The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 25, 1939, Page 1

) THE DAILY “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LIIL, NO. 8009. JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1939. MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS ALASKA EMPIRE PRICE TEN CENTS Two Thousand Believed Dead In Earthquake INSURGENTS NOW ENTER BARCELONA Advance Guard Reported on Qutskirts of City, Moving In Tonight BULLETIN—HENDAYE, Jan. 25.—Insurgent dispatches the report that an advance guard, | cne column, entered Barcelona early this afterncon, from the south, but are waiting on the | utskirts of the city rather than further penetration until stronger ferces have arrived. It is expected that full forces will arrive late this afternoon or by night fall. Large fires are reported in the old quarter of Barcelona where thousands of refugees:are cut off from escape by the Insurgent which is around most of the city. The cnly road still open is that which hugs the Mediterranean coast. Even this road is being ' shelled. | Insurgent artillery is being meved closer to the city. | Refugees are attempting to | escape by every conceivable boat in the harbor, Bombs are be- ing dropped on the harbor. \ MOP UP OF GUERILLAS _ GoyERNMENT TRYING TO 1S ORDERED e ! Japanese Navy, Also Army Along Yanatze River, | Start New Campaign | SHANGHAI, Jan. 25.—The Jap- anese War Council at Nanking is reported to have drafted a program to mop up guerilla forces now con- centrating in the vast areas along the Yangtze River. | The Japanese leaders said they | have agreed the Navy will have a| garrison in all towns and villages along the the Yangtze River, from Shaghai to Yochow, 700 miles up- river while the Japanese Army will devote attention at cleaning up the adjacent territory. Delayed messages from Americans at Kuling, a Chinese district near | the Yangtze River port of Kiukiang, ! says Japanese planes bombed Kuling i on January 16, damaging the Am-| erican missions and other foreign property. The message also states many foreigners were injured. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HALTS MILK IMPORTS Ketchikan Infringement of Regulation Is Stopped by Karrlo Nasi Importation of milk into the Territory, in violation of the Stand- ard Milk Ordinance, has been stopped by the Department of Health, Kaarlo Nasi, Public Health Engineer, reported today on his re- turn from Ketchikan. Several concerns at Ketchikan had been bringing fluid milk in from Se- attle, Nazi said,-but have now been prevailed upon to cease the prac- tice. Reason for the importation was that Ketchikan does not have quite neough milk produced locally for needs of the city, but this situation will be corrected by enlarging of herds there, Nasi said. The milk ordinance will be en- forced rigidly hereafter, Nasi stated. L i Denies—llazi Sabofage af Air Plant SAN DIEGO, Cal, Jan. 25.— Naval Intelligence officers and also Consolidated Aircraft Cor- poration officials have issued de- nials to the charges hurled by Harry Bridges, West Coast CIO director, that Nazi agents are sabotaging planes at the Con- solidated - Aircraft Corporation’s plant. “Raskob Heiress Is Engaged {MRS_ SMITH Raskob, the Demecratic will take place after its completion. married Dolores Hartor, Anncunced recently in New York was the engagement of daughter of Millicnair® John J. Raskob, former chairman of National Committee, to Charles Wesley Lyon Jr., Ily prominent sportsman of Santa Barbara, Cal. rishing a law course at the University of Virginia. The marriage .