The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • 1

LOCAL WEATHER i TMBUXE WANT AC sell or rent it quicker. They Not much change in temperature this afternoon and tonight. cr this territory thoroughly 1 10 words aaj 4 Member of the 'Audit Bureau of Circulations Full News Report of the Associated Press V0LIBIE XXXVII, NUMBER 338 PRICE FIVE CENTS HOME EDITION twelve pages LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 20, 1942 oJ) SLIDES JL 33.113 Ji" x1l1ESLCjiS. ilLlui Allies Attack 40 Planes In Rabaul Raids iA it it it nn ri 5 Tf As Supreme am a iviay nave escaped iou Commander In Pacific ar Zone, Begins To Map Strategy Tokyo Has First Air Raid War 'Crime' Laval Tells Countrymen Vichy, Unoccupied France -() Pierre Laval, new pro-Axis chief of the French government, told the French people today that declaration of war against Germany was a "crime," that Britain, "after having left us down in the fight now is treating us as an enemy," and that "rapproache-ment between France and Germany is the condition for peace in Europe." In a broadcast appealing for support, Laval insisted he had "no responsibility whatever in the misfortune which has befallen us." urged the farmers to "till their soil with the same passion as you would use to defend it," and told workers "you have nothing to fear, but everything to hope, from the regime which is being born. This war carries in itself the veritable germs of revolution." He promised to "do everything (Turn to Page 2) v.

-it's By C. YATES MCDANIEL S. Army Headquarters, Australia Allied airmen rac-- through tropical rainstorms in Le of their attacks, were reported today to have destroyed 40 Japanese bombing and fighting planes on the ground in two raids on Ra- fcWhile these continuing attacks indicated American and Australian determination to press Japanese in their outer rim bases and ccrhaps force them to relax their grip, Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur's neVhigh command in the southwest Pacific bagin a swift mapping of plans to carry out instructions to prepare an offensive. As sn initial step, Prime Minister John Curtin met with Mac-Arthur and other Allied service chiefs in a conference on a "highly confidential" subject.

The attacks on Rabaul in New Britain were made Saturday and Sunday. Thousands of pounds of high explosive were said to have been dropped on Lakunai airdrome Saturday, wrecking runways, blasting to pieces at least four navy zero fighters with direct hits and wrecking many others with flying steel. Moored Planes Set Afire Moored flying boats were set on fire by another wave of raiders, Chinese Army Retakes To ivn In West Burma Chungking (IP) Chinese troops which swooped down from the northeast drive recaptured Yenangyuange, in the heart of the west Burma oilfields, after two days of bitter fighting, and have released a British force of several thousand men from encirclement by the Japanese, a Chinese communique said today. (The British announced yesterday that "Chinese forces are now operating with our troops on the Irrawaddy front" where the Yen-angyuang oil fields wrere destroyed last week before the Japanese could fight their way into that area.) The Chinese headquarters said the troops which won back Yen-angyuang attacked from Kryaupa-daung, 30 miles to the northeast. Japanese casualties in the ensuing fight were more than 500, the communique reported.

Chinese losses were placed at more than 100. (London military sources said the Chinese attack probably would have little effect on the general military situation in Burma which they described as "no better, no worse." Fighting: Continues (These quarters said it was improbable that "several thousand British troops" had been freed from Japanese encirclement, as the Chungking communique reported, because there was little likelihood the British would be garrisoning the demolished oil fields, ideal targets for artillery fire, with several hundreds troops, let alone several thousand. (A military spokesman in London, without giving any details of the battle along the Irrawaddy, said that fighting continued heavy and that British forces at Taung-dwingyi, midway between the Irrawaddy and the Salween, were holding their positions guarding the flank of Chinese troops to the east.) The Chinese acknowledged yesterday that their advanced forces on that flank had been forced to withdraw from Myohla some 20 miles north of the vicinity of Ela. It is 10 miles south of the important town of Pyinmana on the Rangoon road to Mandalay. RAF Smashes Airfield New Delhi, India.

