WEATHER
Partly cloudy and continued warm
today, tonight and Tuesday. Scat
tered showers and not quite so
warm in north and west Tuesday
with showers in mountains tonight.
- Tshe Hhelhy Baily thr
STATE THEATRE TODAY
"TONIGHT AND EVERY
NIGHT"
Rita Hayworth — Lee Bowman
Also NEWS
CLEVELAND COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1894
TELEPHONES 1100
ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS
SHELBY. N. C.
MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1945
TELEMAT PICTURES
VOL. XLI11— 67
SINGLE COPIES—5c
GERMANS RUN FOR RHINE IN DESPERATE RETREAT
** ********* ****** ********
Russians Launch New Offensive In Hungary, Advance North OfMor
FREED ALLIED PRISONERS START FOR HOME—Caption accompanying this Russian photo describes it
as showing Allied war prisoners, freed by the Russian Army, boarding a ship in the port of Odessa en route
to their home countries. Among the liberated prisoners were aproximately 1,200 Americans.
27th Straight Night
Raid Against Berlin
British Heeries Attack Witten, Hanou, German Com*
munications Centers
LONDON, March 19.—(/P)—RAF heavy bombers ham
f mered two vital German communications centers behind the
western front last night while Mosquitos delivered their
27th straight night raid on Berlin, still smoking from a rec
ord-breaking daylight assault by 1,300 U. S. bombers Sunday.
Legislators
Ratify Resolution
On News Freedom
RALEIGH. March 19—(*>>—The
North Carolina legislature ratified
today a Joint resolution by Sena
tor Lee Weathers of Shelby, pub
lisher of The 8helby Star, endors
ing "the principle of free and un
hampered access to and transmis
sion of news in the various coun
tries of the world.”
"The press of the United States
has unanimously expressed a de
sire for equitable and uniform
tolls in news dispatches emanat
ing from the various countries of
the world,” the resolution said,
adding that "the unhampered ac
cess to news in all countries of
the world will be a potent factor
in the preservation of peace.”
RALEIGH, March 19.—<>P)—1The
legislature reconvened today after
the shortest week-end recess of the
session and prepared to take up
final business in the hope of ad
journing sine die either tomorrow
or Wednesday.
A number of local wine bills, a
measure setting up the state hos
pital and medical care commission,
and a bill extending the authority
of the state highway patrol were
among the last bits of major leg
islation left on the calendars.
Both the house and the senate
ground out scores upon scores of
bills, public and local, 1^ week as
See LEGISLATORS Page 2
AGED SHELBY
NEGRO BURNED
Edward Arnold, eighty-five
old Shelby negro was burned to
death Saturday on a tract of land
owned by Bob Dorsey of Shelby
and located five miles north of To
luca in Burke county.
Arnold who was a hard-working
and thrifty man was cutting wood
alone in the woods, clearing a new
ground. It is supposed that in
burning a pile of brush that his
clothing caught fire and he was
unable to put out the flame. His
clothing and shoes were complete
ly burned off his body and his
pocketbook revealed that he had
between $30 and $60 on his person.
This was burned into a crisp, con
vincing the coroner and sheriff
of Burke county there was no foul
play.
Arnold lived in Shelby in one of
J. F. Ledford’s houses on Buffalo
street. His body has been brought
here for interment.
•T
Target* of the British heavies
were Witten. 36 miles east of Duis
burg in the heart of the Ruhr
Valley, and Hanau. about six miles
east of Frankfurt-Am-Main.
Both blows apparently were car
ried out in great strength.
The German radio indicated the
assaults on the Reich were being
continued in daylight today.
U. S. Flying Fortresses and
Liberators which hit Berlin
Sunday rained 3,000 tons of
bombs on the battftrsd capital
at the crushing rate of 50 tons
a minute. It was the 34th suc
cessive daylight assault upon
Germany by American war
planes.
Seven hundred U. 8. fighters ac
companied the great armada of
heavy bombers.
While the Yank bombers concen
trated on railroad yards in the
heart of Berlin and armament
plants in the industrial suburbs,
one group of American Mustangs
ranged beyond and teamed up with
15 Russian fighter-planes in de
See 27TH STRAIGHT Page 2
Flood Waters Of
Mississippi Receding
MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 19. —
(/P)—Palling waters of the swollen
Mississippi river relieved pressure
on the Tennemo-Booth’s Point
road way west of Dyersburg, Tenn.,
today, easing flood threats that
have menaced the section for two
weeks.
Army engineers described as gen
erally satisfactory the conditions
in the area, where several breaks in
a private levee have put 40,000
lowland acres under water.