} ina Barbara Young Lyon Raskeb’s son, Robert Pierre, ew York socialite in 1937. STARVE 14 CAVETICKS T0 SENATE BILL ON MARKETING ACT 1S WITHDRAWN Alaska Highway Expenses Measure Passed- 3 New Bills The Territorial Senate really started rolling at high gear this af- ternoon, introducing three new bills, passing another and receiving from committees recommendations on five other measures. In addition, one bill, Senate bill no. 6, was withdrawn by unanimous consent after its author, Senator Henry Roden, said he had found the measure to be unnecessary as its purpose already had been accom- plished by another act. The bill had to do with amendments to the_ coop- erative marketing act. . Passed unanimously was Senate bill No. 11, providing $5,000 for ex- penses of the Alaska member of the Alaska International Highway Com- mission. The member is Donald Mac- Donald of Fairbanks, who has been put to considerable expense in do- ing work preliminary to construction of the highway. New bills are all of minor nature. Senate bill No. 21, by Senator Roden, would make it possible for residents of Alaska to establish their date of birth by filing a petition with the U. 8. Commissioner when documen- tary proof is not available. Tax On Undertakers Senate bill No. 22, also by Senator Roden, reduces the tax on undertak- ers. Under the present law all under- takers operating in communities of more than 500 persons are taxed $100 per year.-The new bill would make the $100' tax apply only in cities of more than 200 inhabitants. In cit- ies from 100 to 200 the tax would be $25 and in cities less than 1000 the tax would be $10. Senator LeRoy Sullivan introduc- ed a measure, Senate bill No. 23, dealing with Territorial aid to agri- cultural and industrial fairs. It pro- vides that the Territory shall fur- nish half he exj:enses of such fairs, if they meet certain requirements. Tax Boat Opposed Returned from the Finance com- mittee with a récommendation that it do not pass was Senate bill No. 18, calling for an appropriation of $25,- 000 for maintaining a boat for the Tax Department of the Treasurer's Office for use in Bristol Bay. Receiving “do pass” recommenda- DEATH; AT IT FIVE YEARS By PRESTON GROVER WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.—One of the multifarious duties of this gov- ernment is to starve 14 cave-ticks to death, slowly. Undoubtedly the governmen t] would starve the ticks faster if it| could but they don’t starve on a speed-up basis. For five years now they have had nothing to eat, they seem reasonably alert, and, more| to the point, they continue to har- bor venomous supplies of the bac- teria which cause relapsing fever. That should bé of especial interest to Texas and California, where the ailment is best known. It now is almost a question which will survive longest, the ticks or Dr. Edward Francis, germ specialist of the bureau of public health, who is starving the ticks. STUDIES GERM BEARERS Dr. Francis, who for 38 years has been experimenting with ticks and other hearers of mischievous germs, recently returned from a Baltimore Hospital where he survived one siege of relapsing fever contracted while handling kin of the starving 14. Now he has published a report on the condition of his charges, well into their sixth year of starva- tion. Originally there were 119, but the others died. All survivors are.females. By an odd quirk of government organization, the re port is published by the treasury, which, like the ticks, is also a bit hungry these days. Dr. Francis is not likely to die of old age before the ticks die of starvation, as he .is a robust per- son of 66 and utterly happy about his experimental work. But he has often been afflicted with the dis-| eases he has studied, and most of them are of a type which makes an attack a real hazard. Already Dr. Francis has had two| attacks of relapsing fever and has survived psitticosis - (parrot fever, often fatal), dengue (in the orient| scads die of this), tularaemia (which he personally identified years age), and undulent fever (from milk of ailing cows). He has worked with cholera, spotted fever and yellow fever without contract- ing them. | “HUMAN TEST TUBE” His associates refer to him as a “human test tube,” a title which annoys him as he objects to any in- timation that he voluntarily infects himself for experimental purposes. The reason for starving the ticks is to find out how long they will survive and still harbor the infec- tious spirochetes. The ticks starve in caves and burrows for years and then attach themselves to some luck- less rodent or human and get a (Continued on Page Two) (Continued on Page Five) TAKES STAND "IN SURPRISE “Red Bal” Lefter Is Ad- mitted Also in Morn- ing of Melodrama | | | | The retrial of Forrest B. Smith | on a murder indictment in the death | of Thomas Colling, reached a dram- | atic height this forenoon when As- | | sistant District Attorney George | Folta surprised the courtroom and | the defense by producing as a wit- ness, Mrs. Smith, wife of the de- | fendant, who did not testify at | the first trial and was believed to |be in Seattle. 