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WEATHER North Carolnia—Partly cloudy and warm today, tonight and Satur day except cool again east portion tonight. ] Tshe Hhelhy Baily thr l - State Theatre Today “LET'S GO STEADY” PAT PARRISH JACKIE MORAN CLEVELAND COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1894 TELEPHONES 1100 VUL. A-LIIi—/1 ASSUDIATUD FKttSS JNHiWS XM. U. 1»KIL»AI, MAKU1 ZJ, ly^D 1 tLMXA 1 UKUiS THOUSANDS OF WARPLANES LASH RUHR Area Already Mass Of Wreckage From Pre vious Raids RAIL LINES~ATTACKED LONDON, March 23.—(/P) —Thousands of American and British warplanes lashed out today for the third day at the Ruhr, where a blazing mass of wreckage marked the rec ord assault of yesterday. Again the fury of the assault was concentrated on supply lines with the presumed object of isolating the industrial area east of the Rhine, along which powerful Al lied armies are massed. Eleven railyards in the Ruhr were attacked in bright weather by 1,250 American heavy bombers and 350 fighters while a force of British Lancasters went after an important rail bridge at Bremen with the 11-ton Volcano bombs. The German radio said new waves of bombers were over the same area later in the afternoon and that American heavies from Italy dashed into southeastern Ger many. The succession of violent air at tacks begun on German airfields and troop concentrations earlfrr in the week continued unabated through the night. 4 FORMATIONS Before 10 ajn., the German ra dio warned that four bomber for mations were over the Reich. Three came from the west while the oth er was heading north from Italy. Berlin was bombed for the 31st consecutive night by RAF Mos quito*, which also struck followup blows at enemy troop movements across the Rhine in the region battered yesterday by the bulk of more than 8,000 American and British planes which struck Ger many from dawn to dusk. The night pilots said smoke! from burning towns hung so thick ly over the Ruhr that it was diffi cult to locate ground targets, de spite bright moonlight and power ful flares. SPAIN ANGRY AGAINST JAPS Nips Charged With Cold Blooded Murder Of Spanish Citizens MADRID, March 23. — UP) — Spain's relations with Japan were strained toward the breaking point today as the government formally charged the Japanese with "syste matic and premeditated murder of Spanish nationals in Manila. Indignation spread rapidly .Wheth er it would lead to an outright break with Tokyo—and possibly a declar ation of war—was not yet indicat ed. A government communique, made public last night, enumerated a list of 172 Spanish men, women and children bayoneted to death by the Japanese while American troops were overrunning the Philippine capital. It confirmed a report made in Washington last week by Brig. Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, resident com missioner of the Philippines. This report drew a storm of editorial de nunciation of Japan from the Span ish press. The communique did not say whether Spain has officially pro tested to the Japanese government. It is known, however, that Jap* anese Minister Yakichiro Suma was called to the foreign ministry Mon day and asked for an explanation, which, it is reported, he was un able to give. Senator Hoey To Discuss Congress And The Country Senator Clyd R. Hoey, vdio will come to his Shelby home to spend the Easter week-end with his daugh ter, Mrs. Dan Paul, and Lieut. Paul, will discuss “Congress and Tl.e Country” in his address to the annual meeting of the Shelby Chamber of Commerce and Mer chants Association next Friday night, he revealed at Washington today. Senator Hoey will go to States ville April 3 to discuss the Dumbar ton Oaks peace plan in a talk spon sored by the Junior Service Lea gue, the women’s clubs and the Ec letic Club of Statesville. JAPS WIPED OUT BY AMERICAN FLAME THROW ER—Bodies of Japanese soldiers smoulder on the crest of “Bryant Hill” near Puncan in the hills of Luzon Island in the Philippines after an American flame throw er silenced a heavily fortified group of 23 Japs in a hole. They had been placed in a strategic position on the hill to resist American mopping-up activities. Bombing Preparing Reich For Knockout Bomb Tonnage Dropped In 3-Week Offensive Twice Total Dropped On England LONDON, March 23.