Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 195, Ed. 1 Friday, August 17, 1945 Page: 1 of 16
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CONQUERED JAPS STALLING ON SURRENDER MEETING
★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ ★★★★
NATION PREPARES HOME FRONT FOR PEACE
AIRPLANE
PRODUCTION
CUT 90 PCI.
SWEETW
atc-b-Beporter
DEDICATED TO SERVICE)
“West Texas’ Leading Newspaper”
BITY IT IN SWEETWATER
48th Year
Brother of Local
Woman Tells Of
Cruiser Sinking
By UNITED I’KKSS
The nation is busy today Ret-
ting its peacetime house in ord-
er.
As far as reconversion is con-
cerned, the military so far has
done the biggest job.
The war department has just
announced a $10,000,000,000 cut-
back in army air force procure-
ment. That means that work on
01,000 more aircraft — mostly I-ieut. Charles MeKissick, son
heavy bombers — will be stop- of l)r. and Mrs. .1. T. MeKissick
ped. And it also means that pro-' of Abilene and brother of Mrs. A.
sent airplane programs have , M. Arbaugh of Sweetwater, sur-
been cut approximately CM) per vivor of the sinking of the cruiser
cent. Next year planes produc-1 Indianapolis and one of ten Tex-
ed will be only six per cent of ana of the 105 who lived foilow-
the war department schedule—• ing the tragedy, told the fantastic
and even that figure may be fur- story to a war correspondent,
ther slashed. !Vick Fowler, in a story appear-
This latest cutback also calls j ing in the Dallas News,
for eliminating more than 13,000 The story tells of survivors
fighters. 5,000 transports and floating for five days on soggy
Sweetwater, Texas, Friday, August 17, 1945
No. 195
life jackets, awaiting help that
did not come. He told of the ship j
being three-days out to sea. i.t.
MeKissick had returned to his
cabin after attending a movie
when the violenjt explosion
threw him from his berth. A sec-
ond explosion filled his cabin
with smoke. He soaked a towel in
water and rushed to open a |K>rt.
An enlisted man led him1
through a gun turret to the for-
and others put.
that i
5,000 trainers and other ty|x*s of
aircraft.
In fad, most of the planes
continuing in production
will hr of thr experimental
and research types.
The military services also are
struggling with the problem of
how to demobilize the biggest
military force in America’s his-
tory.
Here is the picture, as it looks
at this hour.
The Army hopes to discharge 'leek. He
5.000.000 soldiers in the next 12 llf<‘ Jackets on wounded
months under the point system were so badly wounded flesh fell
inaugurated three months ago. Screams were terrible as the
The Navy plans to release be-;'’hip listed 50 degrees to star-
tween one anil one-half and two board and then to 00 degrees,
and one-half million men and Courage went up when they
women within Ik months under learned distress signal had been
a point system somewhat slmil- sent. A navy pilot discovered
ar to the army’s. them. I.t MeKissick had found K
And the Marines will make rations floating and divided them
discharges under a point -ystem with loo men.
Identical to the army's — with He told of many dying and 200
the same ‘‘critical" score of 85 slipping from their life preserv-
making all the difference So i-rs into the sea. He said that on
far there have been no estimates Monday a crate of Irish potatoes
nn the number of Marines ell- waa found floating. Every man
gllile for discharge. had a potato to eat. It was their
Tin* coast guard will be de-! only food,
mobilized just like the Navy "\Ve were covered with oil, ouf
But no figure has been set on eyelids lielng stuck. The heat
tlie rate <<f discharge. was awful and many could not
President TnNUi indi- ,,. w,. mumbled of mother atu
cafes that the war labor I food." He told of trying to swim
board I* due for a discharge l() ;in imaginary island. The res-
cue plane dropped a raft and
cans of fro h water while men
were maddened from thirst The
(cans split open when they hit
the water. I.ater a Catalina Fly-
ing boat picked up the men. Most
of them lost from 12 to :to pounds.
