The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 3, 1938, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LIIL, NO. 7940. JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1938. MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS o s— GERMAN SHIP IS SINKING NEAR OAKLAND Mystery Is Still Hanging QOver Sea Disaster 1 | WRECKED CRAFT MAY BE SEINER LIBBY NO. TWO. Haida Men Find Oar at| Scene with Canning Company Mark CUTTER SAILS AGAIN TO CONTINUE SEARCH Closed Doors on Sunken Vessel Point to Pos- sible Deaths BULLETIN—Late this after- was learned through the U. 8. Customs the mystery craft is the gasboat Eliza, wrecked on the night of October 28 at Point Hugh, with owner Frank Skook- companion um James and reaching safety by skiff. Capt. Einer Haugen of the motorship Dart reported to Da- vid Crocker, Deputy Collector of Customs at Petersburg that the Eliza foundered on the reef at Point Hugh and the two men aboard were given two days food by Jack Davis, a hunter from Sumdum, and left in their skiff for Gambier Bay. The Eliza was eight gross tons, 44 feet long, and had a 20 horse power gas engine. It was built in Klawock in 1928. A Libby, McNeill and Libby can- ning company oar found by the Coast Guard cutter Haida was the only clue today to the identity of the sunken seiner at Point Hugh, 45 miles south of Juneau and the fate of the craft’s crew remains shroud- ed in mystery. The Haida returned from the scene of the wreck last night after unsuccessful attempts to move the vessel or discern its name. Grap- pling hooks brought up the oar marked “Libby,” the ship’s anchor,| still on the submerged forward deck | when “hooked,” a rough two-by-four | ladder ten feet long, and a pen- nant of the Alaska Salmon Purse Seiners Union was taken from the masthead. Heavy Seas Officers of the Haida said heavy ™ Maybe Communists Should Be 7 seas running before a strong south- east wind made investigations at the wreck difficult. Two motor, launches made lines fast to the masthead about eight feet above low water level, but the boat could | not be moved. | The oar found with the “Libby” mark, was old and worn, but one Auto Death Figares show the num. | ber of deaths per 100.- | | 000.000 vehicle miles. | The chart, shows how CHICAGO, Nov. 3.—Motor acci- dents increase as the day draws to a close. And, the National Safety Council has discovered, the same rule holds for the declining year. Beginning in July and lasting well through the rest of the year, figures on traffic accidents rise. From September through Decem- ber, too, gasuline consumption falls off. This indicates pretty conclu- sively to the council that seasonal hazards enter into the situation. R. L. Forney, the council’s chief statistician, and Sidney J. Wil- liams, director of its public safety division, say the following condi- tions help explain the increase in accidents: 1—Since darkness falls earlier as autumn progresses, rush hour | crowds begin to appear on the streets in dusk or dark instead of daylight. That makes driving more hazardous. 2—There's an imperceptible increase in city traffic. People come back to town from summer vacations; | business picks up and as a re- | sult delivery wagons make more | trips. | figures for 1932-36, automobile fatalities increase during fall and winter. 3—There are no figures available, but the researchers agree that weekend football games are an important facter in the upsurge of accidents. Thousands of foot- ball f: take to the road; they're a carefree lot and a lot of them take a drink or two. Snow and icy weather have their effect. The first vision-obscuring snow flurries, the first icy spots on the pavement, take drivers unawares and lead to trouble. But when severe winter condi- tions prevail, reports show, driv- ers do proceed more carefully. The researchers conclude with a list of hazards that, though minor, must be figured in the seasonal study. Car windows are kept closed in cold weather; as a resuli engine noise deadens warning bells and whistles to a certain extent closed, drivers do not always give the proper hand signals. Frosted windshields probably are a con- tributing cause of mishaps. Fin- ally, closed cars that have de- fective exhaust systems some- times accumulate poisonous car- bon monoxide gas. Kept Away from Gravestones, Also from Telepho ne Books With windows, ¥ DEFENSE NOW UNDER ATTACK {Labor Opposition Calls| | Upon Government to | Reply to Charges 'SEA BATTLE FOUGHT OFF ENGLISH COAST ;Premier Gets Call as Roar| of Guns Heard—Span- | ish Craft Sunk LONDON, Nov. 3.