—(£>)—Continuous day and night bombing of Germany at the rate of 274 tons of explosives an hour is turning the Reich into chaos in preparation for a knockout blow from the ground. unite iuc isig an iai uuru.iivt I started three weeks ago, Allied j bombers have hit Germany with! more than twice the tonntige of I bombs dropped on England since the start of the war. The terrific devastation Is almost beyond comprehension, but the re lentless flailing of every type of military objective from the small est crossroads to Berlin itself un questionably has made the way easier for the doughboys, as Gen. Eisenhower has declared. During the past 10 days of this greatest air blitz in history the industrial Ruhr valley and the vast rolling Rhine plain have been systematically Isolated from the Reich and deprived of rail and highway movement necessary to resist a full-scale ground assault. Figures on the number of plan es participating have reached al most astronomical figures. When the Germans put 600 aircraft over London one day back in 1940 it was regarded as a tremendous blitz. Today with fleets of 7,000 or 8.000 Allied planes aloft, 500 aircraft hardly constitute a good sized es cort force. 4,000 DAILY Since the first of the month the Allies have sent an average of 4, 000 planes over the Reich a day a total of about 92,000 individual flights. Of this total, about 21, 950 have been flown by U. S. heavy bombers. The U. S. Eighth and Ninth air forces, the RAF bomber command and the Second tactical air force have dropped approximately 145, 000 tons of bombs in this period. Since the beginning of the war the Germans have hit England with only 70,000 tons—including flying bombs. OUT OF GEAR A detailed examination of Co logne proves how a great city can be thrown completely out of gear and made almost helpless by con stant bombing. So far as the war effort was concerned it was a dead city when Allied troops arrived. Duesseldorf was reported even more completely destroyed. Other See BOMBING Page 2 RUNYANSES ARE ARRESTED HERE Poir Charged With Im personating Red Cross Solicitors For impersonating Red Cross solicitors and collecting money in the name of that organization and converting it to their own use, Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Runyans, of Earl, were being held under $1,000 bond each by the federal authorities this morning after Sheriff J. Ray mond Cline arrested them yester day afternoon. Mrs. Runyans was arrested first after an exciting chase across the city by Sheriff Cline. Deputy Sher iffs E. J. Cordell and Jerry Run yans who met her in an automobile in Belvedere about 7 o’clock yester day evening. The ocicers had been looking for her for several days and she had eluded them in each instance. Sheriff Cline s car was about half a block behind the Runyans car when it was wrecked in a collision with a Canipe elec trical truck on West Warren street. She was given a hearing on reck less driving charges this morning in Cleveland Recorder’s court but judgment was held in abeyance until after the federal charges are disposed of. Sheriff Cline said that while he was following Mrs. Run yans in her automobile, she drove recklessly without stopping for in tersections and through heavy traffic. Her husband was picked up a short while later at a local filling sta tion. When questioned by the officers, Mrs. Runyans readily admitted, they said, that she had made out her own credentials as a Red Cross relief worker and had asked peo ple to be as generous as possible. She and her husband had collect ed around $50 in Cleveland and Gaston counties, officers say after examining her list of gifts. She had none of the money with her but said tfiat she applied it on debts. Kesselring Has Conducted Strong Campaign In Italy kumis, Marcn za.— (/r) —Aiuea intelligence officers said today Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's departure from the Italian front probably would have little effect on operations in this theater. Military textbooks of the future probably will judge Kesselring’s campaign from the standpoint of slowed and costly Allied progress through Italy. He has uren cre dited generally with a masterly withdrawal up the peninsula, al though some have criticized his handling of his troops during the pursuit through Rome, when many uermans were captured. Thus far Allied authorities here have no confirmation of Kessel ring’s departure to replace Field Marshal Von Rundstedt on the western front. High Allied military officers of ten have expressed amazement at the German decision to defend their Italian positions so stubborn ly. Some Allied officers insisted there was no sound military ground for this decision. But they gave Kesselring credit See KESSELRING Page 2 ACTION LIGHT IN ITALY Small Engagement At Heavily Defended Bo logna Road Entrance ROME, March 23.