The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

tnrnhu) Nete Delaware's Morning Paper Fint with the Latest Newt United Press Associated Press International News Service Latest City Edition Showers, colder tonight. (Weather Condition. Tides, Etc, on Page 8 VOL 127 NO. 80 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TUESDAY. APRIL 3, 1945 TWENTY PACES PRICE THREE CENTS F01E1 TRYING TO CRACK Ullmiit IMP TRAP Speedy U.S.

Advance Cuts Okinawa in Two Yanks Cross River at Heidelberg 1 DRIVE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE BY TEN DAYS BRITISH RACE TO SEAL OFF NETHERLANDS U. S. First Army Repulses Foe's Attacks At Winterberg, Warburg; Ninth Near Pied Piper City 155 Miles From Berlin; Third Crosses Werra River AMERICAN VAD By The Associated Press PARIS, Tuesday, April 3 American troops again crushed attempts yesterday to break out of the Ruhr, where 110,000 Ha Radian forces to the north German North Sea coast, threatening to seal off another huee 1 i enemy group in the western Netherlands. In the race toward Berlin swift U. S.

Ninth Army columns, V. p. troops and vehicles are ferried across the Neckar River at Heidelberg, Germany, as the Allied advance continues. Part of the old university city of Heidelberg, now in American hands, is in the background (AP wirephoto from Signal Corps radiophoto. Vinson Named War Mobilizer Byrnes STATE IF SIEGE AS IFJSJIEAR Soviet Tanks Battling In Outskirts of South Fortress of Wiener Neustadt, Nazis Say One Russian Unit Reported At Semmering Pass, Only 6d MlieS AWay r-rom riaZI Hideout at Berchtesgaden By The Associated Press LONDON, Tuesday, April 3 Rus sian assault forces, ripping up to miles through enemy fortifications.

smashed within two and a half miles of Bratislava, capital of the puppet Axis state of Slovakia, yesterday while Berlin reported Soviet tanks in the outskirts of Vienna south ern bastion of Wiener Neustadt. Moscow clamped a news blackout on stiitenmg lighting soutn ol Vienna, but enemy broadcasts saidi Soviet storm units had battled with in 20 miles of the Austrian capital and had thrust 32 miles inside Austria to Semmering Pass, one of five great trans-Alpine passes in Europe. Amid reports of rioting, the Nazis ordered a last-ditch defense of Vienna under Sepp Dietrich, commander of Hitler's 5S bodyguard. The city was under a state of siege and Dietrich described the capital as the "bulwark" of southeastern Germany's potential mountain hideout for Nazi leaders. (According to United Press, Berlin reported that the Russians had driven a spearhead to within 132 miles east of Adolf Hitler's Berchtesgaden hideout.) Meanwhile, the last big Hun garian city in enemy hands fell when Marshal Feodor I.

Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian Army took the oil industry center of Nagykanizsa and left only some 750 square miles of Hungarian territory unconquered. More than 10,000 prisoners were taken in the area for a two-day bag of 36,000, Moscow announced. East of Vienna. Marshal Rodion Y. Malinovsky's Second Ukrainian Army plunged unchecked across southern Slovakia on a 72-mile front extending from the north bank of the Danube River to captured Topolchany, in the Nitra River valley 57 miles northeast of Bratislava.

Behind a curtain of fire from self- See RUSSIA Page 8 NAZI STARVATION MARCH FATAL TO 1,000 ALLIES Liberated Prisoners Report One Loaf Of Bread Allowed 8 Men Daily WITH THE U. S. THIRD ARMY, April 2 P) A group of American and British prisoners, liberated when the U. S. 11th Armored Divi sion overran a hospital at Grim- menthal, told today of a forced march across Germany to the vicin ity of the Russian front and back again, during which more than 1,000 of their comrades died.

The prisoners freed included 70 Americans and more than 450 Brit ish. Most of the British prisoners were captured in the ill-starred Arnheim airborne expedition last September. A senior American officer from the West Coast said that deaths on the forced march resulted from the ration allowance of one loaf of bread daily for eight men. Grimmenthal is 50 miles southwest of Weimar and approximately 200 miles from the present Russian lines In Eastern Germany. LEGASPI HARBOR ON 'TAIL' OF LUZON City, Air Fields Taken In Landing Following 10-Day Bombardment Troops Sweep Ashore After Duel Between Destroyers And Jap Shore Batteries By The Associated Press MANILA, Tuesday, April 3 Spear headed by Hanford Mac- Nider's 158th Regimental Combat Team, American doughboys invaded the important harbor of Legaspi on the southeastern "tail" of Luzon Sunday following a spectacular gun duel between destroyers and Jap anese artillery.