—Laborite Her- bert Morrison, urging the House of | | Commons to adopt Labor Opposi- |tion’s motion censuring Great Bri- tain's weakness in air raid protec- ‘(101\, accused the British Govern- ment of “playing the fool in great | ilssues of public policy.” | [ Premier Chamberlain did not at-| |tend the because he is| | slightly 1 | debate indisposed. | Opposition speakers also pressed ! S Four Held as Canal Zone Spy Suspects E the Government for a statement on the Spanish Insurgent warship’s | attack of a Spanish freighter off | the English coast yesterday al‘t.er-i | The above photos show the four persons held in $15,000 bail, each, at of espionage in the Panama area. noon, Sea Battle 1t is definitely learned, that the ., o |Insurgent motor vessel Nadair s g 5 g o 5 shelled and sank the Spanish Gov-|Alaska Cl)lonlzutu)n Is to Be Attempted by Company ernment’s freighter Cantabria. This | Organized by Denver Men | Sergeant Herman. alarming news was received almost | |at the moment the British Premier was telling the House of Commons | that the Spanish Civil War was “no longer a menace to peace in| Europe.” Up Thames Next The Premier, late yesterday, won| DENVER, Colo., Nov. 3.—A group| approval by a vote of 345 to 138 on of Denver men have filed incorpor-| fifth as large as the United States his motion to put into effect the ation articles for an organization | proper, has a small white population British-Italian friendship pact. | that will attempt the colonization |in proportion to the area while Nor- When news of the attack by the of Alaska with European refugees| way and Sweden, located farther Spanish Insurgent armed ship on|and American unemployed. north, have a population running the Spanish Government’s freight-| The organization sponsors include | into the millions. er reached Parliament yesterday Robert G. F. Tallman, former asso-| The incorporators with afternoon, one opposition speaker |ciate of Judge Ben B. Lindsay, now | are Benjamin C. Hilliard Jr., snapped: of Los Angeles. | Tra L. Quist. BIRTH CONTROL Hess Warns of ADVOGATED NOW ~ Too Much Gor This remark was called up today \when the attack on air defenses Many CHarges |\ ey AREAS Contrl lask ~ Heard as Nation | s Large Families Big Handi- :was made. Prepares fo Vote ~“czp i Those who Til oil, Is Claim The sponsors assert that Alaska is and be up the Thames R Problem of Planning Coun- cal to Avoid Federal Domination, He Says The four, all Germans, are specifically accused of taking photographs of military fortifications near Galeta Island. At left (left to right), Escort Lieutenant J. M. Davis; Frau- lein Ingeborg Gutmann; Hans Schackow and Gisbert Groos. Right, Ernest Kuhrig is shown with Tallman | Cristobal, Canal Zone, on charges NEW SMASH " BY INVADERS N CHINESE Japanese Forces Reported| to Have Seized Puchi, Strategic Point | SHANGHAI, Nov. 3. — Smashing | the first major Chinese defenses |above Hankow, the Japanese invad-i lers are reported to have seized Pu- chi, strategic point 80 miles down | ithe Hankow-Canton Railroad. | For several days artillery has been assaulting along the Lu River flow-; | ing through the two, 45 miles up the Yangtze River from Hankow. Late this afternoon the Japanese | military spokesman announced Kiay Forst has also fallen into the hands of the Japanese forces. $500,000 LIBEL EXPLOSION ON VESSEL RIPS HOLE iK HULL Mysterious Blast Sending Steamer Down in Cali- fornia Harbor INJURED MEN SEEN HUDDLING ON DECKS Inrushing Rater Pouring Into Gap—Craft Load- ed with Canned Goods BULLETIN OAKLAND, Cal, Nov. 3.—~Four persons are reported injured aboard pthe Vancouver. Capt. W. Moessing- er, in a radio message says: “This looks damned suspicious.” Later radio messagcs from the ship said a column of water shot up outside of the ship fol- lowed by a roar. Spectators ashore said the ship veered toward shore and then let go both anchors. The Line agents deny any passengers are aboard the ship and also declined to say how badly the victims are injured. OAKLAND, Cal, Nov. 3.