The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, September 20, 1939, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LIV., NO. 8212. JUNEAU ALASKA, WEDNESDA\ SEPTEMBER 20, 1939. MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS FRENCH RUSH TROOPS AGAINST GERMANS Explosion Oc IM Ei ARE { Heavy rtillery Thunder Punishin Duel, Wfis INJURED ON SHIP NOOTKA Dynamite and Coal Laden Craft Refurns to Ketchikan BLAST HEARD ASHORE AS FREIGHTER SHAKES Dampness from Hole Be-| lieved Cause-Hatch Is Blown Off KETCHKAN, Alaska, Sept. 20.—| The Canadian Pacific freighter| Nootka, bound from British Colum- bia ports to Skagway, was returning to Ketehikan at 11 o'clock this fore- | noon after an explosion in the afler part of the ship. The explosion occurred while the ship was about eight miles out of Ketchikan. Witnesses said a fairly loud ex-’ plosion was heard and then smoke was seen coming from the after part of the ship but the craft turned around and started back to Ketchi- | kan. ! The Coast Guard cutter Alert left to meet the Nootka which is undm-‘ stood to be carrying dynamite. | RETURNS TO KETCHIKAN KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Sept. 20.— The Nootka, convoyed by the Const1 Guard cutter Alert and patrol ship| Cyane, came into Tongass Nan-ows[ just before noon and anchored near the Gravina Island shore, oppos‘\tu[ Ketchikan. The Ketchikan fire boat went alongside but only occasional smoke is seen, indicating the fire has been brought under control following the explosion. A doctor has been rushed | out by a small boat, indicating some | men aboard the Nootka have been | injured. | SEAMEN HOSPITALIZED | KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Sept. 20.—| Three seamen from the Canadian | Pacific freighter Nootka have been brought ashore and sent to the hos- pital with severe but not serious burns after an explosion in No. 4 hatch, where they were working, and | which shook the ship about eight| miles north of Ketchikan, Those Injured \ The injured men are Boden Stor- | ey, of Sydney, Vancouver Island; William Wilson, of Winnipeg, and| John Sandberg of Port Arthur. All the men were single and in their twenties. Coal Damp Explosion The explosion which occurred at| 10:30 o'clock this forenoon, is at- tributed to coal damp as the adjoin- ing hold No. 3 is filled with coal for Skagway, and no ventilation, ac- cording to the crew members. There is not the slightest hint of sabotage. Hatch Blown Off The explosion, which was heard ashore, shook the ship and tore the hatch apart and sent the hatch covering into the air as high as the mast, pieces being caught two decks above, behind the pilot house. Capt. M. MacKinnon declined to make any comment other than to say: “You can say there has been no serious damage done to the ship.” All the injured men climbed out of the hatch by themselves. The men were transferred to the Coast Guarder Cyane and brought to Ket- chikan as the Nootka prepared to continue its northbound voyage. ——— - —— YOUTH IS HELD, MURDER SUSPECT EUGENE, Ore., Sept. 20. A youth held on charges of destruc- tion of property, Fred Ostenreider, was identified’ by his fingerprints today as a suspect wanted for questioning in a Des Moines, Towa, murder case. Iowa authorities were notified. 7 B0OUZOI 7 g ST.AvoLD MAIN HIGHWAYS o 10 15 20 Z\‘E S 7 Curs NEUNKIRCHE| /s ST. INGB .f MIIECKFN -/ _Airport TS ARNUAL nQW" ‘f“ W B\ sn‘/sals VEs) J / N 3 e"’\" e e o L ChEoe '.»’ \‘\\v"‘ S REWHE| .,.x 4 ROHRBA[N This close-up map of the northern flank of the Western Front shows where German long-range artillery, hidden back of Saarbruecken, sent shells screaming against French forces attempting to close pincers on the industrially and strategically the village of St. Arnual bearing west. CAN UNITED STATES KEEP OUT OF WAR! IT HAS BEEN HARDTOREMAIN NEUTRAL RUSSO - NAZI BOUNDARY IS NOW SETTLED Germans WNot With- draw, However, from Present Positions BERLIN, Sept. 20.—The Supreme High Command disclosed today that Germany and Russia have reach:d an agreement on the partition of Poland, at least insofar as the armies of occupation are concerned. The communique announced that {the line of demarcation has been set, but did not say where the line runs. It was asserted that the Ger- man forces would not withdraw their present positions. “After destruction of the last remnant of the Polish army,” there will be a line fixed between the German and Russian governments,” the communique read. TO ORGANIZE 2 DIVISIONS OF CANADIANS Thirty-two Thousand Men Soon Available for Overseas OTTAWA, Sept. 20. — Defense Minister Ian Mackenzie announces that two divisions of Canadian troops, 16,000 in each, will be organ- ized at once and be available as the first Canadian expeditionary force to go overseas when and should it be required in the present war. The Defense Minister also said Canada will double the Naval per- sonnel, intensify air force training and also construct a number of anti- submarine craft. e WINDHAM BOUND Dan Glass, of Tacoma, on the Columbia and will go to Windham Bay in connection with placer development there financed by Tacoma interests. He is at the | Gastineau Hotel. arrived | important city. the brunt. French guns blasted i By ‘WOR(-AN M BEATTY AP Feature Service Writer WASHINGTON, Sept. 20.