A small force of destroyers, des troyer escorts and gunboats was scheduled to begin firing 20 minutes before the landing and after heavy aerial bombing. However, a chal lenge from Japanese artillery pre cioitated the fireworks an hour ahead of time. Flashes from guns on hills back of the beach, which the Japanese had labelled "Little signaled the opening. Planes Silence Guns The enemy fired close to "50 rounds, probably from 3 to 5-inch guns. No ships were hit, but shells fell on each side of the command ship of MacNider and Naval Capt.

H. T. McGee, Jefferson Parish, Newj Orleans, Seventh Amphibious Force commander in charge of the operation. The guns were silenced after Liberators, Lightnings and Thunder bolts joined in the bombardment with bombs. The Doughboys, from the veteran Sixth Army, quickly secured the city of Legaspi, population 45,000.

and nearby air fields, Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur announced in today's communique. The landing, the first on Luzon's east coast, was preceded by effec tive naval and air bombardment, General MacArthur reported. American losses were light The See LEGASPI Page 3 DEATH OF RICH WOMAN CIVIC LEADER MYSTERY Elderly Matron's Body Found in Fire Rains of Raleigh Home RALEIGH, N. April 2 JPy Mrs.

John V. Higham, 71, wealthy Raleigh civic and club leader, was found dead today in her home which was destroyed by fire. Her body was charred and her skull fractured. Coroner Roy M. Banks said the circumstances of her death were "very mysterious He added that she kept a box of valuable jewels in her bedroom where the tire started.

Some of the jewels, he said, were kept by her for servicemen overseas. Mrs. Higham frequently entertained servicemen at her home on week-ends, Coroner Banks! said, adding that she had no guests the past week-end. Banks said an autopsy indicated she died of a fractured skull. An inquest had not been called pending further investigation.

striking far beyond the encircled Ruhr, were nearing or mieht al ready have reached the Weser Riv near the Pied town of Ham din. laa miles from Berlin. A dispatch from Gen. Omar X. Bradley's 12th Army Group headquarters said a total of 350,000 Germans had been captured in.

March, 150.000 of them by the Third Army and 90,000 by the First Army, whose troops yesterday smashed Nazi oreak-out attempts and counter-attacks in the Winterberg and War burg areas. The dispatch added: "The German situation in the West is falling apart so badly that the possibility of an attempt to transfer some division from the East isn't excluded, despite the sorry German situation In the East." Third Crosses Werra Forward elements of the sprinting Ninth Army were moving under a security blackout in the attack toward Berlin, and along the center of the front the U. S. Third Army reached the Werra River on a broad front and crossed that stream near Eisenach. 155 miles southwest of Berlin and 90 miles from Leipzig.

The Third Army now was more than half-way across the waist of Germany, racing toward the Czecho-slovakian frontier about 90 milea away, In an effort to split the Reich and prevent German troops from retreating into the Bavarian Alps. Other Third Army units made new crossing of the Fulda River in this eastward sweep. The American Seventh Army fanned out in sizeable advances to the north, east and west, and the adjacent French First Army at the southern end of the front captured 60 localities in 48 hours, took many prisoners, and widened its brldge- neaa across tne Rhine near Karls ruhe to 25 miles. There still was no indication ot the location and role of the new American 15th Army which was dis closed two days ago to be in action. it is believed it might be engaged in a holding operation.

Blackout Lifted Lifting a five-day security black out on the British Second and Ca nadian First armies, the Alliea disclosed last night that the Ca nadians, attacking in the area between Emmerich and Nijmegen on both sides of the Dutch Rhine, had pushed forward and reached the Enschede-Zutphen Canal. The canal is only 15 miles from th Zuider Zee (Ijssel Meer). Once the Allies reach that coast they will have bisected all enemy forces is Holland. Along the Ruhr's northern rim the 79th and 35th Infantry Divisions captured the industrial city of Recklinghausen, cleared the Die-haard Forest south of Hal tern and pushed east and captured Suder- wich and Berhagen. On the right flank of the Can- dians the British, advancing 25 miles through shattered towns and forests, captured Enschede in Holland, occupied the communications hub of Rheine and plunged close to Osnabrueck.

big industrial city 68 miles from Bremen. In ten days the British had taken 20,000 captives and rolled more than 100 miles beyond the Rhine. The deepest points announced as reached by British armor, infantry and air-bome troops were Lenge-rich, nine miles southwest of Osna- See WEST FRONT Page 4 Yanks Reach Tobara Along East Coast Immediately North Of Nakagusuku Bay Resistance Mounts, But Still Not Strong; Uniformed Women Aid Japs' Defense By The Associated Press GUAM, Tuesday, April 3 Crack troops ol the new Tenth Army's 24th Corps cut the vital island of Okinawa In two yesterday by reaching the Village of Tobara on the east coast almost 10 days ahead of schedule and still finding no sign of strong or organized resistance. At Tobara, the Yanks of John R. Hodge were on the shores of Katsuren Bay, immediately north of the extensive fleet anchorage at Nakagusuku Bay, a major objective of the momentous invasion launched Easter morning.