1 The defense agreed to permit the | testimony of Mrs. Smith, and during Icross examination, defense attorney | George Grigsby succeeded in intro- | ducing the widely discussed “Red Bat” letter as evidence, a letter Mrs. Smith admitted writing to Colling, | but which was not admitted to evidence at the previous trail. Heightening the drama of the courts, Smith himself was permitted to cross examine his wife. Tells Her Story Telling her story of the shooting | of Colling for the first time before | | the District Court, Mrs, Smith, | dressed in black coat and hat and | wearing glasses, spoke calmly and volubly, her hands most of the | time folded quietly in her lap. Colling, a steward on the steamer | Tongass, went to the Smith home | on Gastineau Avenue on the day of his death, with a jar of cookies in | his arms, Mrs. Smith testified. “He had promised me the cookie | jar on the trip north on the steamer | Tongass,” Mrs. Smith said. “He | came in and gave me the jar. I took it out to the kitchen, took it wap |out of the paper sack and surprised to find cookies in it. “I offered him one and took one | myself. He had taken a seat near the | radio and T came in and sat down {across the room from him. I had | just taken a bite of my cookie when I heard a noise and jumped up. My husband was standing in the | doorway with a gun in his hand. “He said, ‘T've been laying for you and I'm going to kill you,’ and Mr. Colling jumped up—and they started L‘struggling for the gun back through | the kitchen door into the kitchen. “T was near the front room door— | T don't know what I was doing, and |T heard a shot—then I heard an- | other shot. “Down On Your Knees” “Jack came out of the kitchen | then with the gun and said, ‘Get | down on your knees or I'll kill you.’ “I said, ‘Go ahead, Jack, shoot me,’ but he said, ‘No, you stay here,’ |and then he left—to call the police, | T guess.” Mrs. Smith further testified that she had returned from a trip south | on' the Tongass, getting back late in | September after having gone Out- side on the Tongass in mid-summer, | and shortly after her return, she and her husband had entered into a| separation agreement. “He asked me to stay until after the 16th,” Mrs. Smith testified. “He | said he wanted to be with the baby | five days more. Now I know he wanted to wait until the Tongass arrived.” Returning again to the day of the shooting, Mrs. Smith told of how attorney Sam Duker had gone to the Smith home and arranged for “Jack” to stake mining claims for him at Taku. “I told Jack it was all right with me and he said he was to meet two other men with a gasboat at Grindstone Creek, taking a taxi to Thane and walking down, leaving Wednesday morning.” Movements Checked Asked by Folta if Smith had made any efforts to check her movements, | Mrs. Smith said, “Yes, a taxi driver | came to the house one Saturday night and asked if Jack was home. | “I asked Jack why the cab driver | had come and he said it was none| |of my business. Then I found a note in one of his pockets saying that if I wasn't home, to get an| officer and pick him (Jack) up be- cause he had a sick baby at the house.” | Mrs. Smith said the baby did have a cold at the time. On cross examination by defense attorney Grigsby, who asked Mrs. Smith if she had “any illicit rela-| tions with Colling,” Mrs. Smith said, | “None.” | “Was he your lover?” Grigsby\ asked. | “No, just a friend,” Mrs. Smith | answered. “Red Bat” Letter | At that point, Grigsby asked for admission to evidence of the “Red (Continued on Page Eight) .Tmulh'm of here: BOOMS FOR AMERICAN | REFUGEES Nationals ,He?efig from Be-| leagured Barcélona | Subject to Shells ABOARD UNITED STATES CRUISER OMAHA, Jan. 25.