Altoona Mirror (Newspaper) - July 29, 1944, Altoona, Pennsylvania it HOME EDITION The Circulation of the Altoona Mirror Yesterday COOLER When you write the soldiers and sailors abroad use the service Your ters will reach them in shorter time VOL 60 NO 40 ALTOONA PA SATURDAY EVENING JULY 29 1944 TEN FOUR CENTS BOMB MANCHURIA Americans Capture Coutances and Trap Thousands of Nazi Troop ARMORY WILL END ACTIVITY NEXT Armed Force tion Station Units f Will End Four Operated as the armed forces in- duction station at the Altoona armory for almost four years the Altoona unit known as the service unit of the Third command of the United States army will cease to exist after Monday July 31 All activity at the armory ard avenue and Tenth street will cease next Monday Men assigned to the station will be transferred and all equipment in the structure will be removed to Harrisburg Closing of the station affects the army navy marine corps army air force WAGS and civilian activity Major Directs Closing Maj Arthur ing officer of the army unit and director of the station for two years will remain in Altoona prior to a new assignment He will look after all details dent to the closing of the station The army air force will move to an Eleventh avenue building with 1st Lt Arthur J Herlt administration officer and 1st Lt Frederick Brinkley army air force overseas veteran directing the work The WACS have removed t the Altoona postoffice headquarters Induction work entirely ceases on Monday with the army and units remaining in Altoona to oper ate only in recruiting activity ac men not in the selective service status Recruits is estimated that more than physically fit men have been accepted for the armed forces in Altoona since the station was ed on Nov 25 1940 The men have been assigned to every branch the armed services and construe tion battalions Altoona was the induction cenfer for twelve counties represented by a total of thirty-six selective ice boards Registrants from al these boards reported to Altoona for physical and mental tions for swearing in and for transportation to reception centers and camps Counties embraced in the Altoona AFIS included Blair Bedford bria Centre Clearfield Huntingdon Fulton Somerset Indiana Mifflin and Jefferson counties in addition to Altoona and Johnstown city areas Open Station In 1940 The army station was opened by Col J T Schraeder of Harrisburg with the aid of Harry Con- rad Herman Burke and Arthur J Herlt all from Harrisburg and the first men were accepted Nov 26 1940 100 being examined The Altoona station was directed Continued on page 4 column 6 MAJ ARTHUR T BAKER Maj Baker commanding of the armed forces induction station at the armory concludes two years service in Altoona as the station closes as a Third service command unit on Monday RED REPORTS SHOW IiR VICTORY WORK DEVELOPING FIRST PHOTO OF YANKS ON WAY TO GUAM BEACHES Tempo of War Is Re- In Board ing GET PROGRAM FOR AUGUST H J Kerstetter Gets New Post Herman J Kerstetter division engineer Middle division sylvania railroad has been given a new assignment according to an announcement this morning at the office of Superintendent H G Hostetter He is leaving the city to take up a new post with ters in Philadelphia Mr Kerstetter has been ed division duty in the office of the general manager of the Eastern region phia He has been succeeded here by K A Werden division engineer of the Cincinnati division Mr Kerstetter is a native of Pa and entered the com- employ in August 1911 on the Williamsport division in the en- department He filled various positions on the Buffalo New York Conemaugh and burgh divisions and came to the Middle division post on March 10 1940 He is a veteran of World war No 1 and was affiliated with the local council of national de- fense active in the Blair War erans canteen and other civic ters BIG PLANE CRASHES LONDON July Twenty-two persons aboard a ambulance plane en route to the United States were killed when the aircraft crashed into a cliff near the in Scotland the 9th air force announced today There were no survivors of the Pennsylvania railroad have a busy month ahead cording to the August work gram announced this morning by Works Manager F G Grimshaw It will keep the shopmen busy on a full-time basis to maintain cars up to the company's standard in the heavy traffic The program was given to eral Chairman Charles W Nelson of Altoona Works local No 42 Brotherhood of Shop Crafts of America the authorized bargaining agent for the workers for to the forces in the various departments of the shops Employes working on ance of locomotives will have an expended program of new and re- pair work in order to keep pace with the heavy passenger and freight traffic moving over the lines The schedule calls for re- pairs to 148 engines sixteen more than the present month The Altoona car shops have been given a program which includes work on seventy-two passenger cars Some of them will be com- during the month while thirty-nine will be started and com- in September The freight car order calls for repairs to 120 box cars a reduced order due to the increased engine work The increased tempo of the war was reflected in the reports of the staff of the Blair County chapter of the American Red Cross pre- sented at the board meeting last night at the headquarters 1317 Twelfth avenue J Edward Benney presided in the absence of the county chairman Hon D Emmert Brumbaugh Mrs A J Ford executive tor in the absence of Mrs Mame McAleer reported that 860 cases had been handled by the home service unit during of July The large number included inquiries information