WEATHER
Occasional light drizzles this morn
ing followed by cloudy weather
with little change in temperature
this afternoon tonight and Sun
day; cooler in mountains tonight.
Tshe Hhelby Bnily steu
I - State Theatre Today -
“DESTINY”
Starring
ALAN CURTIS & GLORIA JEAN
NEWS—MUSICAL—CARTOON
CLEVELAND COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1894
TELEPHONES 1100
VOL. XLIII—18
ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS
SHELBY, N. C.
SATURDAY, JAN. 20, 1945
TELEMAT PICTURES
SINGLE COPIES—5c J
British Troops Cross
Maas Unopposed; Nazis
7 Miles From Strasbourg
PARIS, Jan. 20.—(/P)—Three successive German at
tacks from the center of *’ cross-Rhine corridor have
smashed the Seventh A. defense line back almost
five miles into the village of Weyersheim, 8 1-2 miles
above Strasbourg.
PARIS, Jan. 20.—(fP)—British troops jumped the Maas
(Meuse) river below Roermond unopposed last night, widen
ing the Second Army’s push in the Dutch panhandle which
is forcing the Germans back on the Roer river line 38 miles
west of Dusseldorf.
At the southern end of the western front, Americans
fought up to 10,000 Germans linked in a solid bridgehead
over the Rhine at one point only seven miles above Stras
bourg.
Just below the British opera
tions, U. S. First and Third Army
troops drove in upon St. Vith,
highway stronghold in the dimin
ishing Belgian bulge, and advanced
north of captured Dlekirch, 30
miles to the south in Luxembourg.
'British assault troops cross
ing the Maas by boat seised
} Stevensweert without opposi
tion. The crossing added, about
i two miles to the seven-mile
assault arc of white-camou
flaged tanks and troops bulg
ing into German lines within
eight to 10 miles of the Roer
river.
Although Stevensweert had been
abandoned, it was still too early
to tell whether the enemy was be
ginning a general withdrawal
from the tip of his salient between
Roermond and Geilenkirchen in
Germany, a front dispatch said.
British troops advanced up to 1,500
yards in mop-up operations, and
pushed beyond Hongen, a mile from
the German-Dutch frontier.
Farther north, German para
chute troop* seised * 'Zetten, six
miles north of Nijmegen and four
miles below Arnhem, but Allied
counterattacks drove them back
in night street fighting.
The Germans apparently were
See BRITISH Page 2
Half Of Canadiar
Overseas Unit AAV OL
Group Drafted For Foreign Service Loses Many Just
Before Embarkation
OTTAWA, Jan. 20.—(/P)—Half of a group of 15,600 Ca
nadian home defense soldiers drafted for overseas service
went absent without leave before embarkation, and 6,300
are still at large, defense minister A. G. L. McNaughton dis
GERMANS IKY
INFILTRATION
Ground Action Relatively
Quiet; Airmen Up De
spite Weather
) ROME, Jan. 20——'The Ger
mans have attempted infiltration
tactics with small groups at a
number of places on the east bank
of the Senio river on the Adriatic
sector of the Italian battlefront,
Allied headquarters said today.
Yesterday It was announced
that a German bridgehead on the
river's east bank in the Fusignano
area on the same sector had been
broken and the Nazis were driven
back to their original positions.
Despite bad weather that groun
ded medium bombers, fighters and
fighter bombers attacked enemy
positions on the Eighth Army
front yesterday.
Thursday night light bombers of
the tactical air force hit enemy
communications in the Po valley,
road and rail traffic.
SHIPPING
Coastal aircraft attacked ship
ping in the northern Adriatic and
Ligurian sea.
The Mediterranean Allied air
forces flew more than 900 sorties,
destroying five enemy aircraft.
Four Allied planes are missing.
Rain and slush slowed down the
Fifth army action to the lowest
point in several days and patrols
reported little contact with the
enemy.
A Nazi patrol raided the area
of Monte Grande, southeast of
Bologna, but was repulsed. South
west of Bologna skirmishes occur
red a mile weBt of Monte Belve
dere, 3,500-foot height dominating
Highway 64, as well as .southwest
of Abetone and just northeast of
Castel Vecchio.
R Field Marshal Albert Kesselring’s
w scouts again penetrated a wood
See GERMANS Page 2
i
closed today.
Some 1,500 of these 7,000 return
ed voluntarily or were aprehended,
he added, and about 500 sailed for
Britain along with the others who
did not take unauthorized leaves.
He said this total of 8,300 con
scrlped men sent overseas was ac
companied by “the full normal
quota of reinforcements"—presum
bly men who had volunteered for
service abroad.
The 6,300 still absent will be
classed as deserters If they do not
return within 21 days. Gen. Mc
Naughton said the troop move
ment began Christmas week. But
the majority of men have not been
classed as deserters yet, he added.