The ship had just delivered an
atomic bomb load to the front
sumed today, with merchants
looking forward to release of
worked for an all-out victory
Mrrvlre stnllon operator*
were first to feel Die iiiliiid
end of war, when string* of
motorist* moved into the
few stalloo* that leoiallied
open for (be day, nch with
a smile a* he said “fill ’er
op.*' Nome *ald "Just rno It
over a tilth-," and others
brought "mid" outubers of
gallons like seven or nine,
which has been rare since
coupon buying of five and
six gallons.
Churches received thousands
of resident* who for the second
time, had gone to “thank God for
t.v Judge Delas Reeves for
fight* started In Itoscoe and cul-
minating In Fait view Heights.
t hief of Police D. X. Mill-
llli* said he alerted Ills “off.
dot)" men, hill did not need
them. The) Mere asked to
keep rinse to their tele-
phones In ease of emergen-
cy. "No one Mas recalled,"
said the chief. Only one
small disturbance was re-
ported. “Mm eel Mater people
handled thr formal surren-
der Miindrrfully," ihr officer
asserted.
All federal offices are rinsed
See SWEETWATER Rage 8
NATIONS RUSH Enemy Complains
Of Lack Of Time
PEACETIME
SET-UPS
(By United Press)
With the war all but over, the
United Nations are rushing
through final plans for the first
meeting of their peacetime org-
anization.
The executive committee of the
organization's preparatory com-
mission is meeting in London to-
day. Representative* from 14
governments will lay the ground-
work for the first peacetime con-
ference of the United Nations.
The committee will select a
tentative site for the Internation-
al meeting. It will make provi-
sional arrangements for the first
general assembly to take over
from the outdated league of na-
Itions. The representatives also
will nominate justices for an in-
: ternationa! court.
American Representative Ed-
j ward Stettinius is slated to ar-
il ive in London today from the
I United States.
Meanwhile, a condemned
traitor, Marshal Henri Pe-
tal”, 1* Kitting In a French
prison awaiting IDs fate,
to ncrnl De Gaullt- I* expect-
ed to follow the Jury’s recom-
mendation not to execute the
mi ary Htt-yrar-old marshal.
By UNITED PRESS
The Japs apparently are still stalling for time
—trying to delay action on the formal capitulation
to the Allies.
First, an American broadcast from Okinawa
said that the Japanese surrender envoys would
arrive at Okinawa sometime tonight en route to
MacArthur's Headquarters at Manila.
But later, an official Japanese reply to Mac-
Arthur said that the Japanese envoys could not
take off at the time specified by the Allied su-
preme commander because, as the broadcast put
-------- it. of the scarcity of time
The Japanese said they're
greatly embarrassed at this, and
RED REGIMES
ATTACKED BY
CHURCHILL
LONDON — (UP) — Former
Prime Minister Winston Churc-
iiver a bitter attack on the east
and will join him shortly. -Wibilty that restrict-: his
One attorney says the mar- KV^?,la, throughout
shal -a-.v -.t ih,. r n ; , the war, Churchill told Common.-
M, II wrcmly l?un2 ,Bal * «■"»•* communl-tic M
«■!“> *&«1*'-- wmVSn, z
promised that the envoys would
take off for Manila as soon as
possible.
It may be possible that the
Okinawa announcement was
based on the assumption that
Japan would do what MacArth-
ur had ordered — not on any
formal Japanese answer.
The official Japanese reply
not only said the Japanese en-
voys could not leave tomorrow
as they had been ordered — but
hm",'; e!.' ■ claimed that Tokyo couldn't un
hill rose m Commons today tode- (Jersland what ^ of plan„
MacArthur wanted them to fly
He said this wave is threatening ’his report from
h„ , ............... , , ne -.no nis wave is inrcaten
m „ ?fnM" r i " £"(iWha* the unity Of the Allied nation.