financial sistance to families of servicemen and other kinds of aid In general report Mrs Ford announced that Mrs Claude D Mickelwait of Washington D C a Powerful Columns Are Throwing E n e m y Back In France member of the the Red Cross national prisoner staff of service will explain the operation of the Red Cross war prisoner program on Tuesday Aug 8 at the hotel The general public has been invited to hear her Mrs Ford said Windows Cited The windows of the chapter headquarters were also discussed by Mrs Ford made sible by Robert Craine of Rio de Janiero and Hebert Greene rator of William F Gable company A tribute to the late Norman H Davis chairman of the American Red Cross who died on Sunday morning July 2 was read A tribute was also read to Martin March chairman of the canteen service of the chapter which was published in the Altoona a j publication of the local induction station Man Arrested As Officers Keep Vigil Officers of the city police de- maintained their vigil throughout last night in their forts to protect the people of the city against the prowlers who have seen abroad but it was stated by Lieutenant L W F Haberstroh his morning that no robberies were reported During the night officers from headquarters responded to three prowler calls but in no case did in- disclose that a break had been made or a house entered At 3.26 o'clock this morning George Eisenhart aged 42 was ar- at Chestnut avenue between Third and Fourth streets where he was found by officers lurking be- tween two houses He was locked up after being docketed on the charge of being a dangerous and person and for questioning and investigation Lt said that hart was arrested by the ment in 1939 and sentenced to tlie penitentiary for a term of four ears What appeared to be an attempt o gain entrance to the J M Dunn apartment on the second floor at In Mrs the absence of Paul Morse Ford announced that classes in junior and senior would begin on Wednesday at and Lakemont parks She also announced that the water safety unit had contacted the ian air patrol and that Mr Morse will instruct them in water safety and Miss Elisabeth Eyre in first WEATHER FORECAST WASHINGTON D C July Western Pennsylvania Partly cloudy and somewhat cooler with a few scattered showers tonight and probably 40 a m on Wednesday The laughter of the home was about Continued on page 8 column 1 RELIEF PAYMENTS SHOW INCREASE treasurer G Harold Wagner re- that direct relief payments to needy residents of Blair county during the week ended day show an increase of over those of the previous week Payments for the week totaled which was lower than those of the comparable week of last year Payments by the bureau of assistance disbursements in the state treasury department were for the current week and for the previous week aid when organization is Many Graduated For the month of July 185 were graduated from the beginners course in water safety at Prospect park and thirty-five in the inter- mediate course At Lakemont there were eighty beginners with teen intermediates had thirty-four beginners and Memorial park forty-two beginners Robert Pennington at Memorial park had twenty-two senior dents graduated Mrs Archie Slutzker in the re- port of the volunteer special ices said that surgical ings are ready for shipment as soon as cartons arrive Beginning with December the quota of ings from the Blair county ters will be increased to each Continued on page 8 column 2 By VIRGIL PINKLEY P War Correspondent SUPREME TERS AEF July powerful tank column captured f Coutances and drove on another eight miles to the south today in a break-through to the west coast of the Norman peninsula that trapped thousands of mans against the sea Leapfrog Tactics Employing the famous leapfrog tactics used and perfected by Lt Gen George S Blood and Guts of Patton jr in Sicily the west coast armored column and at least three others inland swept across the Sienne and Soulle ly mentioned as possible enemy de- fense engulfed or passed scores of towns and villages in what was developing into one of the greatest American victories of the war The reference to the tactics used by Patton recalled recent German claims that Patton had taken a command in Though the early stages of their retreat were chaotic the Germans now appeared to be conducting an orderly withdrawal along the en- tire western half of the front so rapidly that indications were they may not halt for a stand short of Avranches at the hinge of the mandy and Brittany peninsulas twenty-five miles south of ances The telegraph bureau said the Americans were attacking with ten to twelve tank mated an offensive apparently designed to smash into the heart of France in an attempt to split the German armies in two and clear the southern flank for a drive on Paris MIGHTY BLOW IS LANDED ON AREA Japan's Arsenal of Greater East Asia Comes Under U Si Attack Leaving long white wakes American amphibious tanks are shown as they headed for the beaches of Guam in the initial stages of the invasion of the former United States possession The tanks are loaded with marines and bristling with armament that quickly effected the landings photo International Navy A Tightening Grip Upon Both Tinian and Guam By FRANK TREMAINE U P War Correspondent PEARL HARBOR July United States marines on Tinian surged southward today after ning a second air strip and control of half the island in a ad- vance while American forces on smashed inland two miles rom the western coastline to their hold on the Apra harbor naval anchorage Two thousand of several and Japanese troops who id to break through the American