apparently re- moved one of the major obstacles toward settlement of the mine dis- pute by getting both sides, in the controversy to sit down with WLB and discuss the situation. The labor leader's sudden change of mind about the board which he once charged was a "packed court," was caused, spokesmen for the UMW said, by the fact that the board now is a statutory body whereas in the past it functioned under executive decree. The Smith-Connally Labor Dis- putes Act, which gave WLB legal status, empowered the board to subpoena witnesses and records in considering labor disputes. The board had no such power when it earlier requested the unionto come before it, and since the mine wage discussions started last March, Lewis repeatedly ignored the re- quests. Lewis's recognition of WLB was in the form of a letter to Board Chair- man William H. Davis. The UMW chieftain wrote that he and Illinois mine operators "stand ready to ap- pear before you" to support a con- tract between the union and the Illinois Coal Operators Association. Peakeeats Commissionl Former Instructor Now a Licutenant Charles H. Peake, former instruc- tor in the Department of English at the University, was Rommissioned a Evacuation of Sicily by Axis Troops Begins Palermo Is Captured As Allied Forces Take F1ouRr-IFifths of Island By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, July 23-Italian citizens were reported today to be clamoring for peace in demonstra- tions in the streets of many cities in Italy as the Allied forces in Sicily- ap- parently had brought resistance to an end in four-fifths of the island. Reuters quoted a Stockholm dis- patch saying the Axis forces had begun evacuating Sicily. The source of the report was a dispatch to the SvenskanDagbladet from Bern, Switzerland. An armored column of the Ameri- can Seventh Army which struck with deadly speed to the north coast had captured Palermo, Sicilian capital, in a sledgehammer, blow which left the defenders only a fifth of Sicily. Attack Demoralizes Axis Camp The tanks and cars which thun- dered into the sixth large Italian city and then turned to mop up thous- ands of troops trapped in northern and western Sicily, spread consterna- tion among the surprised defenders and demoralization throughout the Axis camp. Repercussions of the lightning seizure came from all over Italy and the Balkans. Madrid dispatches said Italians demonstrated in the streets of Rome, Venice, Milan, Turin, Flor- ence and Trieste, shouting "peace." ,.wt; sgbotagp were reported sweeping the country, andthe Bal- kans was rumbling with reports of rebellion. Rome already was the scene of a large-scale civilian evacu- ation movement. Allies Converge to Northeast The capture of Palermo with its extensive shipping, naval and air facilities gave to the Allies a domi- nating port on the Tyrrhenian Sea approach to Rome, and reports of Al- lied Headquarters tonight indicated that all Allied armies were converg- ing swiftly toward the one remaining active battle line in northeastern Sicily. Axis resistance was now com- pressed in the northeastern tip, in an area but little larger than Cap Bon where Col. Gen. Jurgen Von Arnim's army met catastrophe in Tunisia. The situation appeared to be sim- ilar to that in Tunisia before the American breakthrough at Mateur. Then Montgomery's powerful drive up the Tunisian east coast caused the Axis commanders to shift a large part of their forces to meet it, expect, ing the main offensive to come from that direction. Instead the main blow came from the west. * * * Allies Bomb Bises in Crete NEW YORK, July 23.-(A')-The Berlin radio said tonight that "strong forces of Allied bombers have at- tacked German airfields in Crete," the large Greek island south of the Balkans. NBC recorded the broad- cast. The Germans said ten Allied planes were brought down by anti-aircraft guns alone. The attack was reported to have been directed against German air- bases and the three largest towns in Crete. The damage was called "in- significant." (The report has not been cqn- firmed by any Allied source.) *_*E ONE MONTH PLEDGE 'REQUIRED: Fraternities Begin Rushing Monday Killed in Action Lt. Paul S. Durfee, '41, has been reported killed in action in the South Pacific according to recent word re- ceived here by his parents from the Naval Department. A student in the University Law School after his graduation. Lt. Dur- fee was called to active duty by the Navy in the spring of 1942. He was enrolled in the Naval Reserve V-7 program. Although the naval telegram did not contain details as to the circum- stances of Lt. Durfee's death, he is supposed to have been lost when his ship, the U.S.S. destroyer Gwin, was torpedoed during the second battle of Kula gulf in the invasion of New Georgia Island. Lt. Durfee reported at the naval school at Notre Dame University when he was called to active duty and from there was sent to the U.S.S. In accordance with new rushing rules, approximately 30 campus fra- ternities will begin summer rushing Monday. The new regulations passed by the Committee on Student Affairs to govern all houses for the duration of the war will alleviate engagement qnd period of pledgeship require- ments to permit a man to be initiated one month after pledging. First Semester Freshmen Eligible schools comply with the C require- ments. Undergraduates above the fresh- men level who do not receive five week grades will be eligible for initi- ation only after semester grades are received. They may pledge during the formal rushing period, however. Students Must Register Any student who wishes to be rushed must register at the office of the Interfraternitv Council, Room elsewhere in Ann Arbor. IFC members indicated yesterdayj that much of the summer rushing will be in the form of informal pic- nics because of the scarcity of avail- able houses. No Late Phone Calls Rushing engagements may be held at any time during the day until 10 p.m., although telephone calls for making future engagements after this time will not he considered il- I second lieutenant in the infantry upon his graduation July 16 from the Peace Feelers Sent officer candidate school at Ft. Ben-jTo Vatican byAxis ning, Ga. Enlisting in October, 1942, Lt. NEW YORK, July 23-(-P-A Brit- Peake underwent basic training at ish broadcast, quoting the Swedish Camp Roberts, Calif., where he at- newspaper Nya Dagligt Allehanda, tended non-commissioned officer's said tonight that Italy, Hungary and - . - - ' ._ _-_ -_ - z - i n a l a - r |- A o i i