(IP) Royal Air Force planes, in a counter- F. R. To Outline Views On Labor Poliey Next Week Congress Postpones Its Consideration Of Bill Until President Talks Washington (JF) Informed that President Roosevelt intends to outline general national policies for controlling the cost of living in a message to congress and a subsequent radio talk Monday night, the senate today postponed until April 28 consideration of restrictive labor legislation. Senator Connally (D-Tex) obtained unanimous consent for the delay after telling his colleagues that President Roosevelt personally had requested him not to press a motion to take up a bill authorizing the government to take over strike-bound war plants. "The president has authorized me to say that he made this request and that he expects to send a message to the congress relating the establishment of a general national policy regarding the cost of living and all factors relating thereto, including labor," Connally said.

The president's message, which may be sent to the senate and house Monday afternoon preceding the radio talk, was expected to deal in general terms with methods of controlling the rising cost of living. Some congress members said they doubted that specific legislatice proposals would be advanced at this time, however. Before the senate convened, congressional leaders announced 4Xt4tiS lTrh i while a Heavy attacK unaay at least one Japanese ship in Rabaul harbor was reported damaged by bomb blasts. Air Minister Arthur S. Drake-ford said it was "cheering news numbers of the latest American aircraft will be added to the powers of attack" of the RAAF.

"Australia's hitting power in the air is growing steadily heavier," he added. Curton, who met with McAr-thur and other Allied service chiefs in the first of a series of conferences which the Australian government hoped would enable it to meet the requirements of the armed forces with a minimum of delay. Curtin, who said his government had joined with the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand and the Netherlands in granting MacArthur a charter as supreme commander "in this vital war thee-er, attended the conference in his cenrrole as defense Informed quarters said the defense portfolio had been created by the Australian war cabinet to eliminate red tape and provide a channel through which the Allied command could swiftly advise the government of its needs. Reaffirms Good Will This is the heart of Japan the main business section of Tokyo as it looks 1o an airplane pilot. In lower foreground is a canal and bridges.

Just beyond it is a railroad line. Beyond this are many important buildings. Tokyo has reported its first air raid. Report Soviet Artillery Within Smolensk Range Report New Riots At Rouen, France Order 30 Hostages To (By the AssociateaTTWST" Mrs, Jule Freas Dies In Hospital Wife Of Bodega" Lunch Club Head Suffered Lingering Illness Mrs. Jule Freas, 61, of 114 Lo- Be Shot Following Soviet long-range artillery was reported today to be drawn up within range of Smolensk, 230 miles west of Moscow.

Furious new Russian attacks were reported launched along the Volkhov river front south of Leningrad and against the Finns on the Svir river, between Lakes Ladoga and Onega. The Germans were reported throwing all the available might of their air force into support of counter-attacks to prevent the Red army from gaining a solid foothold west of the Volkhov before the ice melts and the stream becomes a great barrier protecting the flank and rear offensive against Japanese posi1 of the German siege forces before the old czarist capital, Speculation Is Still Rife On Bombing Raid Axis Broadcasts Would Indicate That Damage Was Heavy, New Type Of Craft Took Part (By the Associated Press) Japan broadcast a new version today of bombing raids Saturday on Tokyo and three other great cities, implying that the assault was launched from three United States aircraft carriers in the Pacific and that some of the planes raced on to safety in China after loosing their bombs. Tokyo imperial headquarters Issued this announcement: "A hostile navy unit centering around three aircraft carriers ap- peared April 18 at a distant point off the eastern coast of Japan proper but, fearing Japanese counterattack, fled without approaching Japanese shores. "On the same day approximately 10 enemy aircraft of the northern American B-25 type appeared over Tokyo and other areas, flying singly or in pairs. "Hostile planes which managed to escape being downed appear to have escaped to China.

