The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 22, 1940, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LVL, NO. 8498. JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, AUG. 22, 1940. MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS RITISH PLANES BOMB GERMANY, FRANCE 4 4 L4 xtensive F.D.R. Sees Newest Anti-Aircratt Gun . ARMY GUNS ADEQUATE; 7 § DRAFTBILL General Sa;; Rifles Avail- able for Training of 3,000,000 Men WASHINGTON, Aug. 22. — Army Chief of Staff General Marshall, asserted there that the War Depart- ment “has plenty of material” to train all men drafted. General Marshall made his state- ment as the Senate undertook an- other session of debate on the com- pulsory training measure. Senator Barkley proposed the draft be limited to 1,200,000 men in any one year. He said this figure should be acceptable as a com- promise between those who want an unlimited draft and those who sup- port the amendment of Senator e which would restrict the num- ber of conscripted to 800,000 in training at any one time. To Limit Debate The Senator declared he will ask the Senate to limit debate on the measure in an effort to dispose of it this week. The House Military Committee has postponed until Tuesday its fin- on Page Six) WASHINGTON—For some time British air observers, and alsoU.S. military experts stationed in Eng-| land, have been puzzled by the fact| that a mere handful of two or| three British planes have been| able to chase away as many as 20 Nazi bombers. have sent back glowing reports of British success, telling how some- times even one British pursuiv plane would put to flight an en- tire Nazi squadron. Nazi planes about-faced and fled so easily that it was suspected they had stand- ing orders from Berlin not to en- gage in battle. Now the mystery of these German tactics has been solved. Enough German planes have now been shot down in raids over England to establish the fact that most of them are not equipped with regu-| lar navigation instruments. Appar- ently, only the leader in every Ger-| man squadron carries navigation apparatus, and the other planes follow him, Therefore, should the leader be shot down, the other planes are under orders to head for home, flying blind. Also whatever the leader does, the other pilots must do. On the other hand, every British plane is a complete unit in it- self, independently of any squadron. Reason for the failure to equip Nazi planes presumably was Hit- ler's haste to build them, and also the desire to cut down the ex- pense. NOTE—It was a characteristic of German soldiers during the World War that they liked to fight elbow to elbow. American doughboys found that when they got separated from their company, even in fairly large groups, they were much easier to capture. STRAIGHT SUMNER WELLES One lady who really *worked at Pan Americanism during the recent Havana Conference was Mrs. Adolf Berle, wife of the Roosevelt Brain Truster who is now Assistant Sec- retary of State. Mrs, Berle took tea with this delegation, lunched with the next and organized swimming parties with the third. She was a real Good | Neighbor, *"'" 7™ Lunching with some of the Ar- (Continued on Page Four) ¢ fully equipped, and can act| 4 | | | | | WELL HERE’ THAT WAS %fiaHans Subjecied, & L American air attaches in London! Alr Ra I ds ‘Brifish Planes Make Suc- cessful Night Attacks —Fires Started | CAIRO, Aug. 22.—The Royal Air | Force Egyptian command reports | that British bombers raided the ma- | jor port of Torbuk in Italian Libya during the night and attacked naval | oil storage tanks along shorelines. | The British fliers reported that | they scored several direct hits on |the oil tanks, causing huge ex- | plosions and fires. Other bombers attacked landing | fields and other military objectives {at Torbuk, El Adem and points in | the Ttalian North Africa territory. Three Italian bombing planes were destroyed during nine of the raids |of British bombers. All R. A. F. 1planes returned safely. Meanwhile Union of South Africa |war planes made reconnaissance | flights over Italian Somaliland and dropped bombs at several points. Direct hits were registered on sea- plane jetties, piers and government buildings. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Aug. 22, — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine | stock today is 4%, Anaconda 203/4, Bethlehem Steel 78%, Common- wealth and Southern 1%, Curtiss Wright 7%, General Motors 47%, International Harvester 45'%, Ken- necott 27'%, New York Central 11%, Northern Pacific 6!, United States| Steel 52 3/4, Pound $4.03. DOW, JONES AVERAGES The following are today’s Dow, Jones averages: industrials 126.46, rails 27.09, utilities 22.28. di R i i The 1939 income of lowa farm- ers from farm products was $626,- 748,000. PREPAREDNESS! OH YEAH! | 5 ONE MOVE ANYTHING BUT By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.