Yesterday's swift drive by the 24th covered two and a half miles across the eight-mile-wide waist of Okinawa, the strategic Ryukyu Chain island only 325 miles south of the Japanese homeland. The Japanese Dome! news agency reoorteii. totally without connrma. tion, tha Nipponese air and surface units had so far sunk or damaged 14 American shins off Okinawa, in. eluding seven aircraft carriers, five battleships, 12 battleships or cruisers.

18 cruisers, 27 destroyers. 10 large warships of unspecified cate gory. Entire Line. Gains The entire Tenth Army line of rfnuchhovs and Marines showed rains averaging several thousand yards against scattered resistance which front line reports said in cluded uniformed Japanese women. in the extreme north of the Amer lean line, Roy S.

Geigert Third Marine Amphibious Corps pushed forward to the north and east to cut on zampa oape wwuu Juts out prominently at the tip of the seven and one-half-mile long Invasion beach. While many units walked ahead with amazingly little opposition for such a vital stronghold, troops in the center of the island encountered rugged terrain and increased enemy activity. Think Foe in Hills This was taken as an indication that the Japanese as usual were holed up in caves and commanding any high ground they could hold. There still was no disposition to change the original estimate that the Japanese have 60,000 to 100,000 troops on the 65mile-long island. Some officers expressed the belief the Japanese expected landings on the southern end, around the important town of Naha, when the Kerama Isiands offshore were taken a few days earlier and concentrated their defenses there.

Whatever the reason, it appeared that Simon Bolivar Buckner, newly-formed Tenth Army had achieved one of the greatest coups of the war against Japan. Air Fields in Use Admiral Chester Nimitz said in his communique today that American observation planes already were operating off two of the main captured air lieias liatena ana i on. Jananese Dlanes attacked Yank See OKINAWA Page BURNING SHIP STRIPPED OF EXPLOSIVES BY CREW Entire Load Removed From Hand To Hand Before Bla-e Put Out NEW YORK. April 2 JP Form-ine a human Conveyor belt from the hold of their burning American LST (landing snip tanks) to the pier to which the craft was tied, crew mem bers today removed from hand to hand, thousands of rounds of antiaircraft shells and depth charges that lay in the path of the blaze. The boat was tied up at Pier 42.

North River, at Morton and West Streets when a watchman on the upper deck discovered the fire. sailors, on command, swung into the unloading job as quickly and as effectively as an LST hitting any beach during an Invasion. Dripping wet was some of the last ammunition for the hold and magazines were flooded as added precaution against explosion. All of it. however, had been removed before the fire was extinguished an hour after it was discov ered sn-vVc tnm-h wi, i gcucmi i luujutiura started the blaze.

FIVE FROM STATE KILLED IN SERVICE, SEVEN WOUNDED R. G. Kern of Milford Dies as Destroyer Goes Down in Atlantic C. J. Rickards, Frankford, Slain in Germany, Buried In Cemetery in Holland Five dead are reported on the lat est casualty list for Delaware, includ ing Robert Gustave Kern, 19, of Milford, who went down with the destroyer Warrington sunk oft the Atlantic coast last September.

The other dead include: Private Clarence J. Rickards. 20, Frankford, Feb. 25 in Germany. Private Ralph O.

Patterson, 19, Dover, Feb. 28 on Iwo una. Pfc. William Edgar Paskins, Jr, 35. Camden.

Feb. 24 in Italy. Sfrgt. Wood row W. Gravenor, 23, 109 East Cleveland Avenue, Newark, died from wounds Dec.

29 in France. Also on the list of casualties are seven men wounded and one a Nazi prisoner. The wounded are: Corp. Albert W. Berry, 22, 1628 Lancaster Avenue, March 15 in Germany.

Pfc. Cullen Edwards, 19, Newark, in March in Germany. Private Norvel C. Meadows, 18, Newark, March 3 in Germany. Sergt.