"Damage caused was extremely light." The world still was dependent on apanese accounts or other Axis versions originating in Japan fcr news of what occurred Saturday, when the Japanese declared that planes bearing the insignia of the United States air force bombed Tokyo, the capital; Yokohama and Bobe, the two chief ports, and Nu-goya, Japan's third city and center of aircraft production. There was no word of such a raid from Washington or any other United Nations capital. As if to support the Tokyo thesis of a carrier-based attack with the raiders continuing on to a' Reuters from Chungking said the United States planes which struck home at Japan had arrived safely at their destination. The dispatch gave no details as to this destination. The North American Aviation Incorporated's B-25 is a twin-engine medium bomber with a top speed of more than 300 miles an hour and a cruising range of 2,650 miles.

Aleutians May Be Base However, either the Japanese identification of the raiding planes or the implication that they were carrier-launched seemed in error. The B-25, an army plane, is too heavy for carrier use. Navy carrier-borne bombers are single engine planes which are lighter and can take off from a shorter runway than the B-25 would require. Either the B-25 or new longer range navy single engine bombers would have sufficient range, however, to strike from several hundred miles east of Japan and still be able to speed on 1,400 miles southwest of Tokyo to the Lishui section of southeast Chekiang province. In London, the possibility that the American bombers raided Japan from advanced bases in the Aleutian islands and then flew on to China continued to be discussed widely.

This would require a range of about 4,000 miles. The new announcement from imperial headquarters made no reference to claims previously broadcast by the Tokyo radio that nine attacking planes were shot down. Despite the official assertion that raid damage was "extremely light" other Axis broadcasts suggested that industry and transport vital to the war effort had suffered and that there had been numerous casualties. Claim Raider Forced Down The Berlin radio told of government grants to rebuild factories and other structures in the Tokyo area; and Domei, the Japanese news agency, reported a meeting of five ministers to discuss raid destruction and control of "baseless rumors" suggesting that public reaction was not all the government desires. One broadcast recorded by CBS said that one of the raiders was forced to land in mountainous central Japan because of engine trouble, that its crew of five had been captured and were under close examination.

Still another version was offered in the Italian press: The newspaper La Gazzetta Del Popolo of Turin expressed belief that the raiders started from bases in Soviet Russia secretly ceded to the United States. That, of course, would be no solace to Japan. Neither was there comfort for Japan in the United States' unbroken silence on the attacks, still concealing their origin, and her jittery weekend indicated how insecure she felt about the possibility of a return visit to her capital and great ports and industrial centers. Two Alarms Yesterday Twice yesterday air raid alarms put central Japan, including im-periol Tokyo itself, on the alert, each time for about two hours once in darkness starting at 2 a. m.

and again in daylight at 1 p. m. These may have been precau- tions in Burma, smashed at an airfield at Bassein in the Irrawaddy delta and machine-gunned motor launches in the Bassein river and small barges in GWA bay, an air communiques aid today. A schooner at a Sandoway and another in Andrew bay also were attacked with machine guns, the communique said. Casualties and damage were done to the barges in GWA bay, on the west coast about 50 miles north of Bassein.

Sandoway is about 75 miles north of GWA bay. sey boulevard north, wife of the president of the Bodega Lunch club, passed away at a local hospital this morning after a lingering illness. The former Theresa Olson was born in Viroqua on Nov. 20, 1880, coming to La Crosse in 1893. She and Mr.

Freas were married in June, 1915. They had no children. She is survived by her husband; her father, Andrew Olson of La Crosse; and one sister, Mrs. Cora Tuttle of La Crosse. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2:30 p.

m. at the English Lutheran church of the Holy Trinity, 16th and Cass streets, the Rev. H. N. Stof fel officiating.

Interment will be in Oak Grove cemetery. Friends may call at the Dwyer funeral home tomorrow evening and Wednesday morning. that Mr. Roosevelt would set forth his views on necessary anti-inflation measures in a message to the lawmakers in a week or 10 days. House Majority Leader McCor-mack said this message probably would be followed shortly by a fireside radio address on the same subject.

