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VOL. LIV No. 11-E ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1944
Big Assault Breaks azi rne River.
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PRICE FIVE CENTS
Line

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Toll from
Explosion
Nears 350
Naval Amnmunition.
Vessels Blow Up
By the Associated Press
PORT CHICAGO, Qalif., July 18.-
An explosion of two naval ammuni-
tion ships in the worst disaster of its
kind in the nation's history left a toll
of dead approaching 350 today as
rescue workers poked through the
rubble in search of more bodies.
Blast Shatters Town
The twin blasts late last night,
shaking 14 counties and felt 80 miles
away, shattered this town of 1,500
and wrecked the two freighters, the
10,k00-tn Quinault Victory and the
7,500-ton E. A. Bryant. The ships
were loading ammunition at the Port
Chicago naval ammunition supply
depot, on an arm of San Francisco
Bay some 35 miles northeast of San
Francisco.
The blasts sprayed hot metal over
a two-mile area. One ship's anchor
was found a half mile away.
Most of the dead were members of
Navy loading crews at the Port Chi-
cago ammunition magazine.
In addition, possibly 70 members
of the crews of the two ships lost
their lives. A number of civilian
workers on the docks were killed.
The Navy said "at least 200 to 250"
of its loading crewmen died. The list
of injured may reach 1,000, including
those hurt by flying glass.
Waterfront Ruined
At 10:19 o'clock last night ruin
came to the waterfront. The freight-
er Bryan, carrying thousands of tons
of"explosives, disintegrated in bil-
lwing clouds of red and white flame.
The great blast flattened every-
thing around. As the reverberations
swept across the water, the victory
shiix.Quinault exploded with a thun-.
der that- shook the hills.
Navy barracks ivere flattened.
Wires, trees, poles, marsh grass-
everything, was borne to earth. The
pier from which loading operations
were being carried on simply dis-
appeared. Two small Coast Guard
boats were crushed and five Coast
Guardsmen are missing.
Dewey Defends
States' Rights
Plan of Voting
ALBANY, N.Y., July 18.-(P)-De-
fending his plan of state control of
soldier -voting, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey
declared today it was both "complete
and valid" and asserted advocates of
a federal supplemental ballot were
playing "partisan politics" by sup-
porting a "void and worthless" pro-
posal.
The issue, involving states' rights,
thus was drav'n clearly between the
Republican Presidential nominee and
President Roosevelt, who has cham-
pioned a federal ballot for four
offices.
Dewey, in a press conference, as-
serted the New York voting plan
gives every serviceman "a full ballot,"
He said "the partial" supplementary
federal ballot "would be void and
worthless under the constitution of
this state."
His statement came three days
after expiration of a' deadline for
governors to certify their states would
accept the federal ballot. Dewey took
no action.
Last Thursday several hundred

New York City residents came to
Albany to urge Dewey to permit state
servicemen and women overseas to
use the federal ballot. Dewey de-
clined to see the group.
Shields Replaces
As Committeeman
CHICAGO, Jt4y 18.-(LP)-Univer-
sity Regent Edmund C. Shields, of
Lansing, was replaced yesterday as
Democratic national committeeman
for Michigan in a party caucus of
state delegates on hand for the open-
ing ,of the Democratic national con-
vention in Chicago.
E. C. Bevan of Oakland County will
succeed Shields. Bevan was elected
on the first ballot in a four-way con-