CROWDS CELEBRATE SUBHEADER REPORTS—Over goes it m-Mspupi-r truck in San Iran-
cIm-h'k Market Street as celebrant* went wild over a surrender report broadcast over the
Tokyo radio, (fop photo), Mlille (hotloin photo) service men and civilians Jltterhagued along
Wa-lilngion's Pennsylvania Avo., as they celebrated the Tokyo radio report that Japan had
accepted the Allied pence terms. (XEA Telephotos.)
remains of his life In prison.
Radio Moscow says two war
heroes. General Eisenhower and
Marshal Zhukov, arrived in Ber-
lin today. Elsenhower has been
visiting in Moscow,, where he
was enthufla.stncally j hailed by
' Russians of all rank<(
The Russian government news-
paper Izvestia has derided the
.... Tll, y , i«m ann America moe me secret
In his first major speech as
leader id flic opposition i imr-
»hill warned that trouble
might explode between Rus-
sia and her western Allies If
any power tries to dictate
the poR'hal strnetv.T *J Eue-
'ope. * * T «
Churchill demanded that Brit-
ain and America hide the secret
Incidentally, the Chung-
king radio quotes a Chinese
newspaper ns saying that
American troops reportedly
have landed in Shanghai.
There's no confirmation of
any reliable
lurre. However, L-t. Gen. A1
bert Wedemeyer announces that
American army headquarters
will be established in ShanghtA.
From all indications, the sur-
render news certainly hadn't got-
ten around to all the Japapgse
people — and eyen sonic i-mr W
Tokyo itself don't know,'mry're
licked or what defeat nreans. A
Japanese Domel news agency
broadcast calls on the Japanese
to give every effort to the ad
, , , . , , ,, -,uiiitiiu, vuikioci aim me , mien vancement of the scientific
HZ* States must keep it among them which .mabled the
soon, lie told reporters this
morning Dial the WLR —
the giivrrnmrnl's Martlmr
Instrninrnf for keeping In-
dustrial pence — will con-
tinue in existence for a
Mlille. Rut hr addl'd that It
probably Mill hr a very lim-
ited Mlille.
,/r sfsr'nit; j riz««"*«— -
WLB into a |>earctlmc agency '•
for handling postwar labor dls-j- - . _ ' .
puli .till v,,ige matter- lie add MClOtl rCCO At City
ed that the tabor department is p * r f*
studying the ,’ituation now rOTK rOf DLL' Kjroup
indicating that Secretary <J The Hoard of City Develop-
Lalxir Kchwellenliach probably ment will have a water melon
will be enttn.-tcd with the criti feeil at the city park at 8 p ni
cal problem of developing a mat today
tonal Litw>t policy for the recoil i The Iced melons will In- served
vet ton period. at the picnic ,|ti- Ben II Rob-
The nation's financial leader, rrts. president, will announce
are lartmg action to cut a cou hi. comnilttec. for the year
pie of those cipher.-, oft tlie gov Committee in charge. Irving
ernment budget I,«•••)». fluv Morris. Leland Glass
Chairman Clarence Cannon of and Fred Howard are volunteer
Die house appropriation com Ing free melons Each person Is
mlttee rushed to Washington asked to bring a fork and towel
Immediately after the Japane *■ - -v
surrender lie aid hi cinmlt WE VIIIEll FORECAST
tee will make an Intensive in , WEST TEXAS HTt Part-
vestlgation to find out how- |v cloudy this afternoon, tonight
See AIRPLANE Page 8 and Friday
S'water Is Calm Today
After Joyous V-J News
Sweet water today Is calm af- i victory." Meditation filled many
ter a spirited demonstration that • homes whose son* were not
sent the citizenry wild with Jov ] spared by the doom of war.