—Fif- teen Americans, fleeing from the| beleagured Barcelona area, had to| run gauntlet of bombs before they reached saftey aboard this American refugee ship. ‘The United States Destroyer Bad- ger reports that one bomb fell 100 feet from the refugees as they stood on the breakwater waiting for a small boat to take them out to the navy 'eraft anchored about two miles off Caldetas, approximately 20 miles north of Barcelona. More bombs were dropped by In- surgent planes while the small boat with ' the Americans aboard were enroite to the Omaha and Badger, but mone fell near the craft. e RIDDLED PLANE CRASHES; (REW OF FIVE KILLED Trimofored Bombing Plane | of Insurgent Force Falls G SPACE-HUNGRY HOUSEWIVES who dream full-sized kitchen can appreciate the dexterity of stewards on New York-to-Bermuda plane route. In this small galley the men pre- pare a mid-day meal that's complete from soup to nuts. of a on French Soil LOURDES, France, Jan. 25—The entire five-man crew of a German made trimotored bombing plane were killed when it crashed this mortiiag at Arrans, France, 15 miles U. 5. REJECTS NAZI ACTION OVER AUSTRIA The machine is believed to have been one of the Insurgent Air Force and officials seek to learn why the plane fell on French soil, 100 miles northwest of the Catalonion battle- fronts, The plane was riddled by bullets, indicating it had been in a fierce battle. —_— e TEN MILLIONS PROPOSED FOR ALASKA BASES MeIIakatlaTeIs Offer_of| Big Sum for Harbor, Breakwafer WASHINGTON, Jan. 25. — Rear Admiral Leahy, testifying today be- fore the House Naval Committee, revealed that the Navy proposes to spend $8,471,000 at Kodiak, and $2,- 248,000 at Sitka. The money would be spent in de- velopment of Naval air bases. Down German Settle- ment, [@s Owed WASHINGTON, Jan. 25. — The State Department has rejected Ger- many’s contention that any pay- ments she makes on the Austrian debts to the United States Govern- ment or American citizens must de- pend on the German-American trade balance. The State Department also refuses to accept Germany’s position that she is not legally responsible for Austria’s debts. The Austrian debts include the re- lief obligation of twenty six million dollars which Germany wants to put aside on the ground it is a war debt. (CC TO CLEAR WAY FOR BEAM STATION ON GRAVINA ISLAND A ten-man CCC crew under direc- tion of Ranger C. M. Archibald, in METLAKATLA IMPROVEMENT WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.—Major General Schley, Chief of the Army Engineers, today recommended con- struction of a small boat basin and breakwater at Metlakatla. The breakwater would be 900 feet long and the initial cost of the har- bor would be $160,000, on condition that local interests give $40,000. —- Large Attendance Marks Eastern Star "Hard Times' Party Following a short business meet- ing, with Miss Gladys Forrest, Worthy Matron, presiding, a “hard times” party was held for members of the Eastern Star and their es- corts last night at the Scottish Rite Temple. g Gingham dresses and old fashioned gowns “tripped the light fantastic” to music by Harry Krane on his ac- cordian. After which hotdogs and coffee, topped by luscious home made doughnuts expertly prepared by Mrs. Vena Crone, were served, and which more than made up for the cracked crab feed, promised, but put off due to the late arrival of the favorite sea food. ——————— PILOT TO CARCROSS Les Cook, chief pilot for Northern Airways left last night on the Mount McKinley for Carcross in Yukon Territory where the home port of his flying concern is located. charge of the Ketchikan region, will assist the Alaska Aeronautics Com- munications Commission in estab- lishing a radio beam station at Gravina Island, it was announced here today by Charles G. Burdick, CCC Director. | The CCC will clear the land for the station, which will bet set up 15 miles west of Ketchikan. Camp buidings are already constructed so the crew can go to work without delay, Burdick said. YADEN RETURNS FROM DUTY AT PETERSBURG Boyd Yaden, PWA Resident En- gineer Inspector, who has been sta- |tioned at Petersburg during con- |struction of the experimental fur farm buildings there, returned to Juneau yesterday and will rmain here for a month or so. - e — HAVANA TRAVELER BACK M. W. Odom arrived in Juneau aboard the