Truman Support Rises;
Race Question Difficult

Democrats Hear
Appeal From CIO
By the Associated Press
CHICAGO, July 18-The race
question developed tonight as the
most troublesome problem confront-
ing the party's platform framers asi
the CIO joined in demands for a
strong declaration on the racial is-
sue.
Philip Murray, president of the
labor organization, went before the
platform committee, as a group of
embittered southerners organized to
oppose any plank declaring for ra-
cial equality.
"God Help America," Murray de-
clared, "if when this war is won
overseas we should find ourselves
plunged here into a terrifying war,
of hatred."'
He said the party "should not,
avoid a strong declaration on racial,
religious or minority questions. It
should not equivocate."
Murray also demanded abolition
of the poll tax, levied in several
southern states, and was joined in
this positionrby other witnesses.
The platform must be ready forf
convention action on Thursday, and1
some of the framers were considering
the possibility of repeating the words
of the 1940 platform, which said:
"We shall continue to strive for
complete legislative safeguards
against discrimination in govern-
ment service and benefits, and in the
national-defense forces. We pledge
to uphold due process and the equalf
protection of the laws for every citi-
zen, regardless of race, creed orf
color."
Tojo Relieved
As Jap Army ,
Commpanf der
By the Associated Press
Tokyo announced yesterday thatj
Premier General Hideki Tojo had
been relieved as chief of the army
general staff in the second sweeping
shakeup of Japan's high command
in two days in the face of what Tojo
himself called "an unprecedentedly
great national crisis."
The navy, chief sufferer in recent
heavy defeats in the Pacific, under-
went a similar shakeup Monday,
when a relatively obscure admiral
replaced the navy minister.
The shakeup was announced in a
series of broadcasts recorded by the
Associated Press and US. Govern-
ment monitors. Other broadcasts
told the Japanese people for the first
time that Saipan had been lost with
all its garrison and most of its
Japanese civilian population, stress-
ing the gravity of the crisis.
Tue announcements made no men-
tion of Tojo's status as premier and
war minister; presumably he retains
those posts.
Chinese Defend Rail
Junction, Hengyang
CHUNGKING, July 18.-(/P)-
fiant Chinese still hold the Can-
ton-Hankow rail junction of Heng-
yang in the face of furious enemy
assaults.
They have thrown themselves
against the Japanese on the ap-
proaches to the city and "penetrated
many enemy positions," the high
command announced tonight.

Wallace Support Is
Reported Waning
By the Associated Press
CHICAGO, July 18-A sudden surge
of support for Senator Harry Tru-
man of Missouri placed him tonight
in the top flight of compromise possi-
bilities for the Democratic vice presi-
dential nomination.
"It's a natural," exclaimed Senator
Carl Hatch of New Mexico. "Har-
ry Truman is going to be nomi-
nated."
Apparently the shift toward him-
originated partially with the CIO.
Heretofore the big labor organization
has given unswerving fealty to the
renomination aspirations of vice
president Henry A. Wallace.
Wallace's Strength Drifting
But some of Wallace's strength
seemed to be drifting away after
President Roosevelt gave a weak nod
last night to the man he demanded,
and got, as a running mate four
years ago.
The vice president, in fact, is on
the way to the convention, which
opens tomorrow, to try to stem a tide
which was turning to some degree
toward War Mobilization Director
Rayburn Is Not Candidate
CHICAGO, July 18.-to)-Speaker
Sam Rayburn notified the regular
Texas delegation to the Democratic
convention tonight that he is not a
candidate for vice-president and does
not wish his name presented to the
convention.

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STAtUTE MES.
AMERICANS BREAK NAZI LINE-Arrows locate Allied drives in Normandy including an American
advance into $t. Croix, a suburb of St. Lo. Other U. S. troops to the west are in the outskirts of Lessay
and have captured Les Milleries and Remilly. Brit ish forces southwest of Caen captured Vendes and
are in the outskirts of Noyers and Evrecy.

