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Newspaper
Athens Messenger
Location
Athens, Ohio, United States of America
Date
Jan 04, 1945
Page
1
Dr Juan Negrin, 54, former premier of the Spanish Republic, in London declares he will aid overthrow of Generalissimo Franco and help establish a stable, tolerant, and progressive republic in Spain after five years of silence.
German forces unleashed two counter-thrusts north and northeast of Bastogne as 100 tanks and infantry struck into the Bulge. The 101st Airborne held Bastogne while Patton threatened envelopment on two fronts. Heavy fighting continued along the Saar and Palatinate frontiers with gains in the Grandmenil sector and Rochefort area.
The Ohio General Assembly approved a partial appropriation bill granting state workers across the workforce a 24 percent average raise, with some receiving up to 30 percent based on tenure, effective immediately for January pay. Supplemental checks will be issued later this month. The measure includes over 53 million for government operation, plus funds for aged benefits, poor relief, and local subsidies.
Fire swept the Lima News Building early today causing about 50 000 in damage. A spokesman said the blaze started in the basement mailing room and spread to the business office and editorial rooms on the second floor before being controlled.
Washington says President Roosevelt plans to submit the annual message to Congress and then deliver it on the air to the nation on Saturday. Last year he sent the State of the Union to Congress at noon January 11 and read it almost word for word over the radio that night.
A report by the Ohio Water and Supply Board and Advisory Committee calls for strong regulations to halt pollution of the state's ground water. It warns that oil and gas drilling and improper sewage disposal could force a shift to distant surface water sources. Recommendations include crop rotation, contour farming, more farm ponds, and cooperation with federal bodies on reservoirs Burr Oak and Dillon in the Hocking and Muskingum basins.
In Athens reaction from leftist ELAS followers awaited to gauge Premier Plastiras chances to restore peace. Plastiras holds premiership plus war navy air and merchant marine posts after cabinet formation, with ELAS leaders demanding these portfolios.
On the Western Front an official estimate says about 20,000 German soldiers were captured in the first 16 days of their winter offensive. During December 16 to 31 as many as 400 German tanks were wrecked.
New York based 1 Price Administrator Chester Bowles defended the OPA order canceling sugar stamps red points and blue points saying it aimed to ensure fair 1945 supplies. He noted meat next quarter would be 10 to 15 percent lower than 1944 levels and clothing prices had risen about eight percent over the past year as he described the policy’s impact and challenges.
Front reports show Von Rundstedt retaining about 20 divisions in the Belgian bulge as Third Army thrusts continue. In Bastogne Americans battle a blizzard with limited air support while in the south the U S Seventh Army withdraws about five miles near Bitche Maginot city. Soviet and Allied air actions intensify around Budapest and Komarom with large scale battles over Budapest and unconfirmed parachute drops.
Washington report shows Democratic and Republican national committees spent 4,884,773.14 in the 1944 presidential campaign. Democrats spent 2,056,121.58 to re elect President Roosevelt while Republicans said they used 2,828,651.56 in their campaign for Gov. Dewey of New York.
Washington reports U S combat fatalities total 638139 through December 21, up 9698 from December 14. War Secretary Stimson said exact personnel and material losses from the December 16 Nazi drive are not yet available, with a full report to come. Army casualties reach 556,352 and Navy 81,787, increasing by 8529 and 1169 respectively.
Paris protestors and field correspondents urge release of information about the new First Army offensive withheld by supreme command. The action draws attention to war reporting controls and press access across headquarters and front lines.
Common Pleas Judge John R. King overruled a motion to quash indictments charging Perry J. Bailes and four Columbus residents with state election law violations. Bailes faced counts that he connived to help another vote an absent voters ballot illegally and signed another to an absentee ballot application. King held the signing of another’s name to a ballot application is a offense regardless of where the ballot was filed.
On opening day of the 79th Congress a Republican Democratic coalition pushed a 207 to 186 vote to establish the Dies Committee as a permanent body with subpoenas. The move outran Democratic leaders and raised questions about sustaining a Democratic majority in the House.
The Most Rev Michael J Ready was installed as the fifth bishop of the Columbus Diocese by Archbishop John T McNicholas. The ceremony occurred eight days before the first anniversary of the death of Bishop James J Hartley who led the diocese for 40 years.
Temperatures rose above New Year levels as fuel and food shortages eased in Ohio. In Piqua two deaths occurred indirectly from cold and gas fumes. Williams died on icy steps, 56. Gas rationing ended for some, but several towns lacked gas amid a severe supply crisis. Coal shortages hit Cleveland. Mayor Lausche sought emergency shipments. Main highways opened, but many routes remained impassable and milk deliveries fell up to 80 percent in places. Southern Ohio saw near normal traffic on major roads with icy surfaces demanding caution.
Herbert D. Defenbacher of Columbus, a Republican, will be Ohio director of finance in Governor Lausche's incoming Democrat administration. He has served three years as finance director under Bricker and was once a candidate for state auditor. Other cabinet heads named include Frazier Reams as welfare director and James Huffman as commerce director.
U S First Army confirms six added divisions and an infantry regiment aiding the counteroffensive. The Ninth Armored Division, and the Second Ninth 30th 75th and 99th Infantry divisions plus the 112th Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division are cited by Lt General Courtney H Hodges as crucial contributors in repelling the Hun drive.
Supt. W. F. Amrine of the London Prison Farm said George Weber, 35, of Cincinnati, who walked away from the farm on Christmas Day, turned himself in yesterday and surrendered.
The Republican Party plans rapid action between elections with Herbert Brownell Jr. in town to discuss future plans. Some leaders favor spending up to 1 million dollars in the next two years for publicity and educational campaigns, following a 350 thousand dollar current surplus. The finance committee led by James S. Kemper of Chicago will meet in Indianapolis on January 22 to assess future funding needs. Some GOP members may imitate PAC organizing tactics for campaigns.
Rome reported Canadian troops seized the village of Con ventello two miles east of Alfon sine on the Ravenna Ferrara Highway after heavy German casualties. About 100 prisoners were taken. American artillery repelled four enemy raids near San Ansano west of Highway Nine four miles below Bologna. German units persist with ambush tactics against patrols and reconnaissance.
Columbus industrialist L. L. Leveque and John C. Lincoln of Cleveland and Phoenix offered 755000 for half the stock of the AIU Building in Columbus. John H. Galbreath bid 731000 at the public auction.
Report from Berlin cites multiple independent Reich sources claiming Germany holds enough gasoline for its battle plan and that new weapons are being produced in underground factories. It describes a rocket-armed single-person device and a long-range aircraft using gasoline and compressed air, with ten V weapons said to be in production.
Planes swarmed over Formosa and the Okinawa Island Thursday for the second day, Japanese defenders admitted as Superforts returned from a raid on the homeland and U S bombs rocked the Philippines. Official enemy communiques said 500 aircraft, largely carrierborne, raided the Keystone islands.
Japanese imperial communique claims death by own action and says two U S transports sunk and a destroyer damaged in Mindanao Sea Philippines convoy attacks. MacArthur reports landings on Mindoro as Third Fleet strikes Formosa targets. Nagoya air center and Luzon installations bombed as U S bombers claim extensive enemy ship losses including transports and freighters.
Twenty state policemen searched the Wand Ling area near Scranton Pa today for a clue to the identity of the so called sex maniac blamed for the killing of nine year old May Barrett whose body was found yesterday in a vacant house.
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