The White River in Arkansas,
however, continued to threaten
levees along its lower stretches in
’"'oodruff, Prairie and Monroe
counties.
Col. G. W. Miller, Memphis di
strict engineer, said cavings of ri
ver banks along the Jackson Bayou
levee near Trimble Island keeps
the situation serious.
WEBB DEFIES
LIQUOR EVIL
In Charge To Grand Jury
Says Prohibition Will
Stick Next Time
“Give ib another crack at liquor
and well make, prohibition stick"
was the Challenge Judgfe E. Yates
Webb hurled at the wet interests
this morning as he opened a term
of United States District court
with a charge to the grand Jury,
which breathed defiance to those
who assist in the perpetuation of
what he termed Mankind’s No. 1
enemy.
J. A. Gullick, of Belmont, cot
ton broker, was appointed foreman
of the grand Jury by Judge Webb.
Other members of the grand Jury
drawn today werd Zinn Bridges,
Lander Cobb, Clyde Sherrill, Roy
Waters, Clyde Warlick, Francis
Boyles, C. L. Byers, Frank Gilbert,
Carl Weaver, Plato Champion, R.
B. Costner, Everett Leonhardt,
Paul C. Br|ngle, Worth Silver, Van
Harrill, Jim Curley. Spurgeon
Freeman and Dewey Boyles.
The major part of Judge Webb’s
charge was devoted to the paying
of his respects to the liquor traffic
and the attendant evils of syn
thetic wine and beer.
“LIKE VICIOUS DOG”
“Alcohol,” Judge Webb told the
grand Jurors and his courtroom
audience, “has hold of the human
race like a vicious doff.” "The evil
Is steadily growing worse,” he con
tinued detailing hbw insidious
propaganda on behalf of liquor is
being spread through the maga
gines, the radio and the films.
"The more beautiful the actress
is, the more handsome the hero,”
See WEBB Page 2
Schools Start
Back On Early
Spring Schedule
Shelby schools started back on
their spring schedules of early
opening this morning with few re
ports of tardiness.
Superintendent Walter Abeme
thy said the mild weather gave the
schools a fine break and after to
day he said that he did not antici
pate anyone would notice the dif
ference. Schools start at 8:45 am.
now instead of 9:1# o'clock as
during the winter months. The
buildings open at 8:30 am.
Squeeze On Food, Shoes, fires,
Manpower To Become Tighter
By MAKV11N L. AKKUWsIUlTH
WASHINGTON, March 19.—(A1)—
A new and tighter squeeze on food,
shoes, tires and manpower may
become even more discomforting to
the home front as the Allies close
in on Berlin and Tokyo.
Government officials frankly
predicted this today, saying there
wil be little if any relief as long
as the two-front war continues.
They added that civilian meat al
locations—cut to the lowest point
in ten years for the April-June
quarter—are not expected to in
crease much before both Germany
and Japan are defeated.
A 12 per cent cut in the home
front s meat supply was announced
over the week-end , as the OPA
slashed April passenger tire quotas
37 per cent below this month’s level.
In another reflection of the war’s
quickening pace, ^elective service
said that to retain more young and
irreplaceable men in industry it
will be necessary to draft more men
over 39.
These moves followed closely an
nouncement last week of a deep
cut in the amount of leather avail
able for civilian shoes because of
Increased military demands.
The cut in civilian meat allo
gee 8QUEEZE Page 3
KONEV’S MEN
GAIN 15 MILES
NEAR NEUSTADT
Kolberg Fell To Soviets
Sunday After 13-Day
Siege
NAZI FORcIs TRAPPED
LONDON, March 19.—(/P)
—A new Russian offensive in
Hungary has advanced to the
north of Mor, 39 miles west
of Budapest and 98 miles
from Vienna, th«* German
high command said today.
In southern Silesia the First
Ukrainian army of Marshal Ivan
Konev has plunged forward for
gains of 15 miles or more, reach
ing the area of Neustadt, less
than three miles from the border
of Czechoslovakia, and attacking
on both sides of Nelsse, 15 miles
northwest of Neustadt, the Ger
mans said. Neustadt is 57 miles
southeast of besieged Breslau.
In the north Marshal Gregory
Zhukov wheeled Russian divisions
westward from the operations
around captured Kolberg on the
Baltic to add impetus to the bat
tle for Stettin and the mouth of
the Oder.
Kolberg, devastated by a 13
day siege, fell yesterday, a
Russian communique announc
ed, as a savage struggle mount
ed from the eastern suburbs of
Stettin to Wollin island in the
Oder estuary.
Marshal Zhukov’s infantry and
artillery today were pressing home
new attacks in this flank drive,
which is a preliminary to the grand
assault on Berlin.