I


SATIRE ON SOCIETY:
Repertory Players To Present
'The Learned Ladies' Today

7
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1

Zeta Barbour will play one of the
leading roles in Moliere's "The Learn-
ed Ladies" to be presented by the
Michigan Repertory Players of the
Department of Speech at 8:30 p. m.
today in the Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre.
Byron Pershing will be cast as the
worthy citizen, Chrysale, Merline
Case will portray his arrogant wife,

James F. Byrnes, Senate majority
leader Alben W. Barkley and, belat-N
edly, toward Truman.
As for the presidential picture, Mr.
Roosevelt's renomination was as cer-
tain as ever,;but a-boomlet continued
for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Vir-
ginia. Louisiana followed Mississippi
into the Byrd column, voting to cast
its 22 votes for him. That made 46
Byrd votes, counting four from Flor-
ida.
Truman Second Choice
In the vice presidential contest,1
Truman, chairman of a special Sen-
ate war investigating committee, was
reported reliably to be the second
choice of CIO president Philip Mur-
ray. The senator was in conference
earlier with Sidney Hillman.
Free Flow of
News Proposed
CHICAGO, July 18 - (AP) - A
Democratic platform declaration for
the free and untrammeled flow of
news throughout the world was pro-
posed today by spokesmen for Am-
erican editors who said it would be a
vital factor for insuring a durable
peace.
John S. Knight of Detroit told the
resolutions committee that what it
would discourage was "If the real
causes or motives for war were ex-
ploded through the daily publication
of news free from the influence of
self interest."
Knight, publisher of the Detroit
Free Press and other papers and
President of the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, joined with Ralph
McGill, editor of the Atlanta Con-
stitution and Representative of a
committee of newspaper editors, in
urging a forthright committment.

Yanks Reach
rGothic Line;'
Near Livorno
ROME, July 18.--(P)- American
troops crashed through strongly held
German positions today and swept
three miles across open country into
the town Pontedera on the Arno
River between Pisa and Florence,
reaching the enemy's "Gothic Line"
defenses and virtually outfianking
the great west coast port of Livorno.
Pontedera is situated on the south
bank of the Arno-12 miles east of
Pisa, 18 miles northeast of Livorno
and 32 miles west of Florence.
Lt.-Gen. Mark W. Clark's infantry
and armor reached the Arno in a
week's drive down the Era River val-
ley from the Volterra sector after
stubborn Nazi resistance had checked
the Fifth Army's push directly up
the west coast.
United Nations Will
Begin Peace Talks
WASHINGTON, July 18.- (A)-
Secretary of State Hull reported to-
day that the four-power talks on
world peace organization here next
month will be but the first of a series.
of international conversations de-
signed to lead to formation of a
permanent United Nations.
Because of the time to be consumed
in this series of talks, it became in-
creasingly probable that no decisive
actions for organizing the world
could be taken for several months,

and Clara $ehringer. will play the
role of his ardent sister, Belise.
Other members of the cast in-
clude Annette Chaikin as Armande,
Eleanor Hutchison as Henriette, Bob
Acton as Clitandre, John A. Mere-
wether as Ariste, George Hale as
Trissoten, Carol McCormick as Le-
pine, Dan W. Mullin as Vadius, and
Orris Mills as the notary.
A brilliant satire displaying the
famed playwright's skill in character
drawing, the comedy involves Chry-
sale in situations full of hilarity and
bristling with ridicule of the man-
ners of society.
Theodore Viehman, who is nation-
ally known for his interpretations of
both Moliere's and Shakespeare's
works will direct the production.
Miss Lucy Marton will be in charge
of the costumes, Robert Burrows and
Ernest Asmus will handle the techni-
cal direction, and Herbert Philippi
will take charge of the setting.
Tickets for the full season of plays
and single tickets for the individual
productions and the operetta are on
sale from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. daily
except Sunday .at the box office of
the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
Lobanov Will
Talk on Russia
Prof. Andrei Lobanov of the history
department will speak on the topic
of "Russia and the War" in the'first
lecture in a series on the Soviet
Union at 4:10 p.m. today in the
Rackham Amphitheatre.
A visiting professor from the his-
tory department of the University of
California, Professor Lobanov was
born in Yokohama, Japan, and stud-
ied in Russia and France. Before
coming to the country in 1930, he
was a foreign correspondent for Bar-
ing Bros. and Co. in London as well
as a lecturer abroad.
He joined the staff of the Univer-
sity of California shortly after his
arrival to the United States, and was
promoted to the position of an asso-
ciate professor of history in 1936.