—Mili- | tary experts here are clapping their hands in wicked glee and pointing to the District of Columbia Na-, tional Guard's little stumble the! other day as a horrible example of what happens when even one small army unit is unprepared. I wouldn't know whether it's an example of anything, But as nearly as I could make out, here is what happened. The 260th Coast Artillery, under command of Col. W. W. Burns, and composed of 1,200 men, anti- aircraft guns, searchlights and other paraphernalia, had orders to roll for Northumberland, Pa. at 9:35 a.m. (I never could figure out why armies operate on off-minute schedules.) Colonel Burns was at the Na-| tional Guard’s ancient dilapidated- looking armory on Pennsylvania Avenue ahead of time, But 12 trucks he had ordered were not. When the trucks did arrive, there were only six. That” left 100 men: with no way to get to Northum- berland. | THE COLONEL APPEALS | . The Colonel went into action.' There were no more trucks, he was told. So the Colonel jammed 20 of his men into the already-crowded six trucks, and appealed to the as- sistant Adjutant General's office. The office suggested sending the men by train. How about food,the Colonel inquired? Sorry, there was no authorization for feeding 80ex- tra men on the train, | The Colonel gave up, appealed to the men ' themselves for private cars, got 10, crammed the 80 now his unit out at 12:20 p.m. - . You'd think the fates would let a man alone when he had done that well, but the luck of the 260th played out again before Northum-| berland. Two of the trucks broke down, One was repaired, one sent back to Washington. When the dusty, weary boys in brown rolled into the Pennsylvania village, it was 9:30, six hours and| 10 minutes behind schedule. LUCK DISAPPEARS AGAIN l My spy with the army of the north tells me that they ate chow | that had been lukewarm for four hours and that some of them were| too near exhaustion to pitch tents (Continued on Page 8ix) With him in the car are deht also visited nzvy yards at Boston and Portsmouth, N. H., and later reported the nation is hitting its stride in rearmament. President Roosevelt looks over a 90 mm. anti-aircraft gun, first of its kind in the United States, during a visit to the army’s arsenal at Watertown, Mass, Massachusetts Senator David 1. Walsh. The Presi Navy Secretary Frank Knox and 8-MANCREW 10 RUN BIG FCC STATION Moniioringfigm Will Be Erected Near Juneau This Fall 1 Juneau’s big monitciing station | under the Pederal Communications | Commission for detection ‘of radio- | operating foreign agents will prob- ably be built this fall, according to Chief Inspector V. Ford Greaves of the western area. Greaves, who has been seeking a site for the station with Juneau- headquartered FCC Inspector Stacey Norman, plans to leave tomorrow enroute to Nome and Anchorage to survey more monitoring station sites, planning to return here in about two weeks. The Juneau station will operate on a 24 hour schedule, with men cn shift at all times, Greaves said, probably eight men composing the station crew. Probably on Highway A site for the station has not yet been chosen, but it will undoubtedly be out the Glacier Highway. A frame building for a temporary structure, will be thrown up first with living quarters for crew, Greaves said, with plans to be drawn later for more permanent construction. An increase of 25 and possibly 35 in the Alaska personnel of the Fed- eral Communications Commission will take place in the next six months, Greaves indicated. Greaves, who is making a prelim- inary survey in connection with the establishment of new monitoring stations in the north, said Alaska is to have one of four new primary monitoring stations in the United weary soldiers into these and rolled States. The Territory will also have |in Turkestan, Turkey, France, from one to three secondary moni-| toring stations, he said. The Ju- neau station will probably be a (Continued on- Page Eight) MEXICO CITY, Aug. 22—Leon Trotsky died last night after whis-| pering the accusation that his as- saflapt who drove a pickaxe into his skull Tuesday night while visit- ing him in his home, was ‘“most likely” a member of the OGPU, Soviet secret police. | The attacker has been identified | by the police as Jacques Mortan | { 35, a native | VanDenreischd, aged | of Iran. Trctzky had long feared death at the hands of Staln and on his | death bed accused his assassin of | being a tool of the “OGPU or Fas-| iclst, most likely the OGPU." | | Today the famous man lay in a | casket to which is pinned his last |words: “I am sure of final victory | nd the Fourth Internationale will go forward.” | | Police Commander Galindo said | the “assassination has the aspects {of an internaticnal plot,” but he | declined to elaborate on his state- ment, | By MELVIN E. COLEMAN | (Biographical Editor, i | The Associated Press) ‘ “Long Live The Struggle” was the way Leon Trotsky, nee Lev| Davydovich Bronstein, hailed Amer- | | ica when he took refuge in the | Uniledd States in 1917. The slogan epitomized him, | He struggled against the czarist | regime, then to put himself for- | ward in the Bolshevist movement, |again in a futile attempt to suc- ceed Nikolai Lenin as strong man of the Union of Socialist Soviet Re- publics, after that to overthrow, | the governing group headed by Jo- seph Stalin and through many years to overcome ill health and ward off attempts on his life by political foes. | He did attain high place in the early days of the Soviet Union, but he fell from that eminence to be- come a homeless - nomad, barred from Europe and Asia and forced early in 1937 to find haven with a disciple in Mexico, | Built Military Machine | Second only to Nikolai Lenin when the Bolshevists seized power in 1917, he was the first Commis-| sar of Foreign Affairs, then became War Minister, revivified Russia’s war-weary soldiery and built al military machine which held off| Japanese attacks in Siberia, checked Allied troops at Archangel, smashed White Russian armies on the east, south and west and carried the red banner of Communism to the very gates of Warsaw. Called in those days “the Na- poleon of Bolshevism” and “war lord of the Soviets,” his name con- stantly was coupled with Lenin’s.' When the latter died in January, 1924, it seemed that the mantle of | power would fall gracefully upon the shoulders of the junior member of the firm, and he tried to don it. But, always an individualist in Com- munist Party councils, he had made | enemies, Besides he had mot for-| mally joined the Bolshevist wing | until 1917 and elders of that fac-| tion, henchmen of Lenin since 1903, deemed him an upstart. They ral- lied to Joseph Stalin, Executive Sec- retary of the Communist Party, ‘smpped Trotsky of his offices, ex- | pelled him from the party late mn 1927 and banished him and his chief political lieutenants, The span of his rise and fall was ten years. | Propagandist in Exile | Yet his was a voice which mis- fortune could not still. From exile Sweden, Norway and Mexico, he | carried on agalnst the Stalin re- gime. He wrote, gave interviews (Continued on Page Seven) | fiermhny Won't Guaraniee Safe Conduct for Kids’ Ships BERLIN, Aug. 22.—Germany is unable to guarantee safe conduct for vessels earrying children out of the war zone. DNB, official German ' news * agency, makes the announce- ment i commenting on the United States’ proposal to amend the Neutrality Law to permit American ships to carry British children to the Western Hemisphere. LEON T ROTSKY Huhfinglon Gruening Weds : Boston Girl: Governor Is Pleased: Alaska Is Boosted STRUCK BY MUSSOLINI Declares Iv; Eritish War- ships Torpedoed and Bombed Wednesday EGYPT MUSTERING FORCES, DEFENSE Predicted Hitler s fo Tura East as Frustrated Napoleon Did (By Associated Press) Southeast Europe's war picture was highlighted today by declara- tion of Mussolini’s command’ that sharp new blows have been struck against British naval forces in the Mediterranean. It was boasted two warships were | torpedoed and two others hit re- | peatedly by bombs. The Italian communique said a Fascist torpedo boat sank a sub and a Fascist undersea craft torpedoed a British destroyer in the eastern Mediterranean area. In Cairo, the War Ministry dis- closed an Egyptian mobile division | has already taken up postions to re- sist any invasion by Italian troops ‘| which presumably will strike from | Libya, where a large Italian troop ;concentrauon is reported. Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander - in - Chief of Great Britain's Middle East armies, |warned that Hitler, thwarted by | England’s stout defense, may emu- |1ate Napoleon and “turn east in (mrch of easier success.” | e ee— —— ‘ Columbus “discovered America"” | by discovering one of the Bahama SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Aug. 22.