William David Baird, 22, Marshallton, March 4 in Germany. Pfc. Joseph G. Startt, 21, Middle-town. March 5 in Germany.

Pfc. Paul E. Vible. 24, 2526 Thatcher Street, Feb. 16 in Germany.

Private David J. Williams, Jr, 21, Wyoming, Feb. 14 in Germany. Pfc. Simon Bogdnoff, 20, formerly of Dover, in March in the European theatre.

The Nazi prisoner is Pfc. James Coco. 1302 West Second Street. Kern, a fireman first class in the See CASUALTIES Page I POLIO OUTBREAK IN SOUTH FT. McCLELLAN.

April 2 UP) An outbreak of poliomyelitis which has cost the lives of two soldiers and hospitalization of 11 others here was reported today by the post pub lic relations office, but the an. nouncement said the danger peak apparently had been reached. in at least one case, with a touring car. One of the unknown number of individual conducting their own col lections yesterday was discovered by oiiiciais. after his truck had deliv.

ered and sold a load of 5,900 pounds or paper removed from the curbs The two collectors on the trutfk turned over their receipts to the city and the purchaser agreed to credit the city with that amount. It is in cluded in the 60-ton figure. Officials said they are unlikely to discover how much other paper was removed from the curbs since the persons who took it will probably er 11 MORE STOPS FOR AIR PICK-UP IN SM SOUGH! 15 Communities Would Be Served in Delaware, 203 in U. Sender Plan Application to be Filed This Week by All American Aviation With the CAB Ten new air pick-up routes in eight Middle Atlantic States, including 11 new stops in Delaware will be sought by All American Aviation this week in an application which the company will file with the Civil Aeronautics Board in The proposed system was announced yesterday by Halsey R. Bazley, president.

The new route will revise the present Pittsburgh Wilmington Washington run which provides for one southbound plane and one northbound per day picking up mail in Wilmington. At present this is the only stop in Delaware: Under the proposed system, 15 Delaware communities will be served, although only 11 stops will be made. An arrangement of co-stations with messengers making trips to a central point enables -several communi ties to be served by one stop. For instance Claymont and Marcus Hook would use the Chester stop. Other local points which will be served by this new route are Wilmington, New Castle, Newark, Middletown, Smyrna (with Clayton as a co-station).

Dover, Harrington, Milford. Georgetown, Rehoboth Beach (with Lewes as a co-station), and Seaford (with Laurel as a co-station). Combination passenger and pickup service will be asked over some of the new routes where the poten tial traffic appears to justify such an operation, Mr. Bazley said. The proposed system will cover 203 cities and towns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia.

Virginia, See AIR PICK-UP Page 3 at the Azores, Newfoundland and LaGuardia Field before reaching New Castle. Her cargo was wounded men, flown back under the air evac- uation system used to speed severely wounded soldiers to proper hospital care. The new record is two hours faster than the old and is six hours and 10 minutes better than the scheduled time for the run of 64 hours and 15 minutes. The turnover" at Paris lasted only four hours, also a rec -l, see boimj-ikit rage is to Succeed ON 17 MEASURES Only 98 Bills Passed Out of 665 Presented During 110th Session Family Court, River Crossing, Pension for State Workers are Still Awaiting By Staff Correspondent DOVER. April 2 A total of 407 bills, either still in committee or reported out of committee, clutters the Senate and House calendars with only six more legislative days, beginning tomorrow, remaining in which to complete the business of the 110th General Assembly, The number includes 220 House measures, 92 of them reported out by the committees to which they were assigned, and 178 Senate bills, 61 of which have been reported out of committee.

In addition, 40 passed Senate bills still require House action, with 24 of reported out by House committees, and 62 passed House bills are on the Senate calendar, with 37 reported out by Senate committees. The House has passed 122 House proposals, of which the Senate has concurred in 47, while 51 of 103 Senate bills passed by the Senate have been concurred in by the House. Forty-six of the House meas ures and 54 of the Senate measures have already been signed by Gov. Walter W. Bacon, a total of 80.