when V-J news heralded the end Avenger Field was quiet,
of World War II Tuesday even Men called their families long
ing (distance, most said little. A sc-
Although president Truman rl<-- of gatherings at friends
announced a national two-day , home- was alsiut their only deni-
holiday, business here was re onstration The field had a two-
day holiday
Sheriff Will Samples said the
prlee control, at least on some town was unusually quiet after
inert handl e, and anticipating the over all celebration follow-
bulging shelves of "cottons", nv ! ing the cease fire order. A few
Ion Imse and ofltei comin<*litie: Mexican- were being arraigned
that grew -carce as the nation In county court today bv Coun-
Pat Gerald, 8-Year
Vernon Coach Will
Head System Here
Pat Gerald. Vernon high school
football on tIi for eight ycai .
has been elected as head couch at
Sweetwater high school. Dr It
I. Williams, -upcrlnteiulcnt, an-
nounced today.
(Jerald, who has held promi-
nence in \\' ' and North Texas
loopisll district- for more than
15 yeai - conn her" with an
outstanding record to ucrui'd
Mack Alexander, who resigned
recently after a year a head
coach and *e\iTuj years in the
system
Tit* mi iil**r M**ti Do- dis-
till i cll-'lllpliuisllip Ini' t' l-
11*111 Direr Hulls, pliii-eil s.-e.
mid lot four years and third
iiiii* year, I’rior In that lie
headed Die alhlellc depart*
iiii ■■( at I .i it In* ii*lli' Ini seven
years, nInning dl-tilcl three
limes and leglnnill lM Ice.
lie m is graduated with a BA
degree from West Tcx.i- State
T* aehei> College, Canyon in ID30
and received his masters ilegree
In Pt:u While Iti teachers college
he reeelveil four letters with the
Buffalo in bu ketlKill, track,
bt'iseliall and football, where he
starred as quarterback and half.
Coach Gerald Is a pa-slng en-
thusiastic and udvocates the
double wing bin k formation sup-
plementing with triple wing
back Ills wife and two -ons, two
and five, expect to move here
when they can find a residence.
—-------— v———-—
FILL 'ER UP
DALI \K il'Pi D-alers
me having to be reassured
that no longer are ration
coupon required f**i ga-o
line al"s.
But it's ini*' really
f)PA Rationing Kxeetuive
Harold K ( irmlehael says
that si far as the OPA is
eoneerned, gasoline -tallons
pan Just fill er up no
coupons needed
Carmichael's statement Is
Issued after some Dallas fill-
ing stations continued to de-
mand coti|x»ns from custom-
ers In spite of a Washington
announcement y e a t e r day
that that gasoline rationing
is off.
— v " . ■—
Sixteen o|ieratlons are needed
In making the ordinary sewing
I needles.
Sunday Proclaimed
Day Of Prayer
WASHINGTON (UP) — President Truman
has proclaimed next Sunday as a day of prayer
and thanksgiving for the Allied victory in World
War Two.
The day of prayer, Mr. Truman indicated, will
be separate and distinct from V-J day, which will
come through another p residential proclamation
once Japan has signed the instruments of sur-
render.
Under questioning, Mr. Trumnn said he felt
Americans will have had their victory holidays yes-
terday and today, and therefore he did not envis-
age V-J day itself as a day free from work for the
nation.
153,000 Unemployed
Expected in Texas
In Next 3 Months
, won the war against Japan with- ln ,he intcrestv
out further fighting Little is (W hUI
known in Moscow about the
j given in President Truman’s an-
i nouncement.
if world pea
gives the atomic
: says tlie two bomb dropped on
! Japan enabled the Allies to call
off a gigantic offensive that
| would have cost the Allies more
[than one-and-one-quarter million
! men.
The former prime minister
| told Commons that plans had
been m,t*l" at I1 t- * foi ■
might have proved the bloodiest
campaign in history He said that
it was with the price of hlood be-
fore them that the Allied ieaders
made their decision to unchain
the devastating powers of
atomic bomb against Japan
A 27-
'WASHINGTON It pi Here
Is the text of President Tru
| man's proclamation for a day of
prayer:
' The ’.'ar lords *>f Japan and
the Japanese armed forces have
surrendered They have snrren
dered unconditionally Three
months after victory In Kuro|>e.
victory has come In the east
"The cruel war of aggression
which Japan started eight years
.ago to spread the forces of evil
over the Pacific has resulted In
| her total defeat.