— (JP) —Brisk patrol skirmishes occurred yester day on both the Fifth and Eighth army fronts with the enemy re acting to Allied raiding parties with heavy machinegun and small arms fire. Allied headquarters an nounced today. In a short fight near San An sano, at the entrance to the Bo logna road net which has been heavily defended in recent months, one American patrol suffered light casualties. A short time later a 15-man enemy patrol tried to slip through the same area and was driven back. In the Fifth army area, Amer ican artillery concentrated on groups of enemy soldiers as well as movements behind the German lines. ' PATROLS An Eighth army patrol operat ng northeast of Cotignola on the nemy’s Senio river line caught a German work party digging in the opposite bank and inflicted a num ber of casualties. Farther south enemy patrols crossed the diked stream north of Faenza, but were driven off. During the past seven days See ACTION Page 2 Jap Forces In Central China Launch New Drive CHUNGKING, March 23—(^P)— Using 60,000 troops supported by mechanized units, Japanese forces in central China have launched a new drive from positions north west of Hankow with the appar ent object of seizing the vital wheat crop of southern Honan and northern Hupeh provinces, a Chi nese army spokesman said today. The spokesman said the Japa nese also apparently were hoping to knock out advance airfields in that area and to remove the Chi nese threat to Japanese commun ications along the Peiping-Han kow railway. German E Boats Attempt Attack On Allied Convoy LONDON, March 23. —(&)— An attempt by a large force of Ger man E-boats to attack an Allied convoy off the east coast of Eng land Wednesday night was beaten off without damage to any of the ships, a joint admiralty and air ministry communique announced today. At least three E-boats were sunk or set afire. Others were damaged. One Allied aircraft which helped to break up the attack is missing. Several groups of E-boats were spotted by naml aircraft off the Dutch coast. Trie planes attacked and then summoned fleet escort ships to intercept the pack before it reached the convoy route. KONEV’S MEN THREATENING FIVE CITIES New Silesian Offensive Rolls Toward Inner Mountain Area ON BERLIN^ FRONT LONDON, March 23.—(JP\ —Marshal Ivan Konev’s new Silesian offensive rolled for ward along an 80-mile front today toward the inner moun tain fortress of Germany where Adolf Hitler’s SS men have been reported making preparations for a final stand. Konev’s First Ukrainian army group threatened five large Silesian cities—Frankenstein, Neisse, Zieg enhalS, Leobschuetz and Ratibor— in the Moravian mountains and al ready was reported fighting in one of them and in the suburbs of an other. On the Berlin front the Ger man high command announced that Marshal Gregory Zhukov at tacked from the flanks of his Oder bridgehead at Kuestrin, 38 miles east of Berlin, with strong tank and infantry forces. The Germans declared that the attack was smothered in a storm of German fire and 55 Soviet tanks were destroyed, but Stockholm reports and an American broadcast from Mos cow declared a full scale assault on Hitler’s capital was imme diately at hand. Moscow reports suggested that Konev’s victory in Upper Silesia was paving the way for the Ber lin attack. Quick fall of the five threatened cities, Moscow dispatches said, would be the tip-off that Germany lacked sufficiently heavy forces in the Bohemian passes, and there would be an immediate advance upon Prague, capital of Czecho slovakia. SMASH INTO PRAGUE The threatened smash info Prague would penetrate to the heart of the southern fortress area where Hitler has contemplated making his last stand, cut the northern com munications of Vienna and out flai|: tRat Austrian capital. Vienna already was threatened from the east by a new offensive by Marshal Feodor Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian army. The German high command an nounced a new retreat on that front, where Berlin said the Rus sian thrust neared Komarom on the Danube, 89 miles east of Vien na. Komarom, on the north side of the Danube and east of the Vag river, is one of the most impor tant strongholds guarding Vien na. NEIISTAHT T 4KFV Already, Moscow announced, Konev had captured industrial Neustadt in the center of the front, killed or captured 45,000 Germans and reached to within a mile of the Czech border. Moscow further reported fihting in the streets of Neisse, and the capture of a number of suburbs of Leobschletz, 13 miles southeast of Neustadt. Ratibor at the southeastern end of the front, was outflanked by an advance which had reached the Zinna river near Bauerwitz from the