killed in a bitter pre-dawn battle ercy Finch representing the com- ined allied press reported from invasion flagship offshore Some of the enemy troops rated to within 100 yards of the beach before they were by hard-fighting marines who smashed the attack and scattered the remaining Japanese force Finch reported As the Guam invaders fought furiously to annihilate an estimated Japanese troops trapped on peninsula Adm Chester W Nimitz's latest communique dis- closed that the campaign in the had already cost the defenders nearly enemy dead on Guam Tinian and conquered Saipan vln the old offensive Nimitz revealed enemy diers have been killed including who were buried on Saipan an estimated 4.700 dead on Guam and on Tinian The last summary of American casualties listed dead wounded and 606 total of indicated that United States forces were killing Japanese at a ratio of better than seven to one Nimitz reported that cah troops listed among more than casualties on Saipan have returned to duty and presumably some have joined the 2nd and 4th marine divisions on Tinian With American planes already using Ushi point airport on the northern tip of the island marines advanced nearly four miles to the south to capture the airfield nese had constructed above guan point United Press War Correspondent Richard W Johnston reported in a front line dispatch from Tinian that there were growing signs the Japanese would attempt a death stand in lower half of the land FOUR TO SUBMIT A f1 IN COURT MONDAY Allies Poised For Battles on Italian Front Three former freight brakemen in the Altoona yard who were ar- rested last week on burglarizing freight charges of cars are scheduled to enter submissions be- fore Judge George G Patterson at a session of miscellaneous court on Monday morning at 10 o'clock at Hollidaysburg The men are Clarence Howard Commissioners Cox and Norman Robert Maurer of Altoona and George Washington Hoover of Duncansville K D No 1 They were arrested by vania railroad and city police who said they recovered a large ment of stolen goods William E Patterson of Altoona has indicated that he will submit to a charge of larceny when court convenes Monday morning John W Black was appointed assessor of Greenfield township at a meeting of the Blair county board of commissioners at the courthouse yesterday afternoon Mr Black will fill the vacancy caused by the death of S P Mock The commissioners also approved payment of a from the com- of Pennsylvania for maintenance of thirty-eight inmates from Blair county iri the Western penitentiaries at Pittsburgh and Rockview Road to Berlin By United Press The shortest distances to lin from advanced allied lines miles miles miles By United Press ROME July British 8th army drove Germans back through the Tuscan hills to within five miles of Florence today and steadily tightened an assault arc on the historic cultural center while the American siege of Pisa bogged down to a temporary stalemate The entire German line on the Florence front sagged under the weight of a converging British drive which overran half a dozen of the central Italian city's out- posts All the ground south of the Arno and Pesa rivers was being cleared and the allies were in tion for a frontal attack on the main German positions in the Gothic line Polish troops Adriatic coast captured the ern part of the fishing port of Senigallia at the mouth of the Misa river seventeen miles northwest of Ancona Nazi Synthetic Oil Plant Hit By U S Heavies By WALTER CRONKITE U P War Correspondent LONDON July fleet of more than American heavy bombers attacked th big synthetic oil refinery at Merseburg five miles west of Leipzig in western Germany today after a night raid by RAF bombers in similar strength on the port of Hamburg and the industrial city of Stuttgart It was trie second consecutive day of air assault for Merseburg and the fourth raid in a week on Stuttgart In the daylight raid 8th air force heavies also struck at Bremen German seacoast town an- Mixed weather permitted Two of Four Sons In Armed Forces Are Wounded In Action Two sons of Mr and Mrs Rov The submitted for the month W Gingery of 1927 Ninth avenue of June is for a total of days at a daily rate of per person and amounts to County Commissioners Herbert S Bolger Milton S Emeigh and For- rest L Bartholomew will be in Williamsport Monday Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to attend the convention of the Pennsylvania State Association of County Com- RAINFALL HEAVY The rainfall last night amounted to 29 an inch according to measurements made at the railroad test department building The high temperature yesterday afternoon was 91 degrees the low last night was 62 degrees and at 9 o'clock this morning the temperature was 76 degrees Juniata have been wounded in in Prance in recent weeks were the Purple tion and Heart The parents have received word from the war department that Kenneth E Gingery serving with the infantry was wounded in action on June 19 and that Pfc Russell C Gingery with the suffered a wound on July 6 Both went to the beach on D-day The Purple Heart awarded to Kenneth Gingery has been received by his parents while the similar award received by Pfc Gingery is now in sion of his wife Mrs Sara Evans Gingery Kenneth entered the army in Feb 1941 He served at Camp Fla Dilworth N C Newport News Va and Camp Meade Md He has been over- seas for two years Gingery is a graduate of Altoona High school class of 1938 and be- fore entering the service was em- ployed in Baltimore Md Pfc Russell Gingery was ed into the army on Jan 18 1942 and sent to New Cumberland He trained