20 Jan 1944
Page 1
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Newspaper
Athens Messenger
Location
Athens, Ohio, United States of America
Date
Jan 20, 1944
Page
1
Five Japanese vessels sunk at Rabaul after heavy Allied air battle. American bombers and fighters clash with Japanese forces in the Pacific, with air losses mounting on both sides. The report notes German losses in Russia and Italian and Japanese casualty figures amid a large air engagement.
Soviet forces push from south and west of Leningrad sever a seven mile Nazi corridor to the Gulf of Finland and seize Krasnoye Selo Peterhof and Ropshcha while Novgorod is evacuated. Berlin reports Novgorod lost and 20 000 Germans killed in five days.
Secretary Stimson said General Douglas MacArthur will not be retired at age 64 when the retirement age arrives next Wednesday. MacArthur’s status remains on the retired list though he was recalled to service after an earlier retirement in 1937. In broader war updates, Solomons naval actions, Rabaul air losses, and continued Allied air superiority are detailed with multiple battles and locations across the Pacific theater.
The corn supply has increased in the Chicago market over the past few days due to pickups from the Midwest corn belt. Orn is urgently needed in the eastern states to support dairy production including milk butter and chicken feed.
A jury acquitted Mrs. Sarah Raioth on charges of election irregularities tied to the recount in Ungstown. She was accused of involvement as a precinct judge and faced a jury trial before the court.
Congress committees tackle a two billion dollar dispute over discharge pay for service members. The House cut Senate allowances to 3.6 billion, approving 100 dollars for under 60 days and 300 for longer service, while capping officer pay and denying some student and voluntary discharge claims.
Washington marks the anniversary of Roosevelt's third term as the president notes the day by work. Venezuelan President Isaias Medina Angarita stays at the White House with a state dinner and joint breakfast. The president meets Carter Goodrich and Marriner Eccles on his morning schedule.
CHICAGO Mrs Frank Starr Williams a wealthy socialite and wife of a State Department attache in Washington was shot in her Drake Hotel apartment last night and was reported near death. The unidentified assailant, described as a middle aged well dressed woman, fled. Williams until 1942 served as commercial attache at the U S embassy in Tokyo.
Restaurant operators from 34 central and southeastern counties in the Columbus district will meet in Columbus on Feb 1 to present their case against the establishment of restaurant ceiling prices.
Director John C. Virden of the regional War Production Board said the U S cannot return to civilian volume production while major offensives remain. He cited 1944 production targets at 180 points vs 154 last year and 173 in the last quarter, and forecast no passenger car exports until the war ends with Japan.
British coastal batteries opened fire on a German convoy in the Dover Strait at dawn initiating a duel with Nazi long range guns on the French coast. The exchange continued sporadically for nearly three hours.
Washington reports a 50 percent rise in combat plane production for 1944, with over 100000 planes planned and airframe weight exceeding 10,000 pounds per plane. Fortresses Liberators and heavier craft lead the schedule, while training units shrink.
Senator Butler presents a second Senate accounting claiming U S spending and commitments to Latin America reached 5 7 billion over three years. He calls the totals a refutation of administration denials and warns that money cannot buy goodwill or replace national self reliance.
War Production Board chairman Donald M. Nelson plans a limited laboratory test of reconversion in three regions with HQs in Cleveland Philadelphia and Kansas City idle and surplus metals to be used with few restrictions Civilian goods would be sold without priority limits to reduce diversion to military or export use The plan aims to gain experience in reconversion and could expand after the European invasion is clarified.
Captain John J. Nolan reported that 65 percent of Ohio pre Pearl Harbor fathers reclassified from 3-A in December were placed in deferment categories. Of 44,890 moved from 3-A, 7,593 went to 2-A and 21,463 to 2-B, reflecting civilian essential work and war production deferments.
Fourteen WACS and three soldiers were injured when two Army trucks collided at an intersection on the Fort Devens reservation while returning from a dance. Private Nellie B. Wilson of Marietta, Ohio, was kept at the new station hospital for leg and back injuries.