Meanwhile, German forces trap
ped southwest of Koenigsberg in
East Prussia reeled back into final
defensive positions on the outskirts
See KONEVS Page 2
TO INSPECT
ALL TIRES
Start Campaign In Cleve
land County At Noon
Tomorrow
With the co-operation of the
local tire dealers and recappers,
the Shelby police department and
local rationing officials, an inten
sive campaign will begin at noon
tomorrow to have all tires in Cleve
land county inspected this week.
An organization of tire service
organizations whose representatives
met at the Shelby rationing office
this morning with A. H. Quisen
bery, from the Charlotte OPA of
fice was perfected for carrying out
the inspection plan.
Each service station and re-cap
ping agency will furnish a repre
sentative to go through the sec
tions where cars are parked and
inspect tires on all automobiles.
In cases where a tire is found to
need repairs a card will be left
in the car designating which tire
needs the repairs and asking them
to see their regular dealer.
Chief of Police Knox Hardin,
who attended this morning ses
sion at the rationing board waived
for one week with the approval of
the city board, the enforcement
of the city ordinance which pro
hibits putting cards in parked
automobiles. He said that his men
would also co-operate in the un
dertaking by giving cards to all
motorists whose automobiles are
stopped for any reason and whose
tires need reeapplng.
The greatest stockpile of rubber
is still on the wheels of American
motorists, it was pointed out this
morning by Mr. Quisenbery.
Recapping agencies represented
at meeting emphasized that camel
back lor recapping tires will be
scarce this summer on account of
the shortage of carbon. The re
cappers hope to get an early start
on their summer work.
The movement started at the
See TO INSPECT Page 2
Plan Investigation
Of Food Shortage
WASHINGTON. March. 19.
—(/P)—The senate voted unani
mously today for an investiga
tion of food shortages.
Proposed in an effort to find
a solution to tightened sup
plies of meat and other commo
dities. the resolution was ap
proved by voice vote without
debate.
Hundreds Of U. S. Planes
Rained Destruction On
Japan Sunday And Today
GUAM, March 19.—(/P)—Hundreds of carrier planes
| and probably 350 Superforts—flying an estimated 3,000
plus sorties—bombed Japan with more than 5,000 tons of in
cendiaries and high explosives Sunday and Monday.
dawn return visit to Nagoya to
finish up the destruction started
just one week ago, loosed 2500 or
more tons of incendiaries on Ja
pan’s sixth largest city and prin
cipal airplane manufacturing cen
ter.
“We burned hell out of Na
goya,” reported Col. Carl Stor
rie, Denton, Tex., who spent 30
minutes over the highly im
portant industrial city of 1,
500,000. He also was on last
Monday’s 2000-ton raid, which
burned out two square miles
of Nagoya.
In Washington, a 20th airforce
headquarters communique describ
ed the results as ranging from
good to excellent.
Opposition from Jap fighter
planes was "meager and ineffec
tive” the communique said, al
though anti-aircraft fire was heav
ier than in the attack on Nagoya I
eight days ago. None of the B-29.s
was lost as the result of enemy ac
tion.
HEAVY DAMAGE
An imperial Japanese communi
que admitted the Superforts caus
ed “considerable damage” and said
the planes were over the city three
hours. It did not claim that fires
had been brought under control.
Earlier Domei (Japanese) news a
gency had said fires were con
trolled after 5 1-2 hours.
Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz
reported very tersely in a com
munique that a large carrier task
force bombed Kyushu, southern
most of the empire’s home islands.
Sunday. He said air bases and
facilities were the targets.
Radio Tokyo, however, said
1400 carrier planes struck Kyu
shu both Sunday and Monday.
Domei (Japanese) news agency
See HUNDREDS Page 2
Bombs Fall On Jap
Positions At Baguio
Yamashita's Headquarters Believed In Vicinity; Air
man Range From Formosa To New Guinea
MANILA, March 19.—(/P)—A 337-ton bombing of Jap
anese positions around Baguio, supposed Philippine headquar
ters of Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, highlighted a series
of heavy aerial blows from Formosa to New Guinea an
nounced today by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
On»..u ---
-O -- — 7 — UUU1WIV1 VO|/
ital, is in the mountains of north
ern Luzon. •
The latest of the almost daily at
tacks on Formosa was disclosed as
Pacific fleet carrier planes struck
the enemy homeland 700 miles
further north and B-29s from the
Marianas raided Nagoya again.
MacArthur's Monday commun
ique said heavy bombers—"contin
uing the neutralization of Formo
f ”—dropped 300 tons of explosives
on the Helto and Okayama air
bases and the town of Taihoku.