Mount McKinley after a lengthy vacation trip outside which included a jaunt to Havana, Cuba. He registered at the Gastineau Ho- tel. e In Tokyo, capital of Japan, omly the biggest streets have names. Houses are not numbered. MUSSOLINI CALLS OUT RESERVISTS State Deparfment Turns Sixty Thousand Ordered fo Report - France Is Again Warned ROME, Jan. 25. — Italy today called 60,000 Army Reservists, born in 1901, to the colors for training and instructions. The decree was is- sued by Premier Mussolini. At the same time, Italy warned PFrance anew against helping the hard pressed Spanish Government. The announcement of the call of the Reservists indicates that many more might be called later. Foreign military observers remark that it is most unusual to call Re- servists for periodic training in the winter time. e PIONEER 16L00 - ASKS PERSIONS OF $60 MONTH Elimination of Pauper Clause Requested by Pioneers ANCHORAGE, Jan. 25. — Grand Igloo Pioneers in convention here today adopted a resolution request- ing that the Legislature liberalize the pension law to provide $60 per month uniform pensions for both men and women and to eliminate the pauper clause from applications, Pensions currently range from $20 to $30 monthly depending upon need and applicants must swear they are paupers. Pioneers said the new law would relieve congestion at the Ploneers’| Home at Sitka and permit the aged to maintain an American standard of living, ITALIAN, BRITISH SEATTLE CONSULS TO SERVE ALASKA Collector of Customs J. J. Con= nors received notification yesterday that Aldo Maria Mazio, Consul of Italy at Seattle, and Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, Consul of Great Britain at Seattle, had been recognized to serve as representatives of their CHILE HIT, 0. COAST, MIDNIGHT Entire Area Around Con- cepcion |Is Reporfed Struck by Disaster ONE TOWN OF 40,000 REPORTED DESTROYED Hundreds in Oher Local- ities Said o Have Been Killed or| l_njured BULLETIN — SANTIAGO, i n, 25-—An Army plane, ng the scene of the dis- astrous earthquake, flew low over Chillan, 220 miles south of here, and reports that the city of 40,000 inhabitants has been “completely destroyed.” EARTHQUAKE E¥PORTED SANTIAGO, Chile, Jan. 25, — Chilean military planes early to+ day sped south to check uncon= firmed reports that 2,000 were killed in the Concepcion area by earthquakes that started at mid- night. Earthquakes shook the entire 400~ mile strip of Chile’s coast and shat- tered normal communications with Concepcion: City with a population of 7,000 inhabitants, 250 miles south of Santiago. PRESIDENT TO SCENE SANTIAGO, Chile, Jan. 25, — President Farda and several mem- bers of his Cabinet after daybreak. Army train of es followed soon after with cal supplies. near to the and hundreds of inhabitants are re- ported to have been killed and hun« dreds injured. THONSANDS KILLED NEW YORK, Jan. 26—The Pan American Afrways has recelved a radio stating that it is estimated that 2,000 persons have been killed in Concepcion and hundreds of others killed and injured in nearby areas. Shakeup Looming WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.—Presi- dent Roosevelt’s proposal for rey organization of the Communications Commission received a quick ap- proval from Chairman Wheeler of the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee. Chairman Wheeler bore out the- President’s belief the commission was shot through politics. NEW YORK, Jan. 25. — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 9’:, American Can 93%, American Light and Power 5%, Anaconda 277 Bethlehem Steel 63%, Commonwealth and Southern 1%, Curtiss Wright A 25, General Motors 44%, International Harvester 53%, Kennecott 35%, New York 17%, Northern Pacific 10%, Safeway Stores 34, Southern Pa- cific 16%, United States Steel 56%, Pound $4.67%, DOW, JONES AVERAGES The following are today’s Dow, Jons averages: industrials 14072, rails 28.84, utilitis 22.89. ——t———— WOMEN GET MORE SAY LONDON — The Ministry of Health has ordered that more wo- men must serve on Housing Com= respectiv nations for the Terri- tory of Alaska. mittees in England when the plan- |ning of houses is being considered. .5