—If his- |tory is any gauge, there are three | big barriers to American neutrality |in another great war. Here they | are, straight from experts who them- serves profess no bias: 1. Our very efforts to main- tain neutrality dragged us into the World War and the war of 1812, our only two struggles with Eurcpean nations since 1776. 2. The profits of trade in war-time are important to American capital, especially when 10,000,000 of our citizens are unemployed, and it's not natural to abandon our stake in world trade at a time when the financial going is best. 3. Americans wear their hearts on their sleeves, and will find it difficult, as they have in the recent past, to stand by un- moved when modern bombers rain death on old-world cities. From the early days of the re- public we have stood upon the principle of the freedom of the seas, and tried to maintain a tra- ditional air of neutrality. It's a good trick, if you can do it, but we haven't always been able to do it. Looking for Profits Take the war of 1812 against the British—in which we really were taking sides with Napoleon and FPrance against the rest of Europe. Long before that war started, our President, Thomas Jefferson, had developed some pretty forth- right ideas about European wars. When the British and the French started fighting, he wrote to his old friend, Alexander Donald: “Since the war is decreed by fate, \we have only to pray that the soldiers eat a great deal.” That was one way of saying that he hoped American trade would profit from Europe's bad fortune. And he, with the tradi- tionally neutral European states, insisted on the rights of neutrals to carry on their ocean - borne business. Here’s the way modern-day Philip C. Jessup, Columbia university’s ex- pert on international law views that situation: “Theoretically, the neutrals po- sition was that they should be let alone . . . to continue their normal commerce. Practically, their de- mand soon became that they should be free to carry on their immensely more profitable trade which was created by the high prices of belli- | gerent markets and the high freights ‘for ocean shipping.” | And So, War Therein lay our trouble. British warships seized American men and | (Continuea on Page Four) n reply to Nazi bombardment with Bayonet fighting was reported near Luxembourg, to north- POLES CUT OFF FROM RUMANIA; REACH HUNGARY Holds Out as Nazis Bomb Cathedral | BUDAPEST, Sept. 20.—The fast- moving mechanized Soviet for pushing farther westward into Po- land, are reported today to have blockaded the entire Polish-Ru- manian frontier while Warsaw, still | fighting the German invasion, buried its dead in the green swards of its public parks. Severe fighting was reported, es- pecially around Lwow, in the Bug| River district. Massing Russian troops along the | Rumanian border have cut stream of refugees from Poland, | but thousands, finding their way barred to that border, poused into| Hungary, where soldiers among the fleeing are disarmed, and civilians sent to special camps. Radio bro:.dcasts from Warsaw presented a graphic picture of the ‘city whose defenders have vowed to resist the Germans to the death, | and seem to be doing it. The communique from Warsaw told of widespread destruction everywhere through the once great metropolis, nnd told of German bombs and shells falling before St. John’s Cathedral as worshippers emerged from mass and of how| church goers were machine gunned from the air, - — AT GASTINEAU Mrs. Frank Denny returned on the Columbia from a trip Outside and is a guest at the Gastineau Hotel. t HINTS AT MANEUVER Thousands Flee-Warsaw the | WASHINGTON, Sept. 20.