FULL COMPLEMENT
Army authorities anticipated late
arrivals and absentees, the an
nouncement said, and moved en
See CANADIAN Page *
WHAT’S DOING
SUNDAY
'' 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.—UB.O.
center open to service men
visiting In city.
MONDAY
10:00 a.m. — General board
meeting of all pastors and
workers of Kings Mountain As
sociation at First Baptist
church here.
NAZI AGENTS HUNTED — FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover has
sounded a nationwide alert for
three German espionage agents who
are under orders front' the Nazis
to enter the United States. They
are Oscar Max Wilms (top), Max
Christian Johannes Schneemann
(center), and Hans Rudolf Chris
tian Zuehlsdorff (bottom).
AIM® BOMB
RAILS, BRIDGES
LONDON, Jan-. 20—(AV- More
than 760 U. S. Flying Fortresses
with 600 Mustang Escorts hammer
ed rail networks and Rhyne bridg
es supplying the German forces
In Alsace today after a one-day
lapse in heavy bomber air as
saults.
The targets were freight yards
at Heilbronn, north of Stuttgart,
and at Rheine, north of Munster,
and a Rhine highway-rail bridge
at Mannheim.
Poor weather llzfelted tactical
missions of cantineql-based U. S.
Ninth air force planes yesterday
to 199 fighter’'bombed sorties and
28 reconnajLsanca flights, from
which four planes wtf§ lost.
Labor Draft Bill With
Teeth Promised By Monday
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20.—(£>>—'
House Military committeemen pre
dicted today they’ll have an ad
ministration-sought labor draft
bill—armed with prison penalties
for evaders—written and ready for
House consideration Monday.
The bill, asked by the White
House as a means of forcing
men 18 to 48 into war Jobs and
keeping them there, faces stiff
House opposition, however. Or
ganised labor supporters are
against it and some farm
state representatives say they
fear the heightened manpow
er drive may stt-ip the farms
of workers.
Abandoning the ,4dea of military
labor battalions for those who
leave jobs, the committee yester
day substituted agr-ypumshment the
draft dodger penalties of the se
lective service act: Maximums of
five yea* imprisonment and a
$10,000 fine.
Before the hfll is finished the
same punishmetot will be set up
for those who Agnore attempts to
assign them tc^'essential jobs. The
See LABOR Page 2
S
INAUGURAL IS
BRIEF, SIMPLE;
CROWDSMALL
Says Trend Of Civilization
Always Upward; Cannot
Live Alone
CALLS FOlTcOURAGE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20.—
(fP)—Franklin D. Roosevelt
began his fourth presidential
term today with a pledge that
“we shall work for a just and
durable peace as today we
work and fight for a total
victory in war.”
“We can and we will achieve
such a peace,” Mr. Roosevelt
said after taking the oath in
an unprecedented ceremony on
the south portico of the White
House. Before him the small
est inaugural crowd in years
had scuffed a light snow off
the White House lawn. Abdut
him on the portico were gath
ered the government’s top
leaders—including the new vice
president, Harry Truman of
Missouri.
Praying to visipaJo see.
the way that leads to a better life
and world peace, the President
said:
“We shall strive for perfection.
We shall not achieve it immedi
ately—but we still shall strive. We
may make mistakes—but they must
never be mistakes which result from
faintness of heart or abandonment
of moral principle.”
TEXT
The text of probably the short
est inaugural address in history:
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice
President—my friends:
You will understand and, I be
lieve, agree with my wish that
the form of this inauguration be
simple and its words brief.
We Americans of today, to
gether with our allies, are pass
ing through a period of su
preme test. It is a test of our
courage — of our resolve — of
our wisdom — of our essential
decency.
If we meet that test—successfully
and honorably—we shall perform a
service of historic importance
which men and women and chil
dren will honor throughout all
See INAUGURAL Page 2
| Steps Taken
To Curtail
Use Of Power
Officials of the city of Shelby
were talcing steps this morning to
comply with requirements of the
war production board order cur
tailing the use of electric current.
As a supplier of electric power, the
city must notify all of its custom
ers by February 1 of the new or
der which goes into effect on that
date. If there are violations they
must notify those who are respon
sible for the infractions by regis
tered mail, sending copies of the
letters to the war production board
for enforcement steps.
Any consumer who violates the
order is subject to penalties pre
scribed by federal law, which may
include the discontinuance of elec
tric service at the direction of the
war production board.
Uses of electricity to be prohibit
ed after February I include the fol
lowing according to Information
received yesterday afternoon by
Mayor Harry S. Woodson:
1. Outdoor advertising add out
door promotional lighting.
2. Outdoor display lighting ex
cept Where necessary for the con
duct of the business of outdoor
establishments.
3. Outdoor decorative and out
door ornamental lighting.