captured village of Matz See KONEV’s Page 2 PVT.lSLANTON REPORTED DEAD Killed In Action In Ger many On March 6, With Third Army Pvt. Arthur R. Blanton, 26, has been reported killed in action in Germany on March 6, while fight ing with the Third Army, according to a telegram received from the War Department, by his wife, the former Miss Lela Hamrick, daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hamrick of Boiling Springs. Pvt. Blanton was the son of Hen ry Randolph and the late Mrs. Randolph, but was adopted by the late Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Blanton at the death of his mother. Pvt. Blanton entered service in September, 1944, and received his infantry training at Camp Croft, S. C., and reported to Fort Meade, Maryland, before going overseas in January, 1945. Prior to his induction he was engaged in farming. Surviving Pvt. Blanton are his wife, who is making her home with her parents in Boiling Springs; his father, two brothers serving with the Army somewhere overseas, and one sister who is with the WAC stationed in New York. LAST STAGES OF RHINELAND BATTLE—German holdings west of the Rhine remained little more than bridgeheads as U. S. Third and Seventh Army forces smashed further into Germany. Third Army troops were cleaning up Nazi remnants in Ludwigshafen, Germany's great chemical manufacturing center. Other Third Army units were fighting in the city of Mainz. Another thrust took the Yanks beyond the Neustadt. The Seventh Army pressed northward, forming junctions with the Third Army. Mistrial Ordered In Meadows Case ! _ Jury Began Deliberations Tuesday Afternoon, Said To Have Been 10 To 2 For Conviction GREENVILLE, March 23.—(/P)—A mistrial was order ed today in the case of Dr. Leon Meadows, former president of East Carolina Teachers college who was charged with embezzlement and false pretense, and Solicitor Dave M. Clark announced immediately he would ask for another spe cial session of superior court to retry the case. ouugc vianouu vviumiuo uiucicu the mistrial when the jury, after three days of deliberations, in formed him that it was deadlocked at, 10 to 2. Reliable sources said the majority was for conviction. Judge Williams ordered verdicts of innocent in nine of the original 16 counts of embezzlement, which he already had ordered non-suit ed, and gave a similar instruction for the part of the false pretense charge which he had non-suited. Meadows, against whom the charges were brought in connec tion with his handling of special and student funds while president, remained under $5,000 bond. As the mistrial was ordered, the state moved that all records in the case be impounded. The defense objected and Judge Williams or dered the return of documents to the side which presented them. NOT PRESENT Meadows was not in the court room when the mistrial was order ed. The trial lasted eight weeks, the longest criminal trial in the state’s history. The state tried to show that Meadows diverted more than $18,000 to his own use and used college labor on his property. The defense tried to show that Meadows not only had properly accounted for every cent, but had See MISTRIAL Page 2 WHAT’S DOING I_ TODAY 7:30 p.m. — Mission revival meeting at First Baptist church. 7:30 p.m.—Regular commun ication of Cleveland Lodge 202 A.F. & A.M. YANKS CAPTURE GU1MARAS ISLE Heavy Bombers Batter Cebu, Large Isle Still In Jap Hands MANILA, March 23. —(/PI— Sei zure of little Guimaras Islands, across a narrow strait from the captured port of Iloilo on southeast ern Panay, was announced today as heavy bombers stepped up theii pounding of Cebu, one of the few major Philippine islands still in Japanese hands. Maj. Gen. Rapp Bush's 40th di vision, which invaded Panay Sun day and quickly conquered Iloilc and an important airdrome, hoppec across the mile and a half chan nel Wednesday to take 25-mile long Guimaras without opposition It was the 27th island invasion ol the Philippines campaign. Guimaras helps form one of the best harbors and seaplane bases ir the central Philippines. It safe guards shipping lanes into Tloilo THREE SUCCESSIVE DAYS In three successive days, heavy bombers poured 214 tons of bomb? on bivouac and supply areas in the vicinity of Cebu City, midway along Cebu’s long east coast. Con siderable fires and explosions re sulted. Naval P-T boats patrolling the Cebu coast by night sank several small Japanese craft, and navy rocket-firing planes sent a mid See YANKS Page 2 PAID YOUR TAXES? T-Men Have Eyes On Big Shot, Easy-Spending Boys wftamnu 1 win, iviarcn —(/n— The big shot easy-come-easy-go boys are getting the