Fires and resulting explosions
were observed among installations
and grounded enemy aircraft. Twq
American planes were lost.
The Baguio raid was in support
of 33rd division doughboys, whose
heavy artillery was battering the
supposed headquarters of Japan
ese Oen. Tomoyuki Yamashita from
less than eight miles away.
Southeast of Baguio, the Amer
See BOMBS Page 2
Antwerp Battered By
V-Bombs Four Months
ANTWERP, Belgium, March 19.
—(jP)—Greman V-bombs were hurl
ed into this great port city for
four months ending Jan. 31 in a
concentrated effort to destroy its
usefulness as an allied supply base,
it can now be disclosed.
There arc scenes of great de
struction as a result of the attacks,
the extent of which previously was
hidden by censorship. In some sec
tions the city has suffered as bad
ly from the V-bombs as the most
heavily hit London areas.
MEDLEY TAKEN
IN ST. LOUIS
Escaped Convict; Suspect
In 3 Murders, Arrest
ed By FBI
ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 12. —(>P)
—Josephi Dunbar Medley, 43, es
caped convict charged with mur
der in the shooting of Mrs. Nancy
Boyer in Washington and wanted
for questioning m connection with
the deaths of two other women,
was arrested by the FBI here last
night in the company of a St. Louis
woman. i
J. Edgar Hoover, director of the
FBI in Washington said agents
and members of the St. Louis
police department took the man
into custody in a hotel and he ad
mitted his identify. He was regis
tered i idrf1 the name of James H.
Hanan, of Baltimore, Md.
The FBI expects to return Med
ley to Washington for trial in the
shooting of Mrs. Boyer, whose body
was found in her apartment last
March 9. Last Saturday police re
covered an emerald ring belonging
to Mrs. Boyer in a Pittsburgh, Pa.,
pawnshop.
FUR JACKET, HANDBAG
Hoover said a silver fox jacket
and a handbag answering the de
scription of similar items missing
from Mrs. Boyer's apartment were
See MEDLEY Page 2
PFC. PEELER
FRANK PEELER
REPORTED DEAD
Son Of Deputy Sheriff
And Mrs. Randolph Peel
er Of Belwood
Pfc. Franklin H. Peeler, 22, was
killed in action on the European
front on Jan. 18, according to a
message received yesterday by his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Randolph
Peeler of Belwood.
Pfc. Peeler was reported missing
in action on this date on Feb. 8.
A further check-up by the War De
partment reveals that he was kill
ed.
Frank is one of four Peeler
brothers in service. He went away
with Company K in the fall of 1940
and spent four years in various
camps in South Carolina, Indiana,
Ohio and Kentucky. For a year or
more he was in charge of a group
of military police of the army in
this country, until he was sent over
seas in October, 1944 .
SURVIVORS
The father is a popular deputy
sheriff and farmer of Belwood. His
mother has been ill for sometime
and was a patient for two and a
half months in the local hospital.
The three other brothers are
Stough who is a warrant officer in
the Navy hospital at Portsmouth,
Va.; Roberts on Navy shore patrol
in Boston, Mass., and Walter in the
army, training at Camp Blanding,
Florida. Walter was at home for a
14-hour visit Sunday morning be
fore the message of his brother’s
death was received.
WHAT’S DOING
TODAY
7:00 p.m.—Regular meeting of
Junior Chamber of Commerce
at Hotel Charles.
7:30 p.m.—City council meets
at city hall.
7:30 p. m.—Opening service
in mission revival at First Bap
tist church.
TUESDAY
2:00 p.m.—Mass meeting of
Kings Mountain Association in
main auditorium of First Bap
tist church.
7:30 p.m.—Second session of
mission revival at First Baptist
church.
7:00 p.m.—Scouters club
meets at Presbyterian church
with Troop 1 as hosts.
7:30 p.m.—C. A. P. members
meet at armory.
7:30 p.m.—Call meeting of
Cleveland Lodge 202 A. F. & A.
M. for work in second degree.
GOOD STRAFING
WEATHER POTS
HEAT ON NAZIS
I Third And Seventh Arm
ies Within 15 Miles Of
Junction
ENEMY LOSSES HIGH
PARIS, March 19.—(A3)—
An estimated 80,000 Germans
ran for the Rhine today in
desperate daylight retreat
under perfect strafing weath
er which turned the northern
half of the Bavarian Palatin
j ate into a slaughter ground
and the rich Saarland into a
death trap.
Swift tank and Infantry
| columns of the Third and
Seventh Armies surged with
in 15 miles of each other be
tween St. Wendel and the
Zweibruecken areas of the
Saarland and within 42 miles
of a junction farther west in
the Palatinate.