4. Show window lighting except
where necessary for interior il
lumination.
5. Marquee lighting in excess of
60 watts for each marquee.
6. Whiteway street lighting in
excess of the amount determined
by local public authority to be
necessary for public safety.
7. Outdoor sign lighting, with
[ limited specified exceptions.'
ROOSEVELT SEES INAUGURAL MEDAL—President Roosevelt looks
at the inaugural medal, issued to commemorate his fourth inauguration,
in the hand of Sculptor Jo Davidson (right) in the White House. Look
ing on are members of the Medals Committee, Melvin D. Hildreth (left)
and Alfons Lander.
Yanks On Left Flank
Meeting Stiff Fight
Battle Is Scattered Series Of Small Scale, Bitter Clash
es; Enemy Well Dug In
GENERAL MacARTHUR’S HEADQUARTERS, Luzon,
Jan. 20.—(/P)—Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger is winning the im
portant battle of the left flank.
His Sixth Army is smashing Japanese tanks, silencing
artillery concealed in caves and going after enemy soldiers in
10-foot-deep holes with flamethrower^. It is the first real
fight since the Yanks landed at Lingayen gulf Jan. 9.
PROMISCUITY
IS ASSAILED
»
KINGS MOUNTAIN. — Declar
ing that venereal infection has
come to be more a result of prom
iscuity—especially in teen-agers—
than prostitution, Dr. Z. P. Mit
chell, director of the county health
unit, told the local Womans Club
at its meeting Friday night that
new stress needs to be placed on
young people’s recreation and mor
ality.
The greatest number of new cases
of venereal diseases are occurring
in boys and girls from 16 to 20
years of age, the army calling for
examination of numerous "girl
friends’’ of soldiers visiting this
section and fully 60 per cent of such
investigations are revealing infec
tion with one or both the princi
pal venereal diseases, the health
director said. He deplored prom
iscuity which he said appears to be
flourishing about certain taverns,
in automobiles and even in some
homes among so-called ‘‘friends’’.
He said he is convinced that ade
quate recreational facilities and
more wholesome surroundings
would cut down greatly the prom
iscuity and in turn the infection
which is showing up among men
of the armed services visiting the
territory.
Miss Irene Clark, senior public
health nurse, read a paper on tu
berculosis and arrangements were
made for the group to sponsor with
the Parent-Teacher groups the
showing of moving pictures on
venereal subjects through’ schools.
Mrs. E. A. Schenck, president,
named a nominating committee
composed of Mrs. W. K. Mauney,
Mrs. J. S. Norman and Mrs. Don
Blanton who will render their re
port at the group’s next meeting
when officers will be elected.
Mrs. Ted Weir was in charge
of the dinner and presented the
speakers.
Twenty Jap tanks have been
knocked out and 600 Nipponese
killed—some of them 23rd divis
ion troops from ftlanchuria—in a
three-day period along the left
flank. "A.
That flank jut# into the hilly,
eastern side of Pangasinan prov
ince. The broader it gets the
more effectively it isolates Japa
nese forces on the north around
Baguio, Philippines summer capi
tal, from other enemy forces on
the south defending Manila.
Significantly, since the fight
ing flared up on the left
flank, there has been scarcely
any official word of a further
push in strength southward by
Yank columns last reported
approaching Tarlac, 65 airline
miles from Manila
The battle of the left flank is
not a continuous engagement of
massed forces but rather a scat
tered series of small scale, bitter
clashes. The Americans are link
ing up a solid line along the Ma
nila-Baguio road in a 30-mile
stretch from near Rosario on the
north to the Agno river on the
south near Villasis.
From the north to south in that
area, today’s communique and As
See YARIKS Page 2
Battles Raging Along
800-Mile Front; Reds
214 Miles From Berlin
LONDON, Jan. 20.—The Russians, driving to cut off
East Prussia, have penetrated within 62 miles of the Gulf
of Danzig in the Junkers Province and have smashed to
within 214 miles of Berlin in the southwest, the German
communique disclosed today.
The Germans told of fierce battling against a rolling
Red army tide of 3,000,000 men everywhere along a blaz
ing 800-mile front as Moscow broadcasts Indicated a fresh
series of victory announcements might be forthcoming to
ALLIES SIGN
ARMISTICE
WITH HUNGARY
Will Announce Terms
With Provisional Gov
ernment Loter
LONDON, Jan. 20—So
viet Russia, the United States
and Britain have signed an
armistice with Hungary’s pro
visional government, the Mos
cow radio announced today.
Moscow said the terms would
be published later. The Hun
garian regime is headed by
Col. Gen. Bela Miklos, and is
seated at Debrecen in Rus
sian-won territory.
The armistice was arranged
after three days’ negotiations.
Foreign Commisar Vyaches
lav Molotof headed Russia's
delegation. Ambassador W. Av
erell Harriman, Maj. Gen.
i John R. Deane, and George F.