at Camp Maxey Tex Prior to induction he was employed at the East Altoona enginehouse He is married to the former Sara Evans and they have a daughter aged 1 Two other Gingery brothers are in the armed forces of their country S Edward W Gingery pushing up of the formations to bomb visually through cloud breaks while bombed with the aid of in- United States 2nd tactical air force Liberators also attacked man airdromes at and northeast of Paris but cloud conditions prevented ob- servation of results The Leuna plant at Merseburg is the largest synthetic oil factories still producing Several previous attacks cut its capacity but it still is an important source for syn- thetic petroleum ammonia and other nitrates used in explosives Sixty-two planes were reported missing from last night's tions the air ministry announced today It was the largest loss sustained by the RAF since March 30 when ninety-four planes went down over Nurnberg Germany in the heaviest loss ever suffered by an allied air force better navy know as is in He entered the service the last January and received his boot Continued on page 8 column 3 LEADING PILOT MISSING OIL CITY Pa July Francis Grabeski the nation's ing fighter pilot is missing in tion his family was notified today by the war department Col Grabeski whose planes destroyed in twenty-eight the air passed that of any other American flier had been fighting in the European theatre He also has de- three planes on the ground Outskirts of Warsaw Under Soviet Attack By HENRY SHAPIRO Staff Correspondent MOSCOW July tanks and cavalry reached the eastern outskirts of Warsaw and were storming the defenses of the Polish capital today after a five-mile dash up the east bank of the Vistula river A London Daily express dis- patch from Stockholm quoted a German spokesman that the man army will make no stand east of Front reports said German re- sistance southeast of Warsaw had evaporated as never before on the eastern front as Marshal tin K Rokossovsky hurled his powerful 1st White Russian army against the capital on a mile arc curving from the east bank of the Vistula to the east Germans Hurl Robot Salvoes By BARCELLA Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON D July Super Fortress bombers struck a mighty blow for the cause of embattled China today blasting the fabulous industrial tary center in the Mukden area of spawning ground of World war No 2 and pan's arsenal of greater east Asia Industrial Target The first United Press flash from a secret base in western China said attacked Anshan big iron and steel center and site of the Showa steel works the largest iron and steel mill in Manchuria Raid Acknowledged The raid was acknowledged today by Tokyo radio which named An- shan and in the Mukden region as the cities hit and claimed that one of the big planes had been shot down by anti-aircraft fire The Japanese broadcast ed by the FCC came a little more than four hours after the war de- announced the raid In an broadcast Tokyo said no damage was inflicted on industrial installations And only slight damage was caused to ian districts Anshan is an industrial city of in the Mukden region while Dairen with a population of 000 is about 250 miles to the south near Port Arthur on the tung peninsula Tokyo Complains Tokyo complained that its pet state Manchukuo has not de- clared war on the and this is the raid by the American air force on Manchukuo It charged that the American short wave radio announced the raid while it was in progress and con- cluded that this showed the ican fliers were out for propaganda results rather than war Roaring boldly over their rich targets by daylight the giant bers presumably cascaded tons of explosives upon an area studded with heavy tries which produce many of the weapons that have been turned upon the Chinese during the past seven years Here too is the principal Continued on page 8 column 2 Serious Charge Under Scrutiny By JACK FRANKISH Staff Correspondent LONDON July mans hurled their robot bombs against London and ern England in salvoes last night and today in an effort to saturate British defenses One bomb wrecked several pital buildings setting them afire and burying at least seven patients beyond hope of rescue crashed into the basement but nurses sleeping there worked their way to the ground floor and helped patients to safety Some doctors and internes at- tempted to quell the flames while others tended to the wounded eral patients had been taken to the hospital after being injured in an- other bombing incident only a few hours earlier Others were blinded The hospital was the second aged in three days by robot bombs By DEAN W DITTMER Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON D C July Charges of collusion between ranking government officials and the Congress of Industrial in promoting the dacies of new deal office seekers were under scrutiny today by house special committee on un- American activities Committe Chairman Martin Dies D late yesterday mads public a preliminary report ing seventy-two federal employes with being in frequent cation with CIO Political Action committee officials during recent campaigns The report included a statement by the committee's chief investigator Robert E ling who From evidence gathered I am of the opinion that the CIO Action committee is in ity not so much of a labor political committee as it is the political arm of the new deal administration While it is true the top of the PAC are identified with labor yet the people who are tually running the organization seem to have no background with labor but are fresh out of government