eye of Uncle Sam’s -men. The is for treasury. It wants to know whence came all the dough that’s flowing so freely in resorts across the coun try; whether enough of it has gone for income taxes. That’s the reason head T-man Elmer Irey took a crew of his best treasury enforcement agents to Miami recently—and garnered a cool $50,000 in ’’forgotten” taxes just by letting the word get a That’s the reason more of Irey’i men are giving other resort spot; | a careful going over. To see who': i spending how much. And how doe: | his income tax return back home jibe with that kind of money. That’s the reason, too. treasurj Secretary Morgenthau told news men yesterday he’s devoting ”quit< I a little time" to the subject. Morgenthau emphasized he’: j not worrying over little guys—the ones pocketing tips and forgetting See T-MEN Page 2 MONTGOMERY APPEARS READY TO SPAN RIVER German Positions On East Bonk Of River Heavily Bombarded three crriis taken PARIS, March 23.—(TP)— Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley de clared today that Allied arm ies massed along the Rhine can cross the river “most any where at any time'’ and a Berlin broadcast said that Field Marshal Montgomery in the north “seems to be ready” to do just that. Forty miles of the lower Rhine were shrouded in a massive screen through which the Germans said Montgomery was heavily shelling their positions on the east bank and maneuvering his three armies—as welt as large sections of the American First Army. The skies were dotted with Allied planes iso lating the imminent battle field. Far to the south, the cities of Mainz, Pirmasens and Landau top pled and Ludwigshafen was being cleared in closing hours of the great Palatinate-Saarland victory. More than 100,000 prisoners have been taken there; Bradley said 203,010 had been captured in the Rhineland since Feb. 8. “There is complete calm on the Allied side of the lower Rhine.'’ Ross Munro of the Canadian press wirelessed from Montgomery’s head ■ quarters, “it is anybody's guess ! when the zero hour will come.” The only fighting on the 65-mile ; critical stretch of the lower Rhine between Arnhem and Duesseldorf j was by increasingly active patrols, I by artillery batteries and the | bombing and strafing air fleets. Bradley’s remarks implied that no pause for rest and refitting was j needed before his First and Third I armies crossed the Rhine at places I other than the Remagan bridge | head, now lengthened to 33 miles j with the capture of Neuwied near I Coblenz and hamlets within 12 I miles of the lower rim of the ; Ruhr. American losses in driving up to the'west bank were extreme ly small compared to the catas | trophic losses of the foe, Bradley I said. I ASMULi tKussimia i One report which the Paris ra dio announced it recorded from the German radio said assault cross ings of the lower Rhine already had been started by Montgomery's troops. Supreme headquarters spoke only of patrol actions. Far to the south, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s Third army captured Mainz (pop: 159.000) and Landau, a fortified Palatinate road center, and was mopping up the chemical capital of Ludwigshafen (143,417). The First army's east-Rhine front was widened to 31 miles when Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’ shock See MONTGOMERY Page ’ BRITlSHPUT VISE ON JAPS Push South From Manda* lay, Enemy Caught Be tween Two Forces ... CALCUTTA, March 23. —<.*>>— British 14th army troops swept southward from the Mandalay area of Burma today, steadily pinning the Japanese against other forces driving north from captured Meik tila. Pindale. a village road junction 19 miles north of Meiktila, and Wunlwin, on the main north-south trunk 18 miles northeast of the base, were captured after stiff op \ position. Meanwhile, from Meiktila j bases, other troops overran Jap anese positions in the northern 1 sector of the city and captured My ! ingyan, on the Irrawaddy, and its i airfield. American and RAF bombers bat tered enemy communications and installations in Burma and Thai land, destroying 27 locomotives and I collapsing six bridges in yesterday’s operations. Liberators of the Seventh Bom bardment group hit enemy radio , installations on Cocos Island, in j the Bay of Bengal. American and British fighter squadrons assault ed waterway communications, rail targets and supply and troop con c -.trations all the way from the Rangoon area to the north Burma ] front.
Shelby Daily Star (Shelby, N.C.)
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March 23, 1945, edition 1
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