Eighteen House and 21 Senate measures have been stricken from the calendar. 127 in Skeleton Form Of the 229 House measures which still await passage, defeat, or withdrawal, 60 remain in skeleton form, and of the 178 Senate measures not yet acted upon, 67 are skeletons. The total number of bills intro duced in.the House was 368, and in the Senate, 297, a total of 665, which is the largest number for the past several assemblies. Only one bill which requires more than a majority to pass has been called up for passage, and it was passed in the Senate with the support of the minority side. The Democratic legislators have made it See LEGISLATURE Page FIRST WEATHER REPORT OF WAR GIVEN BRITONS Broadcast Warns Gardeners Of Frost; Last Forecast in 39 LONDON, April 2 (INS) British radio listeners had their first weath er forecast of the war today when a news broadcast warned market gard.

eners that a ground frost was ex- pected. The last weather forecast was i oroaocasi on Aug. ji, 1M8, ana described the nf7ir.ini rnirlnnk i unsettled. MY REMAIN FOR ACTION ii President's A t- ance of Resignation Taken, as Sign He Thinks V-E Day Near By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, April 2 President Roosevelt today accepted the resignation of War Mobilizer James i Byrnes and thereby gave the broadest official hint to date that Germany is as good as beaten. By agreement reached months ago.

Byrnes was to stay until the Euro pean end of the global war Job was done. Fred M. Vinson, federal loan administrator, was chosen to succeed him as director of the office of war mobilization and reconversion. Byrnes had agreed last November to stick to his post as Mr. Roosevelt then stated "until the elimina--tion of Germany from die war." The 65-year-old "assistant presi dent" submitted his resignation on the day American troops surged across the Rhine in strength, telling the President he felt V-E Day "is not far distant." The President held the resignation while Allied armies fanned swiftly over the Reich and then, in apparent agreement that Germany could now be regarded as virtually eliminated, released the former senator and supreme court justice with "heartfelt regret." Vinson Popular The choice of Vinson to steer the country through the delicate period of waging full-scale war against Japan even while partly dismantling the war machine had been predicted since Byrnes' first attempt to quit the government last October.

There was no Immediate word as to who would succeed Vinson as Fed eral Loan Administrator. Republican and Democratic legislators agreed, however, that Vinson would not re tain his old, as well as his new job. No man could hold both jobs unless Congress passed special legislation to enable him to do so, in the view of Senator Barkley and of See BYRNES Page DOGS SAVE INFANT FROM DEADLY SNAKE Animals Attacking Reptile Bitten Bat They Will Recover MONTGOMERY. Ala, April 2 (JP) Two dogs which were bitten by a copperhead snake after they attacked it only a few inches from the spot where an 18-month -old boy was playing were credited by their master today with saving his son from possible death. The child, Donald Kocour, escaped without injury but both dogs, Jet and Jeep, were treated by a veter inarian.

The boy's father, E. J. Kocour, an army medical officer stationed at Maxwell Field, said the child walking toward the rep tile in the back yard of his home when the dogs spied it. The father tried to get to his son but the dogs were first. After biting both Jet and Jeep in the face, the snake escaped under a fence.

Colonel Kocour related. He la enui lea me repiue as a copper- i head Veterinarian G. J. Phelns said 'Dotn aogs wouia recover. 'HIJACKERS' REDUCE PAPER COLLECTION TO 60 TONS 58-HOUR ROUND TRIP HOP TO PARIS NEW RECORD One of Unknown Number of Persons Taking Second Ferrying Group Pilots Spend 19 Bundles From Curbs Forced to Turn Over Receipts for 5,900 Pounds Hours, 29 Minutes Per Day in Air, 11 Hours, 20 Minutes on Ground A new record of 58 hours and five I minutes for a round-trip on the Wil-1 mington -Paris leg of the Second! Ferrying Group's Crescent Caravan was set last week, it was disclosed yesterday at the New Castle Army Air Base after statistics of the flight, made in a C-54, had been recorded and carefully checked.

The ship, carrying plasma and other important cargo destined for the Western Front, left the Air Base at 8:20 a. Saturday, March 24. Index of the News Fagea Amusements 15 Births 4 Classified 18-19 Comics 16 Deaths 4 Editorials 6 Ernie Pyle Financial 17 Marquis Chllds Obituaries 4 Peter Edson Radio 12 Society News 13 Sports 14-15 State Newt 8- With the Service Men Woman's Page The city trucks collected 60 tons of paper yesterday in the city-spon sored monthly paper collection,) while a variety of other unidentified trucks "hijacked" an unknown quan-tioy of paper from the curbs, where it had been put out for the city drive. The small collection, far below the 146 tons rounded up in last month's campaign, was attributed to the the Easter School holiday, and the rainy weather. The "hijackers" were children.

liiyoucjis, pnvaie scrap paper couec- tors and other entmrtsirs inrtivirf. juiis, some equipped with trucks and Stops on the way to Paris mcludedjord. and made it the lauuaion ictu, dchuuu, Azores. Returning, the ship came to earth See PAPER Pape 7.