— BATTERIES FIRE ACROSS ~ TO ENGLAND 'New Method of Atfack Is | Made on Ships Under | Naval Convoy 'HUNDRED SHELLS ARE ' DROPPED, NO DAMAGE Smoke Screen Thrown Out ~Successful Escape Is Reported | BULLETIN — LONDON, Aug. ; 22 ~The British Air Ministry | announced tonight that British | Royal Air Forces attacked oil refineries, airdromes and key rail centers in Germany and France today. The operations were carried on despite unfavor- able weather. One British plane | failed to return. (By Associated Press) £ Powerful German shore batteries on the French coast, firing at a | range of more than 20 miles, shelled 'a mile-long British convoy in the Strait of Daver, injecting a new sting in the Nazi proclaimed air and sea blockade on Britain, Small merchant ships, escorted by | warships, hugging the English cliffs, were attacked by a battery of four |guns which suddenly opened fire | from near Boulogne on the distant | shore, Other Batteries Other batteries along the French coast all the way from Boulogne to Calais took up the bombardments. The convoy steamed doggedly on to its destination. At least 100 shells were fired. Observers estimate that the attack | lasted for 20 minutes, Shells burst near the vessels of The marriage of his son and & Pos- |the convoy, the Nazi gunners ap- sible flight to New Zealand brought parently getting their range direc- Gov. Ernest Gruening of Alaska 10 |yons from high flying observation | San Francisco yesterday. | planes. The Governor's son, Huntington,| Most of the shells fell in the sea. steamship company employe here,| The British warships laid down a was married by Municipal Judge Hugh Smith at the City Hall to Elizabeth Ingalls, of Boston. The Governor and Mrs. Gruening | are undecided on the New Zealand | trip but he is more enthusiastic over his daughter-in-law and Alaska's defenses. | “The Army and Navy is way ahead of their schedule and before |you know is, we are going to be | protected by three huge Naval bases and two Army stations,” said Gov. | Gruening. | “I understand that early in the | fall 800 soldiers will occupy the new barracks at Anchorage and soon after a fleet of bombers and fight- ing planes will be assigned to the new bases. “Alaska has been entirely with- out defense until the present pro- gram and we should give plenty of thought to Alaska.” JAPAN SILENT ON U, 5. BASES, " PACIFIC COAST TOKYO, Aug, 22—Yakichiro Su- | ma, chief foreign spokesman, de- | clined to answer questions whether | | the leasing by Great Britain of Pa- | cific naval bases to the United States would be a violation of the present status outlined by Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Suma said that any leasing of | matter but that there had been no confirmation of reports that the | transfer had been planned - MATT WARDEN IS RETURNING HERE MRS, |in-law, Miss Virginia Warden of | Seattle, sailed for Juneau on the steamer Mount McKinley. Mrs. War- den has been visiting in Seattle for the past six weeks. This is Pllss Warden's first trip to Alaska. A such bases would be an important| | Mrs. Matt. Warden and her sister- | | smoke screen and escaped, the con- voy passing through the Strait of | Dover without apparent casualty. | Naxi war planes continued the air |siege on England in scattered and | small scale attacks. Bad Weather Continues Bad flying weather today again hampered the British attacks on | German occupied positions and the | Germans mass attacks on England. | No severe aerial punches or counter punches were reported up to noon | today. Fishermen report that three Nazl planes assaulted a British convoy off the northeast English coast, dropping salvos of bombs, but ap- parently without success. Royal Air Force Spitfires chased the raiders out to sea. The German High Command jclaims that Nazi fighters attacked fifteen airports and numerous in- dustrial plans and ports in raids of widespread sorties yesterday. The British Government declares |that nearly 1,000 Nazi planes have been shot down since the Nazis started their intensive raids on | July 18. | Sir Oliver © lodgeDies LONDON, Aug. 22.—Sir Oliver Lodge, 89, scientist and spirit- ualist, died today at his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. Sir Oliver had long given his friends to understand he was not afraid of death. —— CURTIS HERE ‘Traveling man T. R. Curtis came on the Northland and is a guest at the Gastineau 'Hotel. R THATCHER HERE Earl Thatcher, popular traveling man from Ketchikan, came in on the Northland. He is at the Bare anof Raids Made In Bad Weather LEON TROTSKY, ORGANIZER OF ORIGINAL RED ARMY, POLITICAL EXILE OF SOVIET ~ UNION, IS DEAD, VICTIM OF ASSASSIN o gy 1