t
Red Armies
Crack Defenses
Near Lwow
Gains of 31 Miles AreY
Registered on Frontf
By the Associated Press
LONDON, Wednesday, July 19-
Red armies of the south in a power-E
ful new offensive have cracked strongE
German defenses around the great
bastion of Lwow in Old Poland for
three-day gains of 31 miles on a 125-
mile front, and reached the Bug Riv-
er within five miles of the frontiera
from which the Germans attacked
the Soviet Union, Moscow announced'
last night.
Ripping through tottering German
lines defending the direct invasion
routes to Central Germany, the So-
viet first Ukraine Army was within
22 miles of Lwow, one of the biggest
rail terminals in Europe, Premier-
Marshal Stalin said in an order of
the day.
Capture Pitovka
In the far north other Russian
troops had smashed eight miles into
Latvia with the capture of Pitovka,
and were racing toward the Baltic
Sea in an effort to throw .a 'great
noose around hundreds of thousands
of German troops.
In the center of the Russian front,
which now has been expanded to
550 miles. other Russian armies yes-
terday plunged to within nine miles
of Brest Litovsk and within 22 miles
of Bialystok, strongholds defending
the plains leading to Warsaw.
Seize Omelinka
The Russians seized Omelinka,
nine miles above Brest Litovsk, and
Golynka, 22 miles northeast of Bial-
ystok, in an onrush which has car-
ried Soviet troops to a point only
about 100 miles from Warsaw, Polish
capital which fell to the Germans
in September, 1939. Five miles to
the northwest is the 1939 German-
Russian demarcation line established
after the partition of Poland. The
boundary follows the Bug to that
point, then swings southwestward be-
yond Lwow.

Pull-Scale
Offensive
Develops
Hillside Site Taken
-At Strategic St. Lo
By the Associated Press
SHAEF, Wednesday, July 19-
ritish and Canadian armored for-
es broke through the German line
cross the Orne River at the eastern
nd of the Normandy front Tuesday
n a full-scale offensive which was
olling in dust southeastward across
he Caen plain this morning with a
power recalling the historic British
ssault at El Alamein.
On the American sector to the
vest, Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley's
loughboys captured the hillside
inge stronghold at St. Lo after an
ight-day battle, forcing a German
withdrawal of a mile to a mile and
a. half and threatening a crumbling'
f the Nazi positions westward all the
way to the coast.
Using airpower instead of the ar-
illery barrage for which he is famed,
Gen, Sir Bernard L. Montgomery
"pened the onslaught in the Caen
area at dawn under cover of the,
greatest aerial bombardment since
D-Day-A crushing assault by 2,200
bombers of all kinds which pounded
the enemy with 7,000 tons of ex-
plosives and moved along just ahead
of powerful forces of tanks and in-
fantrymen.
Gen. Montgomery struck at the
gateway to interior France, driving
into the heart of the Nazis, strong-
est positions, protecting the route
eastward to Paris, 120 miles away,
Heavy fghting was raging tonight,
with the Britons and Canadians
cleaning out the town of Vaucelles
on the south side of the Orne oppo-
site Caen and strong armored and
mobile forces spreading out into the
Caen plain-open, ideal tank fighting
country southeast of the city, seven
to ten miles wide and extending 20
miles southwestward all the way to
Falaise.
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Allied Planes
Attack Coast
LONDON, Wednesday, July 19-
(AP)-Allied warplanes swarming
over Europe in the greatest combin-
ed air offensive in history yesterday
unloaded at least 11,000 tons of ex-
plosives on Hitler's fortress, mot of
them in a 75-mile square area around
Caen to pave the way for Gen. Sir
Bernard L. Montgomery's smashing
breakthrough on the Orne river
front.
Supreme headquarters announced
last 'night that the tremendous air
assault was sustained for four hours,
starting at dawn over the Caen sec-
tor, as waves of heavy, medium and
light bombers showered enemy
troops, artillery and strongpoints.
Navy Strikes at
Jap Held Guam
Tinian Island Shelled,
Adm. Nimitz Reports
U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD-
QUARTERS, PEARL HARBOR, July
18--(AP)-Some of Adm. Raymond
A. Spruance's heaviest battleships,