George N. Briggs aged 55 remains suspended as special assistant to Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes amid the Hopkins letter inquiry. North Dakota Senator William Langer disclosed a purported Briggs letter to C. Nelson Sparks, former Akron mayor, suggesting the original letter about Wendell Willkie’s GOP candidacy was in Ickes' possession.
Chicago report shows Speaker Rayburn warns at the United States Conference of Mayors that bungled postwar policy could revive pressure for centralized government. He will appoint a bipartisan House committee next week to draft peacetime prosperity legislation. He warned depressions could push people toward strong centralized control.
Wilson D. Sanders head of the beverage section says OPA rules issued Dec 27 cut prices of new whiskey blends by five to ten percent to curb price evasion via new brands. Senators questioned liquor shortage and urged price controls.
Dallas soldiers including 200 WACs donated blood at Baylor Hospital for four year old Billy Meers suffering from chronic nephritis. The boy had been receiving transfusions for months as part of the effort to combat the incurable kidney disease.
Authorities say 3500 bodies have been cremated since the quake last Saturday in San Juan. The toll is expected to rise as debris is cleared and 300 known critical injuries are added to the count.
Representatives from the offices of the surgeons general of the Army and Navy told the Cleveland Academy of Medicine last night that both services face an immediate need for 3000 additional medical officers.
After eight years of estrangement John L. Lewis and AFL President William Green held a secret meeting on readmitting the United Mine Workers to the AFL. Green did not vote to break a 6 6 tie last August, leaving the decision to future negotiations on District 50 jurisdiction. The council may decide on District 50 soon.
Interior Secretary Ickes aide George N. Briggs, a 55 year old former newspaper man, figured in the Harry Hopkins letter controversy. Senator Langer said Briggs produced a letter signed with Harry Hopkins name predicting Wendell Willkie as 1944 Republican nominee. Hopkins condemns the letter as a forgery.
Washington reports a rumor of a Nazi haven in Argentina for Adolf Hitler. Secretary Hull declined to discuss the rumor at a news conference while the State Department weighs recognition of a new Bolivian government and whether to address pre axis activity in the Western Hemisphere.
London press issued a warning about insidious peace talk propaganda attributed to the Germans. Similar cautions appeared in the Moscow magazine War and the Working Class which urged cleansing the political atmosphere of poisonous gases allegedly spread by the Nazis to divide the Allies.
Russian reports say 36 of 152 heavy artillery pieces were taken near Pulkovo ten miles south of Leningrad, as Volkhov front troops under Gen Meretskoy advanced through fortified lines. The Leningrad thrust widened a 30 mile gap north of Novgorod, threatening German rail links and isolating the besieged garrison. Govorov’s offensive linked with Leningrad efforts, driving through to new positions and constraining German moves while city residents noted a silence from cannons for the first time in two years.
Vivian Kellems of Westport Connecticut challenges post war reserve policy urging business leaders to defer taxes She calls tax laws unlawful seizure Treasury Morgenthau condemns disloyalty while urging lawful change Congress seeks action and IRS vows to collect taxes Despite her stance officials insist tax payment remains patriotic during the war.
The Office of War Information said wartime industrial accidents killed 7 000 more people than battle wounds up to January 1 and that injuries cost four times as many man hours as strikes. It called these plant accidents a major production and manpower problem with safety lagging behind the expansion of production lines.
Washington framing notes show a Senate debate planned for Friday on Roosevelt’s $1.5 billion subsidy program to curb retail food prices. The banking committee approved Bankhead’s bill to liquidate the subsidy system by June 30 on a party line vote, signaling a setback for administration plans.
AQRON-CP!-Emmet B. Harper's authority as president of the CIO United Rubber Workers' Union local at General Tire & Rubber Co. was challenged today by insurgents whose leader said Harper and other officers had been suspended after charges were filed. Harper blamed the insurgents on the expulsion of 70 members for a work stoppage in General's band room two weeks ago.
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