Kennan, a U. S. representa
tive on the European advisory
commission, represented the
United States.
The British charge d’Affair
es, John Balfour, headed
Britain’s group.
WHERE WILL
WALLACEGO?
Many Think Rejected Vice
President To Get Place
In Cabinet
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20. —(A*)—
Henry A. Wallace said goodbye to
his office today with as handsome
—if veiled—a guarantee of per
sonal social security as any re
jected vice president could ash.
President Roosevelt, who
sometimes is an old tease at
his news conferences, assured
a questioner yesterday that
Henry won’t starve. And that,
he added, is a real tip.
Maybe the Iowa corn breeder
knew exactly what his chief had in
mind, but he wasn’t talking as he
went down to the White House to
administer the vice presidential
oath to his successor, Harry Tru
man.
Was the president making ready
to appoint his loyal lieutenant sec
retary of commerce? Fresh tracks
pointed that way. Two important
See WHERE Page 2
Postwar Political Problems
In Europe To Be Difficult
You’ve got to |iave a lot of faith,
hope and charity, to believe that
tljere can 6e anything like a
wholesale application of the prin
ciples of the Atlantic charter to a
Europe which already is rapidly
slipping back Into its naughty po
litical habits of pre-war days.
That presumably is one of the
delicate problems which will come
before Messrs. Roosevelt, Church
ill and Stalin at their forthcom
ing meeting. I£ the problem is
solved it certainly will require a
lot of what we euphemistically
call “realism.’’
i
Prime Minister Churchill Thurs
day nailed his position to the mast
in a fighting speech which was
one of the most forceful of his
brilliant career. He told the world
bluntly that he and Stalin had
agreed on a joint policy for the
Balkans to prevent future wars.
He declared, however, that “this
agreement raised no question of
divisions of territory or spheres of
interest after the war,” and that
President Roosevelt had been kept
“constantly informed.”
See POSTWAR Page 3
mgnt irom the Kremlin.
Marshal Ivan Konev’s First Uk
rainian armor reached the area of
Kepno (Kemperi in a 20 mile ad
vance from Wielun northwest of
captured Krakow. German home
guard battalions, the Volkssturm,
were battling to stop the smash
along the upper Silesian border,
Berlin said. Kepno is only nine
miles from the frontier and 33
miles northeast of Breslau, the
chief industrial center of German
Silesia. Only 204 miles lie between
Keuono and Berlin.
Northwest of Warsaw Mar
shal Konstantin Rokossovsky’s
Second White Russian army
reached or crossed the south
western border of East Prus
sia on a 35-mile front and stab
bed to Gllgenburg, 62 miles
from the Gulf of Danzig.
Gilgenburg is only five miles
from Tannenburg, where the me
morial to von Hindenburg’s vic
tory of the Masurian Lakes in the
First World War was erected.
The Russians also reached Nei
denburg, eight miles inside East
Prussia, and Chorzelle on the east
Prussian-Polish border, the Ger
mans announced.
POLISH CORRIDOR
In the center of the blazing front
Marshal Gregory K. Zukov’s First
White Russian army was pouring
toward the Polish corridor between
the Vistula and Warta (Warthe)
in new breakthroughs, and the
Germans said fighting was raging
against the onfushing line of Red
army tanks.
The Russians had reached the
area of Plock, Vistula river fort
ress 125 miles from Pomernia.
The Russians were 238 miles from
Berlin in this sector.
Moscow announced officially last
See BATTLES Page 2
_
WAR POWERS
ARE RATIFIED
Telegrams Asking For
More Pay For Teachers
Flood Legislature
RALEIGH, Jan. 20. — (£>)— The
legislature today ratified a bill giv
ing emergency war powers to the
governor, thus reviving all procla
mations issued under the act by
former Governor Broughton.
The 1943 act expired January 3,
when the 1945 general assembly
convened.
Two senators and 23 representa
J tives attended the brief, perfunc
! tory sessions today. The senate
j passed a measure providing for the
preparation and filing of records
| of clerks of the Superior court and
| Rep. McCracken of Macon intro
duced a bill to place Macon county
under the statewide primary law.
Macon now used the convention
form of nominations.
TEACHER PAY
More than 100 telegrams were
received by members, most of them
asking increased pay for public
school teachers.
It will not be necessary for Gov
ernor Cherry to issue new procla
mations, as the assembly action
i will automatically invoke the re
gulations framed by his predeces
i sor.
The emergency powers made
i effective by the former governor
established the North Carolina
speed limit for motor vehicles at
35 miles an hour, and among other
: things:
j 1.—Altered the limits of the
weight of motor vehicles engaged
in transporting petroleum prod
I ucts.
2.—Suspended and modified cer
See WAR Page >
1