accompanied by cruisers and destroy-
ers, steamed within "close range" of
Guam Island on July 16 and poured
an earth-shaking bombardment of
shells into Japanese defense positions
for the second straight day.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reported
the attack in a press release today.
He added that lighter surface units
shelled Tinian Island, just south of
American-conquered Saipan, in a
night assault Saturday. The Tinian
shelling was continued Sunday.
Meanwhile Admiral Nimitz re-
ported that a "few remaining snip-
ers are being hunted down" on Sai-
pan.
War Council Backs
Dean's Slacks Ban


LECTURE SERIES WILL OPEN NOV. 16:
1944-45 Oratorical Program Includes Outstanding Speakers

wad-ooin-eiorofFotue -.

C+> __

Outstanding personalities in gov-
ernment, journalism, exploration and
dramatics will be included in the
1944-45 season's program of the Ora-
torical Association Lecture Course.
The Honorable Francis B. Sayre,
United States High Commissioner to
the Philippines, will open the series
Nov. 16 speaking on "Our Relations
With the Philippines After the War."
Mr. Sayre was appointed to his
Philippine post in July, 1939, and re-
mained there until after theJapa-
nese occupation of the Islands. He
recently returned to the United
.- 4.- .-n a f , ,fj

on the subject "From Hollywood to
Broadway." A foremost performer in
motion pictures and on the stage for
many years, she will be appearing
in Hill Auditorium for the first time.
She has starred in such motion pic-
ture classics as the "Birth of the
Nation," "Broken Blossom," and "Or-
phans of the Storm." Her most re-
cent motion picture characterization
is in "The Commandos Strike at
Dawn." Her stage appearances have
been in."Uncle Vanya", "Hamlet,"
"The Star Wagon," and most recent-
ly in "Life With Father."
nsa Jahnson Will Lecture

pictures of wild animals. Her book
"I Married Adventure" was the
Book-of-the-Month-Club selection
for June, 1940.
Mme. Wei To Appear
On Jan. 11 Madame Wei Tao-
ming, distinguished feminine leader
and wife of the Chinese Ambassador
to the United States, will speak on
"The Future of China." Madame
Wei has had wide diplomatic experi-
ence and is well known as a lecturer.
The first Chinese Woman lawyer in
Shanghai, in the '20's she was nomi-
nated as president of the Shanghai
District Court and served as a mem-

ward-looking editor of Fortune Mag-
azine, will speak Jan. 23. He is an
able author and analyst of public
affairs, both domestic and foreign.
He has represented Time, Life and
Fortune Magazines at the Republi-
can Conventions and is now present
at the Democratic National Conven-
tion. Numerous articles from his pen
have appeared in these magazines.
He will analyze present conditions in
the American political scene.
Ruth Draper Scheduled
Ruth Draper will present her ini-
mitable character sketches Feb. 6.
She is an actress in the grand tradi-

I

ular appearances on the lecture ser-
ies Feb. 20. From his years of ex-
ploration and study of Alaska, he has
finally evolved a new motion picture
which is entirely in color and will
portray "Post-War Alaska."
Fisher Will Show Film
The final number on the 1944-45
series to be presented March 15, will
be a complete color motion picture
entitled "Seething India." Joe Fisher,
an outstanding author on the Far
East will present this story, Mr.
Fisher had extensive theatre proper-
ties in Malaya for fifteen years and