—Al- aska Delegate Anthony J. Di- mond came 5,000 miles to attend the special session of Congress, convening tomorrow, despite the fact that he cannot cast a vote on the vital neutrality question. n I left the Territory,” said Delegate Dimond, “the Al- askans were of the opinion that the arms embargn should be re- pealed or broadened to include all products moving abroad. “The people of Alaska can see no excuse for the United States to get into the war. “The Alaskans feel that it is frivolous to invite trouble by a partial arms embargo and want a complete embargo or none at all with shipments, however, placed on a cash and carry basis.” HITLER GETS LONDONDEFY FOR THREATS Public Re;;ured that France and Britain Will Crush Nazis FOR DECISIVE BLOW Preaches Lesson of Cau- fion as Learned from "Military History’ LONDON, Sept. 20. — Premier Chamberlain today declared that | threats could not deter Great Brit- ain and her allies from achieving | their war aims, but added, “What we will not do is rush into adven- | tures that offer little prospect of | success.” The speech was made with the lobviou,s purpose of allaying public |anxiety as to whether or not the | Western Allies were striking vigor- | ously enough against Germany. Not to Shirk Duty Chamberlain declared to the |House of Commons: “There is no sacrifice from which we will shrink There is no operation we will not | undertake, provided our responsible advisers and our allies are convinced it will make appropriate contribu- luon towards victory.” In reply to Hitler's Danzig speech, Premier Chamberlain said Great Britain's general purpose in the war |is to “redeem Europe from the per- petual fear of German aggression 1and enable the peoples of Europe to | preserve their independence and lib- | erties.” Threats Useless OChamberlain added: “No threats | will deter us or our French allies (from this purpose,” and declared himself against certain adventures | “calculated to impair our resources and postpone ultimate victory.” | The Prime Minister also said: (Continued on Page Five) POLAND'S LAST DITCH STAND IS SURPRISE TO STRATEGISTS By PRESTON GROVER WASHINGTON, Sept. 20. — War news far from the front: Military experts didn't expect Poland to make a last-ditch fight to save Warsaw even though it is of immense strategic and morale importance. The big stand, they said, would be made about the new “industrial triangle” in south-cen- tral Poland based on Krakow and Lwow (pronounced something like Lwooof). But the Russians butted in suddenly and things changed quickly. In the last two years the gov- ernment has subsidized industry to move into that zone because it is located more centrally and is easier to defend. Munitions had been con- centrated there and a number of fair-to-middling fortifications built, It is the only spot in Poland where there is even a semblance of a mountain to help the defense. However, Warsaw is an impor-/ tant spot. A glance at a map will| show how all Poland’s railroads lead into Warsaw, as American | railroads do into Chicago. It would mess up our affairs considerably if Canada should seize Chicago. | OUR NAVY AND FIGS ‘The navy is belligerently neutral’ | these days. Unofficially, the navy | will sit down and help out a troub- led correspondent on a general prob- | lem of strategy, but officially it dnex up like a plucked fig if the talk is| turned to what Britain should do ruts Canada in War Prime Minister Mackenzie King it pictured as he broadcast to the people of Canada the decision of the dominion to stand by the mother country in England’s war wit’ Germany, MORE MEN CALLED UP BY RUSSIA Reservists fo Be Sent fo Western Frontier- Lwow Occupied - MOSCOW, Sept. 20.—Russia is reported authoritatively as calling up more Army Reservists, although .| the exact number is not disclosed. Unofficial sources intimate that the reservists called to the colors will be sent to some sector on the western frontier beyond which the Red Army forces are officially an- nounced as having occupied. It is officially said the Russians are now in the city ‘of Lwow. At the same time the Soviet and German officers have started con- ferences arising out of their joint occupation of Poland. e 'Diefs Are the Bunk,” Says Wo_man of 99 COLLINGSWOOD, N. J., Sept. 20. | —Mrs. Catherine J. Woodfield, 99 years old, who likes all modern inventions, except the airplane, at- tributes her longevity to “luck and doing ang eating what I want.” “Diets are the bunk,” Mrs. Wood- field said. “I've always eaten what- ever I felt like.” Mrs. Woodfield, however, criti- cizes the modern girl who “doesn’t know what real love means.” “When T was a girl you married the man you -loved because you wanted to spend your life with him. But today, well, the girls just can’t take it. They haven't any modesty and making a good wife is their (Continued on page Six) last thought.” Duce’s Paper Calls Allied War 'Useless’ Italy Ann ounces With- drawal of Albania- Greece Troops KUME, Sept, 20. — Premier Benito Mussolini's newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia, today published an implied appeal to Britain and France to