"This is the end of the grand-
iose schemes of the dictators to
enslave the peoples of the world,
destroy their civilization, and
institute a new era f il.irkni
and degradation This day Is a
new beginning in the History of
freedom on this earth
"Oar global victor) lia*
*-oiiu* ti'om tin' t'otit’ugi' anil
stamina and spirit of free
niiui and women nnllrd in
di'li'i-tnlnaDon In fight.
"It has conic from the mas-
sive strength <>f arms and mate
rials created by penrr-lnvlng
peoples who knew that unless
i they won decency the world
I would end.
"It has come from millions of
(icaceful citizens all over the
world — turned soldiers over-
night — who shnwetl a ruthless
enenu that they wete n<it afiaid
to fight and to die, and that they
knew how to win.
"It has come with the help of
God, who was with us in the
early day* of adversity and dls-
See SUNDAY Page 7
There is looming In Texas the
possibility of more than 153,000
unemployed war workers with-
in the next three months
All of which Is the result of
the end of the greatest conflict
mankind has ever known
One official refuses to tie tden
tified publicly, but says he ex-
perts approximately 330,000 war
plant employees to l*c released
within the next on flays lb* adds
that nearly half that amount
may find themselves unemploy-
ed
Just how *0011 reconverting
industries can absorb the releas-
ed war workers can n*>t lx* learn-
ed with any degree of reliabili-
ty.
Plants in nil parts of Texas
engaged in war production eith-
er are closed or are operating on
reduced schedules bci a use of
the cancellation of war con-
tracts
The huge \orlli Ameri-
can plant at Grand I’rnlrlr,
a* well a* a smaller Dallas
plant, have been ordered
closed and all production
*l**pped Immedlalel). Till*
Is brought about lieeau*e of
govrrnmrnf ranrellnDon of
ronlrart*. Only skeleton
crews to aid In file rinsing
See 153.000 Page 7
Waitress Charged
With Concealing
Holdup Money
FORT WORTH Up)
l year-old Fort Worth waitress_
(and wife.'of a returned overseas
veteran -Is free on $1,000 bond
She Is charged with receiving
.and concealing $3,200 from a $•:,
IKK* holdup at El Paso last Friday.
She I* Mrs. Velma I’hlfer.
She led offln r* to the spot
where the money was hid-
den In a tin ran under a mi-
le rt after she had t-ilkrd by
long distance with a woman
held In Oklahoma City In eon-
necflon with the El Paso
robbery.
Mrs. Phifer says *hc had been
* given the money for safekeeping
by the Oklahoma woman and
two men whom *hc met at the
airport In Fort Worth
The Oklahoma woman I.* iden-
tified a* Myrtle Knapp.
Two men arrested In Amarillo
i hv state patrolmen and charged
with the robbery of a Juarez
'money exchange messenger have
: liecn returned to El Paso for
i trial
..............V - - ........—i
There is a movement in Texas
to call the residents TeXlans In-
stead of Texan*
the
RE-DEPLOYMENT
TIME TABLE
PARIS i UP
deployment tit
30th Dlviulm
on the high
scheduled to
ton August 22r
13th Atrls
le hi
Allies to win the war.
The Third fleet got the great-
est bag of Japanese planes of
the war during the final 72:
hours of the war. Planes of HaJ-3
Key's Third fleet destroyed or
damaged 1300 Japanese planes A
box score of the fleet’s ojiera-!
lions from May 28th through
yesterday shows one of the
most crushing defeats ever in-
flicted on any nation in the air,
on the land or in the sea
There were ntnts earlier to-
day that the actual signing of
the urrender documents would
take pin" on Admiral Nimltz's
Third fleet flagship. Later,
Washington military sources
suggested that MaeArthur will
make the Japanese high com-
mand sign the document In Em-
pf.Tor Hir* hlto - palace at Tok-
vo. Till: would indeed he ironic,
in view I the late Admiral Ya-
mani"'- b i-t early In the war
that he would dlrtate peace
terms t the United States from
the White House
American Lightnings will take |
*,ff fr* ni Okinawa for a flight to
th* tip of Kyushu to lok for the
Japanese plane —a white trans-i
is,rt with green crosses iwlntcd j
on high seas.