One of the aspects of this problem which has been causing particular concern is the issue of wage controls uncompromisingly opposed by organized labor. This fight by labor to prevent injection of wage freezing or stabilization into the overall anti-inflation campaign was making itself felt in delaying a congressional show down on restrictive labor legislation. Credit Raids Train Bombing Vichy (IP) German occupation authorities at Rouen have ordered the execution of 30 French hostages for bombing of a German troop train in which a "large number" of Nazi soldiers were killed, it was announced officially today. Eighty more hostages will be shot if those guilty of attacking the train are not turned over for punishment by April 83, a German notice said. In addition, 1,000 "communists, Jews and sympathizers" were ordered deported to eastern Europe.

From now on, the Germans instructed, a number of French civilians will be forced to accompany German soldiers on all troop trains to assure ths latters' safety. The French popular party also announced today that an attempt had been made last night to assassinate Jacques Doriot, its collaborationist leader, during a speaking engagement at the municipal theater Rennes, in Brittany. A bomb hurled from the balcony of the theater lander in front of the stage while Doriot was finishing his lecture. A woman picked it up and tossed it into the orchestra pit where it exploded without injuring anyone. (Only last week, the Germans announced the execution of .35 hostages in the Calais region for railroad sabotage and attacks on German soldiers which they said had happened March 25.) DIES IN COLLISION Pewaukee, Wis.

(IP) Lee Mason Peace, 55, of Madison, was killed Saturday night when his automobile struck a Milwaukee road passenger train here. The car was dragged 180 feet, Waukesha county deputy sheriffs One-Tenth Income Sought Washington (IP) Every American who receives an income, will be urged to invest at least 10 per cent of it in war bonds or stamps. Treasury Secretary Mor-genthau, announcing ha quotas would be set for each of the nation's 3,070 counties beginning May 1, said "Ten per cent of every company payroll is the minium war bond goal." Bond sales, which soared to $1,000,000,000 in January. -have dropped off recently to about $500,000,000 a month. The treasury said the quotas would be "revised and stepped-up" in the months after May, and that it was the plan to reach every person in the United States who received income of any sort though it is recognized that "some people, because of family circumstances, cannot afford to save 10 per cent of their income, while other persons can afford an even higher percentage." i WAUKESHA PLANT RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER FIRE Waukesha, Wis.

(IP) Operations at the General Malleable Corp. were resumed today following a fire which damaged the plant's south annex Saturday, according to President L. p. Hark-rider. Damage was estimated at $15,000 by the Waukesha fire Mystery Surrounds Death In Milwaukee Milwaukee CP) Police today sought the identity of the person who telephoned Vere Lark-worthy, 48, -war veteran and a resident at Soldiers Home, less than two hours before he was found fatally wounded behind a west Wisconsin avenue auto salesroom.

Detectives said a bullet had been fired through his head, apparently at close range. No gun was found in the vicinity and authorities said a post mortem indicated the wound could not have been self-inflicted. The injured man was found by two girls. He died four hours later without regaining consciousness. Adolph Kraemer, captain of detectives, said that an hour and a half before he was found Larkworthy had received a phone call at Soldiers Home, presumably summoning him to meet A brother, Lloyd, of Milwaukee, said the slain man had been married in Dubuque, about a year ago.

During the conference, they said, Curtin reaffirmed in more personal terms assurances of his government's good will and support which he formally conveyed to MacArthur from Canberra yesterday. The prime minister himself hailed the agreement formalizing Mac-Arthur's appointment as "a momentous occasion." Curtin disclosed MacArthur had been instructed specifically to prepare to assume the offensive; and declared the hero of the Philippines tad come to Australia "to lead a crusade, the result of which means everything to the future of the world and mankind." As though to emphasize Curtin's statement, it wa.s announced that Allied warplanes had carried out another heavy raid yesterday on fte Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain, damaging at least one ship in the harbor and returning safety despite sharp fighter opposition. May Abandon Bases (The London radio last night quoted the Australian broadcasting commission's correspondent with the Allied air offensive may soon force the enemy to abandon his Jir bases at Lae and Salamaua in ew Announcement of the agreement formalizing MacArthur 's appointment as commander in chief in the southwest Pacific, effective as of K.aturday midnight, was issued from his headquarters yesterday, "did not specifically mention New Zealand as a party to the agreement but Curtin subsequently included New Zealand with the participants in a letter to MacArthur voicing confidence in his leadership. MacArthur's statement said that, subject to his supreme authority, Gen. Sir Thomas Blarney of the Australian army had been nam- Commander of all Allied land toces, while Lieut.