come to terms with Germany. The newspaper called the war in the West “useless,” and re- ferring to earlier peace sugges- tions made by Rome, said: “Ital- ian sensibility is tempered by thousands of years and again points out a right road on which the whole civilized world may once more see how correct were the visions of the proposals from Rome.” Italy has announced Wwith- drawal of her troops from the Albanian-Greek frontier as evi- dence of “complete reciprocal trust” between Italy and Greece. The gesture came as Italy ap- peared to be solidifying her po- sition as leader of neutral states in southern Europe. The Fascist newspapers de- scribed Hitler's Danzig speech as “moderate, punuunlve. and calm.” WARSAW IS 'HOLDING OUT AGAINSTNAII German Siege for Thirteen Days Finds Defend- ers Still in City 'ENEMY ARTILLERY IS ACTIVE, WEST FRONT Russian Forces Moving in for Occupancy of New Sections . (By Associated Press) Bitter war words between Ger- many and Great Britain accom- panied the sounds of conflict today on Europe’s battlefields as Warsaw held out against the thirteenth day of the German siege. On the Western Front, France said “the night was calm,” except for enemy artillery activity east of the Blies River. Germany reported the capture of 105,000 prisoners in continuing the progress of wiping out Polish reai.s- tance. Warsaw Bombarded Describing the severe German bombardment of central Warsaw, a Polish communique was broadcast, saying the Polish capital is still holding out, and will resist “with confidence in our great allies, Great Britain and France.” Soviet troops, driving in to oc- cupy the Polish Ukraine and white Russian provinces, blocked the en- tire Polish-Rumanian frontier to- day. A communique from Moscow re- ported the occupation of Lwow, in southeastern Poland, in addition to Vilna, in the northeast, reported taken yesterday. In connection with the occupation of Vilna, the Tass, official Soviet news agency, said Lithuania is eo- operating with Russia in marking a new frontier. Lithuanians consider Vilna, occu- pied by Poland in 1920, as their an- clent capital. The word war was continued by Great Britain today with the Min- istry of Information stating in re- ply to Hitler's “disclaiming any war aims,” against Great Britain or France in his Danzig speech, that it was a speech “full of crass mistatements.” nAlaska Bound Steamer DIMOND SAYS ALASKANS WANT U. 5. TO KEEP OUT | OF WAR;CHANGE EMBARGO T0 THWART NAZI MOVE NEW FRONT Massing ofTrEops Oppos- ite Belgium Cause for Alert Action WAR T0 BE PURSUED T0 "DEFINITE VICTORY" Military, Diplomatic Lead- ers Are Summoned fo Hasty Conference PARIS, Sept. 20. — Daladier and Great Britain's War Minister Leslie Hore- Belisha conferred this forenoon on the general conduct of the war against Germany and im- mediately after the conference Daladier held a hastily sum- moned conference of the high- est French military and dip- lomatic chiefs. A communique was issued after the conference but mno details of what was discussed were announced. It is known however that the Fremch Gov- ernment, facing collapse of its Polish ally,adopted measures to pursue the war to “definite victory.” French attention switched suddenly to the Aachen Sec- tor opposite Belgium where the Premier French authorities assert that precautions are being taken to meet any German repetition of the 1914 attack through Bel- gium, to outflank the Maginot Line and thousands of men are being dispatched to the new front. SUBMARINE OPERATING, EAST COAST SubmersibI;—BeIieved in "Suspicious Area” ff Nova Scotia HALIFAX, Sept. 20.—The Com- mander of the Naval Dockyard makes the statement that “fairly reliable reports indicated a sub- marine may have been operating oft the Nova Scotia Coast yesterday.” The Commander said a Canadian destroyer, during a search, dropped a depth charge in a “suspicious area” but did not know whether it took effect on a submersible or not as night came on and oil bubbles could not be detected on the surface of the water. 15 NAVY BOMBERS ON LONG FLIGHT HONOLULU, T. H., Sept. 20. — A squadron of Nayy bombing planes, believed to number 15, took off today for a mass flight from Hono- ludu to Manila, 4,750 miles away. It is the longest mass flight ever to be attempted by the Navy. The ships are scheduled to fol- low the Pan American Airways clipper plane route. They will stop at the small islands of Midway, Wake and Guam. The Navy bombers will reinforee other planes and surface vessels already stationed at Manila in en- ity act in Philippine -waters. ity act in hPilippine waters. e - Pennsylvania's 1937 revenue from motor fuel taxes, $46,654,000, was the largest among the 48 states.