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Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Dec 15, 1944
Page
1
Weather outlook shows fair conditions with warmer temperatures tonight and Saturday. state max 34 min 23. Local church announcements cover sermons at Austinville Church of God Memorial Drive and West Side Presbyterian Christmas programs, plus stewards meeting at Memorial Drive Methodist.
Decatur police arrest two men in the murder of 51 year old Ingalls Shipyard employee Lee Shafer. Shafer was found dead Saturday in the 400 block West Wilson Avenue, beaten and shot, with a substantial blood loss noted by the coroner. Confessions were signed by Stutts and Flanigan in the presence of witnesses, each blaming the other.
Foreman L. E. Slate at Ingalls reported a fund total of 333.30 to aid the Shafer family. Slate said the money would press the prosecution of the case rather than serve as an outright reward. He planned to confer with Shafer family members the same day.
Police responded at 7 15 Saturday morning to a man found beaten and shot on the 400 block of West Wilson Avenue. Detectives examined the scene, tracked footprints, and questioned nearby residents and passing drivers. Two Black men reported seeing two suspects flee, a car light, and a pursuing dog, with details later traced to a residence on trees in the block.
Shortage of paper prompts The Decatur Daily to limit December subscriptions to renewals only. No new subscribers accepted by mail. Check expiration dates and keep current. Armed forces subscribers may continue despite relocations within served areas.
The piece warns that Greek contratempts and European bloc formations risk undermining the Atlantic Charter and global order. It argues the charter unites China and India and that Western failure could push the East toward a hostile bloc, foreshadowing a long East vs West struggle.
Russian flying columns and motorized units clashed with a German SS force along the Ipoly river north of the panhandle bend as Malinovsky presses a major advance toward Bratislava and Vienna. Moscow reports say advances include Szendro push and closening on the Slovak frontier.
William White, a West Walnut Street resident, is dead and A. J. Jones of McCartney Street is hospitalized after a Thursday afternoon pistol duel at the Davis and McCartney streets corner. A murder warrant was sworn by Mary T. Hines, with Patrolmen Sandlin, Parker and McCall investigating.
Decatur civic clubs respond to a request from the Camp and Hospital Committee of the Morgan County Red Cross to provide decorations for six Christmas trees at the Courtland Army Air Hospital.
Fuller, a resident of the Mo community, died from a bullet wound and exposure after being shot at the Lowery residence. Mrs. Carson Lowery is jailed on assault with intent to murder charges. Emmett McMillan received a minor arm wound as the incident unfolded. coroner cites bullet wound and freezing as death causes. Funeral plans to be announced.
Greek insurgents gave Britain terms to end the 13 day leftist revolt as a basis for a possible armistice. ELAS pressed attacks on central Athens while demanding amnesty for leaders a national government and a regency until a plebiscite on monarchy or republic. British insists the ELAS leaders sign through the EAM before any accord.
The Morgan County War Bond Committee reports $1,767,913 invested in the sixth war loan. Series E bonds total $391,612.50 toward a $501,000 quota, about $110,000 shy. Other investments amount to $1,376,300.50. Tickets for tonight's show at Riverside High School cost a series E war bond.
Allied air forces pinned Japan’s fighter and bomber wings in the Northern Philippines destroying many planes and damaging ships. A Japanese report said 400 carrier raids hit Luzon, with B 29s over Manila, as MacArthur's campaign cost Japanese about 82,554 casualties vs 10,409 American.
St Louis reports Helmuth C Setz a 53 year old millionaire chemist who lived in voluntary confinement in a West-end hotel for six years left his room last night for the first time since March 1939. He was taken to a brother's residence and his whereabouts were unknown. Setz inherited a lead company estate worth about 1 million dollars in 1924 and said he wished to continue chemical studies undisturbed.
President Roosevelt signs the act creating two new five star ranks equal to Britain’s highest and nominates seven officers to hold them. George C. Marshall Douglas MacArthur Dwight D. Eisenhower H. H. Arnold as generals and William D. Leahy Ernest J. King Chester W. Nimitz as fleet admirals. The move contrasts with Senate battles over State Department nominees and pension provisions for veterans’ widows and children.
The National Labor Relations Board ordered a collective bargaining election at the Shipbuilding Corporation plant in Decatur Alabama. On the ballot are the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America CIO and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America. The Brotherhood and the company signed a bargaining agreement on November 9.
In a Commons speech Churchill aligns with Russia on Poland while lamenting delays in uniting the Big Three. He backs Moscow’s eastern Poland claims, proposes compensation from Germany, and urges Roosevelt and Stalin to meet soon to prevent fracture of the wartime alliance. He warns a split among the great powers could ruin the new world order.
U S Seventh Army crossed into Germany near Wissembourg and Scheibenhard driving toward Karlsruhe and Mannheim. The invasion marks the easternmost Allied advance in Northwest Europe with multiple spearheads into the Bavarian Palatinate and nearby towns as German forces rush reinforcements to Colmar and the Saarland.
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