Gen. George H. jjrett and Vice Admiral Herbert Leary both Americans had oeen designated to command the Allied air and naval forces respectively. Mai. Gen.

Julian F. Barnes, U. will command all United army forces in Australia. Gen. Jonathan M.

Wain-right, commander of U. S. forces the Philippines, also will receive orders from MacArthur. Abe Simon Retires To New B-25 Washington (IP) A new medium bomber described by American airmen as one of the world's fastest and most deadly was credited by the Japanese today with raiding Tokyo and other industrial centers of Japan. The army's B-25, -which Japanese imperial headquarters said was employed, has been declared officially to "be superior to any foreign medium bomber" in range, speed and load-carrying capacity.

The comparable B-26 is rated even higher in top speed and air officials have referred to it repeatedly as "the fastest bomber of its class in the world." Both are in mass production for both the army and forces of other United Nations. Both are metal-monoplanes of about 13 tons, each is powered by two air-cooled radial engines, and each carries a crew of five men and full radio -and navigation equipment. There actual range is a military secret along with the answer to the question whether either can operate from an aircraft carrier as implied by the Japanese. The B-25 bombers are built by North American Aviation, Inc. The B-26, product of the Martin company has won plaudits of Britain's royal air force.

The Russians claimed to have advanced two miles against the Finns at one point after battering down new defense works. The Russians and Germans both were silent about the precise situation in the Smolensk region, but Reuters dispatches said Gen. Gregory Zhukov's troops were advancing from the northeast and were within 18 miles of the city. The reports possibly referred to that section in which the Berlin radio said a reinforced Russian division had managed to penetrate between two German advanced points. The Germans claimed the line was "straightened out later" Globe Minus America! Berlin (From German I broadcasts) (IP) Adolf Hitler spent his 53rd birthday at his headquarters "in immedi-t ate charge of war operations," dispatches said today.

The only difference in the routine was a slightly more elaborate luncheon with Field Marshal Goering, Admiral Raeder, Air Field Marshal Erhard Milch and Col-Gen. Franz Haider, chief of the general staff, as his guests. (The Berlin correspondent of the Swedish newspaper Tinningen reported that Hitler received, as a birthday gift, a globe of the world on which America and the western hemisphere do not appear. (The globe is believed to be the oldest in existence dating from about 1350. The donor was not disclosed.) despite difficulties of fighting in mud.

Little Time Remains The Red army appeared to have little time remaining to take full advantage of ice crossings on the northern front. Kuibyshev dispatches said that the thaw was now general throughout central Russia and that ice was breaking along the headwaters of the Volga and other rivers in the Kalinin area northwest of Moscow. Adolf Hitler, observing his 53rd birthday at eastern front headquarters, was reported by the Russians today to be trying to put the old blitz back into the air war with attacks by as many as 50 planes. against single secret objectives. The signs were that he had marshaled the bulk of his air force on that front, at the expense of his air strength in western Europe.

Poor visibility over the continent last night, however, caused a pause in the British offensive in the west. Small RAF fighter forces swept over northern France yesterday without opposition and the best the Germans could muster today against Britain a three-plane strafing and bombing of a train and a south coast town. Three persons were killed and several injured. German bombers ranged the Three Resolutions Of GOP Policy KENOSHAN FATALLY HURT Kenosha, Wis. (IP) Mrs.

Tillie Bennett, 60, died yesterday of injuries suffered Saturday when struck by a hit and run driver. Warden Elections To Be Wednesday Election Wednesday! Where? In the block in which you live. Why? To select a senior air raid warden for your block. Every adult in the block should be at the old-fashioned caucus. Man or woman, the senior air raid warden of your block must be a person qualified to act as a leader.