—A roaring explosion, of mysterious origin, ripped a huge hole in the steamer Vancouver as the ship was passing down the es- tuary, The ship immediately began to sink, stern first and then drifted toward shore. Persons ashore said they saw many of the crewmen, evident- ly injured, clustered on the decks of the stricken ship. The blast was heard for miles. The San Francisco Merchant Marine office reports the ex- plosion occurred in the engine room which was quickly flood- ed by inrushing water through the hole made. The Vancouver is a German freighter, operated by the Ham- burg-American line and was loaded with canned goods out- bound from the Columbia Riv- er and Puget Sound ports. —— e BOMBS RAINED ON MADRID IN EARLY MORNING Haida officer believed the numeral «2” was discernible, indicating a pos- | sibility the oar might belong to| the Libby 2, although advices from | Seattle headquarters of the com-| pany advise that Libby boats one to| four are all accounted for, accord- | ing to Associated Press dispatches | to The Empire. | On Even Keel i JACOBS BACKS SHEELY OVER low tide, the bow pointing north.\Dedares All Farmers Musl which officers of the Haida believed indicated the craft had struck the| Be Members of COOP to Insure Success reef south of the light. The flying bridge typical of seine; boats was seen, but the stern is| at greater depth and cannot be| SEATTLE, Nov. 3—Leo Jacobs, made out clearly. Haida men could | {ormer Manager of the Matanuska not see whether or not the big seine | (Alaska) Colony, defends Ross skiff seiners usually carry was on|Sheely who is attempting to evict the after deck. Oil was observed still | four colonists who have refused to rising from the wreck. ‘joir; l_he Cooperative Marketing As- Quick Sinking | sociation. It was observed that both pilot| “The Colony cannot succeed un- house doors were closed, and the|less every member belongs to the possibility has been aired that crew | Cooperative Marketing Association,” members may have been trapped|said Jacobs, “because the supply aboard the boat if she sank quickly.|from the farmers must be guaran- A heavy mud current off Point| i Hugh, depositing its sticky burden | Out a cooperative movement.” on the sea floor is believed to have| A ¢ mired the craft on the bottom. Hai- |D- C., and is optimistic concerning da officers suggest the owners the future of the Alaska colony in (when determined) will have to the Matanuska Valley. lash a barge to the hull at low| yrorT A tide to raise the craft. | DIVORCE SOUGHT Landing parties searched nearby | beaches, but found no trace of men| Suit for divorce has been filed in or wreckage from the vessel. The|Federal district court by Doris M. beach at Point Hugh is rock, flnd;l’ederson from Conrad R. Pedersen PR S AL . AR of Sitka, charging cruelty and in- (Continued on Page Two) 4 human treatment. By PRESTON GROVER WASHINGTON, Nov. 3.—A not- able thing about Russian propagan- da trials is the way the witnesses talk and talk about their own mis- deeds. | (By Associated Press) A notable thing about the Dles[ The election campaign will be investigation into the activities of jOver next Tuesday but indications such “un-American” elements a_glare its echoes will fill the halls of Nazis and Reds is the way some of Congress next winter. the witnesses talk and talk about/ The Senatecampaign expenditures their own carryings on. | committee has warned senatorial Of course in the case of the candidates in New Jersey that any American hearings, no one is going | excessive political expenses might to shoot anybody at sunrise or send | lead to a contest over seating the anybody off to Siberia. But they winner. The warning came after New Jersey Candidates About Expenditures Senate Committee Warns SUIT IS FILED LEXINGTON, Ky, Nov. 3—A Ye-| .0 ot tne major probiems of | duction in the birth rate is advocat- (pe Alaska Planning Council is to | ed before the National Rural Home strive toward development of the Territory in its own right and to keep away from too much Federal‘ Government domination, Luther c.|Minnesota Political Race| | Hess of Fairbanks, member of the | Reachin g Dagger | The President of the Conference Council from the Fourth Division | % introduced the resolution which is and for many years a member of POII’HS Over BOOk oo g | certain of approval. He said big | the Territorial Legislature, told Tl};e sh‘:{l‘ Lurst faniiiihs By a Handicap to the mud_;members of the Chambelj of Com-| MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Nov. 3'_1530 48 - ¥ merce at their weekly ' luncheon | Abraham Arris, Editor of the Min- |$3dOT's rooms &:id also tore a big ern farmer. this noon at Percy’s Cafe. " | nesota Leader, a Farmer-Labor pub- | N0le i the front part of the build- lication, and leader of Gov. Elmer "2 | Benson’s re-election campaign, to-| The rooms Lave not been used | day filed a $600,000 libel suit against $iPce Ambassador Bowers establish« Unoccupied U. S. Embassy | Rooms Wrecked by Bursting Shell MADRID, Nov. 3.