Tanks shot within 14 miles of
Mainz on the bend of the Rhine.
This was the last debacle west
of the Rhine and the German
First and Seventh armies were los
ing terrific numbers of men and
machines in their rout.
Lt. Gen. George S. Pattons
Third army threatened the great
Rhine valley cities of Mainz,
Frankfurt on the Main, Weisbaden,
Ludwigshafen and Mannheim.
His assault troops crashed into
St. Wendel, closing all but the east
ern end of a death box 25 miles long
and 15 miles wide along the whole
Saar line.
From the south, Lt. Gen.
Alexander M. Patch’s Seventh
army jabbed through the Sieg
friend line east of Saarbrucken
See GOOD Page 2
Lincolnton Boy
Among Heroes Of
Remagen Bridge
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY
EAST OF THE RHINE, March 18
(Delayed)—(/P)Sgt. John Reynolds,
Lincolnton, N. C„ today was reveal
ed as one of the three soldiers
who pushed hundreds of pounds of
TNT into the Rhine river March
7 after they hauled it out of the
stone piers at each end of the Re
magen bridge.
Lt. Hugh Mott, Nashville, Tenn ,
under whom Reynolds and Sgt.
Eugene Doran, Manhattan, Kans.,
performed the task, insisted that
credit,for the feat go to the two
sergeants.
‘‘They were there on the bridge
all the time,” he said, “I was
running back and forth.”
PASSAPOAG MILL
Reynolds was glad Doran brought
the pliers with which they cut the
wires. He said ‘‘he always thinks
of everything. We figgered at first
we were just going to make a re
connaissance to see if tanks could
get acros the bridge.”
Reynolds worked in the Passa
poag mill at Lincolnton with hi.'
father and was the only one of
the three with previous experience
in handling dynamite.
“I fooled with it some when I
was in a CCC camp in the wes
tern part of the state.” he said.
One Of Participants
July 20 Attempt On
(Louis P. Lochner has obtained
a remarkable account of last
July’s attempt on Hitler’s life di
rectly from one of the participants.
Lochner, who was chief of tho for
mer Associated Press bureau in
Berlin, is again in Germany hop
ing to return soon to the Nazi cap
ital)
By LOUIS P. LOCHNER
Copyright, 1945, By The Associated
Press
BONN, Germany, March 19.—(/P)
—A man who is a fugitive from
German authority because he was
implicated in the July 20 bombing
attempt on Hitler’s life has told
me that the fuehrer, fully aware
that the war is lost, now peps him
self up from time to time watch
ing movies showing the. purging of
generals and nobles who died for
their part in the plot.
My informant, who gave a com
plete story of the bomb plot, is a
man I have known for years and
in whose integrity and verasity I
have a firm belief.
This man, because he has been
hunted, has not seen his home
since July and has changed sleep
ing quarters constantly to avoid
detection. He desires even now,
when under Allied rule, to have his
name withheld because he has nu
merous relatives beyond the Rhine.
WHY IT FAILED
Here is his story:
The bomb attempt failed be
cause Hitler did not receive his
officers in a concrete bunker July
20, but in a wooden shed to show
Mussolini and high Italians he was
not afraid of air raids. The Ital
ians were scheduled to attend a
I
i
Tells Story Of
Hitler’s Life
. ceremony Incorporating remnants
of the Fascist army into the Wehr
! macht.
The bomb’s effectiveness had
been calculated on the assumption
that the explosion would occur in
a smaller room than where Hitler
at this time sat. The bunker, with
concrete walls, was to heighten the
impact of the blast.
Secondly, it failed because at the
moment of the explosion. Hitler
stepped to a cupboard to look for
a magnifying glass. The bomb had
been placed under his chair.
Even so, Hitler was badly
hurt. His hearing apparently
has been impaired permanently.
His right arm was injured, but
nursed bark to health by pro
fessor Gohrband, noted Berlin
physician. He also suffered
some burns.
As an aftermath ol the nerve
wracking experience, Hitler fell
seriously ill in the second half of
September. Since then he often los
es his memory, and for days Is un
able to function as chief of state
and supreme commander of the
Wehrmacht. Occasionally he
swoons. Frequently speech fails
him, or he can pronounce words
only with great difficulty.
; RADIO SPEECHES
These facts, my informant said,
; explain why Hitler’s radio speech
| es of Jan. 1 and Jan. 30 aroused
so much controversy as to whether
j the speaker actually was Hitler.
; Records, my informant believes,
are made during Hitler's lucid mo
ments and the best parts put to
gether for broadcasting.
See ONE OF Page •