Main tw*ly
**n It The squadron then will
paring for shlf
intent i.ite
this lead the plane south
week at 1^* Ha’
,-re
The ni"ment the Japeneae piano
45th Division
En route fi
,.nrn laxies to a stop at an le airstrip,
Camp St la*ul
s at Reims
the envoys will be ordered out
Monthly area fm
r la* Havre fi
. tn anil wil, 1*' transferred to an
wht're It will
shuttle lo S '
u,),. \merlian transport to begin the
ampton for sli
lipment on
the hop to Manila The Jap piano
Queen Marv at
suit Sept 1
will lie kept at Okinawa for the
137th Regime
nt: Still at It
nis- return trip to Japan which m'UI
sels Will sail from la> H
September
Advance parties on ,ii
the 13th Airborne are hm
cept
To Adjust Evaluations
Of School Properties
Property owners. In today's
mall, received notice from the
Sweetwater Independent school
district, "of general adjustments
Ion the percentage of the evalua-
i lions rendered by tax payers "
j "Though valuations on proper-
ty have generally increased lo
i per cent nr more during the last
I tour year*. n<* change has lieen
| made In such renditions. Be-
cause of Increased teachers salar-
! ies and labor and maintenance
| cost essential to operating an ed-
ucational program comparable
with that of similar cities, the
local board has determined it Im-
perative to raise the percentage
on evaluations."
The notice eontlnneit: “This
artlnn was taken following
an aerountlng of the hiidgef
for the lull. 13 si h«si| if,ir.
Mhich revealed that exprtiill-
lures everged Ihr Income
hy more than xtH.ism.
' \ft**r carefully studying the
above mentioned Increase and
considering the new property
| not here-to-fore rendered, it Is es-
timated that he budget for the
11945-ifi school year will approxi-
mately balance "Therefore your
| local school board has acted in
accordance with Its rrspoiutiblH-
(ties realizing that every patron
i and tax payer Is desirous of pro-
viding acceptable educational op
i iMirtunltles for the children of
| Sweetwater,"
The announcement was -Igncd
by John W. Pepper, president of
! the school board.
Mfew days hence I
Almost Its* newsmen and
radio e**rrcs|iondrnts have
gathered at Mm Arthur’*
hi-mhpi.ii-ti r* to rover the
preliminary ceremony. Hot
s*> fur *inly sparse official
unnouni cment* have hern re-
leased to tell of the prit-
gfe*s of arrangements for
Die siirrrniler and oreupn-
Don.
•••■< or.'.'I'** I intal
■ I *ign the aclual - ir-1
' * *b".ird Admiral!
Nimltz's Pacific fleet flagship.
■ -vi ■ en|
* uiei'iit l *'X
ported to Iw the new Japane
government head. Prince lllga
shl-Kunl. Tin- prinre Is a mem
ta r of the Imperial family, an nn
■ mpriss and the fir#
• I Jap.ini ■ royalty Uj
head the government.
The Prince Is expected lo a
p unt hts full cabinet by night
a cabinet to replace Pro'
ml* t Suzuki* gnvernmen'
whl* h re-ugnetl yesterday.
Meanwhile, another lm|*irtan
Japan*- * official has taken t
tt - li'ion.d Japanese way out oi
serious trouble—suicide Japan
ttaehe okaim
See SUHRENDEK Page 4
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 195, Ed. 1 Friday, August 17, 1945, newspaper, August 17, 1945; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth710684/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.