—A shell struck {the urnccupied American Embassy | Conference as a means of improv- |ing conditions which are now a dis- advantage to rural classes. in the Ambas- There is a tendency, former Sen- ator Hess said, to lean too strongly teed and cannot be guaranteed wuh-‘ Jacobs is enroute to Washington, | are fascinating, just the same. |the committee received charges The most recent witness we have | ffom George Biehl, Editor of the heard is Clyde Morrow of Detroit| Hudson News of Union City, that who told the committee he had Hudson County and Jersey City em- been a Communist organizer and ployees are being assessed a million strike leader but wasn’t any more, dollars for the Democratic cam- |'To prove his case he showed his | paign. Communist passbook, with the, The committee also is studying | stamps showing the several years complaints of WPA coercion among he had paid dues since joining in voters in several states. This inquiry 1932, His Communist name was brought a -statement from more C. Main. Communists, he said, take | than 200 Republican candidates for | special names from gravestones or Senate and House seats that they | telephone books. will seek unceasingly congressional investigation of politics in relief. HOSTAK OUT SEATTLE, Nov. 3.—Al Hostak, CONSTRUCTION SPEED URGED, GRAND COULEE Secretary Ickes Wants Larger Sums Avail- able to Dam Work WASHINGTON, Nov. 5—Secre- ry of Interior Harold L. Ickes to- day advocated speeding up con- struetion of the Grand Coulee dam and making larger sums available for work each year. The Secretary said, at a press HE GAVE 'EM NAMES | | ‘Morrow named over all the Com- | | munists he knew, in connection with Detroit labor troubles, and added a lot of names of individuals, including a dozen or so Detroit | teachers, who he said had walked defeated middleweight champion, |along the street with Communists, who suffered broken bones in both or had_attended lectures by prom- | hands Tuesday might in his fEht | conterence, that the sooner ihe othee wats Badt baisdnin (b k| y Kreiger, has left the| Government completed the big pro- | hospital for home. He is eager for j.t the sooner could it repay the (Continued on Page Five) r return match. multi-million dollar investment. on the Federal agencies and to bring the Territory’s planning council under the influence of the Federal Government like, it ap- pears, “they are trying to do.” Several members of the Council were guests of the Chamber at to- |day’s luncheon and they were in- troduced by John E. Pegues, the Council Secretary. | James C. Rettie, Associate Con- sultant for the National Resources | Committee, who is here to assist the Council in its deliberations, said |that “planning never will be ad- minisrative, but always advisory.” He explained the national setup and said the purposes of the na- tional committee as well as the local planning groups in the var- four men and one publishing firm, charging defamation of character as a result of a book, “Communists or Catpaws,” turned out by the latter. The defendants are Robert F. Mc- Cormick, publisher of the Chicago | Tribune; Ray P. Chase, former | State Auditor and author of the book; F. M. Steiner, Minneapolis | business man, and E. L. Somerville, President of the Minneapolis Real Estate Board. FOREST FIRE - RAGES IN ALA. headgnarters at Hendaye, WO years 8go | The Madrid poiice report that 15 |persons were killed und 34 persons injured. | It is estimated that 204 shells fell on Madrid during the bom- bardment. . ed h it Nevada University 6rid Season Ended | RENO, Nov. 3—The University of Nevada’s football season was at an |ious States and Territories is to| BIRMINGHAM, Ala, Nov. 3. — end today. |suggest several alternative plans | The fire which.is burning over 70,-| The Board of Regents ordered the for constructive development which ;000 acres of timber is still raging. football team disbanded as a re- (Continued on éage Seven) ) two-month drought which has left the entire area bone dry is blamed. can be submitted to LegislaturesAll available help is being pressed sult of friction between the team for information and such action as| into service to block the inferno. A and the board. The team had still | three games left to play for the | season.