He must know the people in the block, utility cut-offs, points of danger, points of safety. Don't forget, Wednesday at 7:30 p. m. Blast Rocks Explosive Plant, Two Are Killed Hanover, Mass. (IP) An explosion at the National Fireworks company plant in Hanover, now engaged in production of explosives for the government, was reported to have cost the lives of two men today.

One man, critically hurt, was rushed to the Brockton hospital after the blast. At the plant, inquirers were informed that at least two men were known to be dead, and that the toll might be higher. The factory, employing several thousand workers, consists of small buildings spread over a wide area. Presented As Party Leaders Meet Japs Open Intense New Attacks Against Fortress Of Corregidor From Ring For Keeps drew criticism from Sinclair Weeks, Massachusetts committeeman and party treasurer. "This is a chance above all others for the Republican party to take a clear-cut positive position on the great issues which face this country," eeks said in a statement.

"I have seen the Brooks and Taft resolutions and do not consider them in any degree adequate from this standpoint. I am also informed that Senator Taft said he did not propose to go further in his declaration than to declare for a vigorous prosecution of the war. "This attitude does not suffice to cover the proper presentation of the issues which confront Brooks' resolution was not made public, but the only postwar reference in copies of the Taft resolution was for the restoration of all rights and freedoms surrendered to the administration during the conflict. Chairman Martin said the GOP party's pledge to the president of full support and cooperation in the war effort would be kept "regardless of the provocations that may arise," but added ''there never was a greater need for the Republican party than in this, critical hour," Cnicago (Mr) A seven-man resolutions committee representing viewpoints of three Republican leaders on the party's stand on the war was appointed today by Chairman Joseph W. Martin, as the GOP national committee moved toward a showdown on the issue.

The resolutions committee included: Walter S. Hallahan, Charleston, W. who read a statement of policy submitted by Wendell Willkie, the party's presidential standard bearer in 1940, who proposed to repudiate "the doctrines of isolationism." David S. Ingalls, Cleveland, representing Senator RoDert A. Taft of Ohio who advocated "unqualified and aggressive support to the president in the prosecution of the war." Werner W.

Schroeder, Chicago, who read a resolution by Senator C. Wayland Brooks of Illinois who urged the party to pledge its "lives and resources to the efficient, complete and final winning of the war for America." The three resolutions were referred by Martin to the resolutions committee. The Taft and Brooks resolutions. New York (IP) An ailing back, nich bothered him off and on three years, today forced Abe ajtion, the New York Giant who fought Joe Louis, to retire um the ring for keeps. hP annunced his decision after h'm PhiliP Goodheart had given aoV examination and Am i him to nang UP his loves-roi.

At)e's retirement can-Hlgts he had scheduled with JLarnr Bobo in Pittsburgh April 2i' Novo in Washington May Ansfi 1rkey Thompson in Los hay 8 June. He also was to Oaki.W in Sa" Francisco and aaSSJ' alif-. this summer, his naSer, Jimmy Johnston, said. munique reported, and breaking up three motor truck and troop concentrations on Bataan. Five dive bombing raids were made on Corregidor and in addition Japanese light bombers attacked Corregidor and Four Hughes several times from high altitudes.

On bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire, the department reported. Meanwhile near Zaroanga, on the island of Mindanao more than 500 miles to the south, an American-Filipino patrol ambushed two bus loads of Japanese troops and influcted numerous casualties. The three enemy batteries silenced by the fort's guns were in addition, officials said, to at least four and possibly five which it was announced yesterday had been put out of action in the past few days. Bombing attacks on the besieged island forts have been confined thus far to high altitude level bombing, officials noted. The dive bombers operated on the Bataan peninsula before defenses there were overcome, they were particularly deadly, after anti-aircraft defenses had been reduced.

Washington (IP) Opening of an intense Japanese effort to batter the Philippine island fortress of Corregidor into helplessness by bombs and siege guns was reported today by the war department. From new positions on the Bataan peninsula and from the south shore of Manila bay the foe began an intense artillery bombardment yesterday, and for the first time since the fall of Bataan dive bombing raids were made on Corregidor. Defending gunners replied effectively to the new attack, silencing at least three batteries, a com 1 to Page 21.