The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 17, 1941, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LVIL, NO. 8673. e ROOSEVELT URGES § JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, MARCH 17, 1941. PEED, BRITISH FUND MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICEs TEN CENTY erman Forces Massed, to Attach Greece A Real Film Cinderella Girl! ACTION IN BALKANS IS NEAR BREAK Twenty-eigflivisions of Nazi Troops Prepared to Make Move BRITISH LANDING THOUSANDS OF MEN Military Exp_er—ts Return fo Belgrade After Touring Frontier Areas BELGRADE, March 17.—Military experts just arriving here after a tour of the Balkans, estimate 16 Nazi Divisions of perhaps 240,000 men, are now massed or within striking distance of Bulgaria’s front- ier, ready to cross into Greece. The experts also said that in ad- dition to these 16 Divisions, there are 12 Divisions, of about 180,000 sol- diers, fully equipped, in occupied Rumania. Against these German forces the British are pouring 300,000 men on the Greek mainland. Already about 100,000 British troops with fighting equipment have been landed. g ! Cthe S, it WASHINGTON — Even among Britain’s best friends there is some grumbling over the hard bargaining over land for the erection of U. 8. air fields and naval bases in the West Indies. U. S. naval officers point out that whereas our 50 destroyers were com- pletely equipped — including paper towels, canned goods, typewriters, cigarettes laid out in officers’ mess rooms—all the United States got was the right to bargain with local West Indian governments and British real estate agents. Instead of being given British crown lands, the United States has had to buy land from private owners for its new network of island bases. Thus the 125 acres purchased in Bermuda will cost $1,500,000 — or $12,000 per acre. In comparison, residential property five miles from . the District of Columbia costs only $1,200 an acre. Even aside from the high prices charged, the mere acquisition of Jand for U. S. bases has been dif- ficult, particularly in Bermuda and Trinidad, where an 'appeal finally was made direct to, London. SPORTS vs. DEFENSE In Trinidad, U. S. Army and Navy officials picked,an area of 11 square miles on the Northwest Peninsula as a naval base, and 18 square miles in the center of the island for an air base. But the local government of Trinidad objected, saying the use of this property would “disturb the normal life of the community,” by interfering with certain holiday and sports activities. Replying, the State Department hinted that protection of the West- ern Hemisphere was more important than the playing fields of Trinidad. The dispute dragged on so long that the Governor of Trinidad vis- ited the United States, where he was finally convinced that the Army and Navy had to have this property, would not take certain swamp areas offered by the Trinidad Government. In the end he yielded, but at a cost of $3,000,000. This is what the Unit- ed States will pay for about 29 e ] . (Continued on Page Four) n Tine in Hollywood Tor her state unemploymien insurance check, Juanita Stark, above, was spotted by a movie agenl.% days, Miss Stark, unemployed, was signed: to a contract. Bafore in- ‘other week was up, she was given a role in a new picture. She Standing 18 20, five feet 4% inches tall, weighs 107 pounds and is & blonde. SLANG NOT ENCOURAGED strawberry BY ARMY, NAVY, NOTEVEN AIR CORPS, BUT IT IS USED American Is Arrested By_ Nazis Newspaperman Reporfed Held in Berlin, *Sus- picions of Sabofage” BERLIN, March 17—The DNB, official news agency, that a young American newspaper- man, Richard Hottelet, has been arrested “on strong suspicions of espionage” in favor of an enemy power. The agency says the Unit- ed States, quite naturally, is not the enemy power referred to. The DNB declined to amplify th charges, stating that particular will be brought out at the trial. Hottelet has been in the emplo’ of the United Press for four years. >, — TWOBATTLESHIPS ARE TORPEDOED, MEDITERRANEAN (By Associated Press) Informed Nazi sources in Berlin report German warplanes have tor- pedoed two British battleships in the Mediterranean off the island of Crete. B The German High Command makes no mention of the reported torpedoing of the battleships, how- ever. ——eto—— Seventeen percent of the world’ tin comes from Bolivia, a announces yersation of the By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, March :7—1If I said that the Army encourages slang, I'd probably have the Army right on my neck. Officially, it doesn’t even recognize slang as fit conversation. I'd hate to think what would happen to a young trainee, intro- ducing his mother to his sergeant with, “Mom, meet the top kick.” Or | what would happen to some rookie who saluted his second lieutenant with, “Hi'ya Shavetail.” Nevertheless, if you go prodding around — off-the-record, ' strictly— you may discover that among the { men who bawl out orders are quite a few who think that army slang is a pretty fair thing. Why? Be- cause slang is the off-duty con- initiated. Let’s g0 back to the high school or col- lege fraternity or sorority. There. are words, winks and ‘hand-clasps that mean something. Those on the inside have something on those on the outside. The former belong; the latter don't. Consequently, those who are wise in the Army and Navy, do not dis- courage slang. It's the language of the service—almost foreign—and a rookie is pround when he mas- ters its A-B-C's. In other words, slang that the outsider and new- comer do not understand is a good morale builder. Aside from the fact that the military forces have no time for teaching perfect English, there also is- recognition of this importance in military slang, LANGUAGE IN THE MAKING There is one other angle before ve go. on. There isn’t a lexicogra- sher who doesn't appreciate that lang is just part of the growing pains of a living language. Almost yesterday, “nuts” meant pecans, walnuts and such, Today, “nuts” means also “what are you trying to feed me!” Tomorrow, pecanis, wai- nuts and”such may have to be re- «Conunued on’ Page Seven) FORTY - EIGHT KNOWN DEAD, WIND STORM \Terrific Gale Sweeps Over | Northwest Leaving > Trail of Death NORTH DAKOTA HEADS LIST WITH 30 KILLED jHuge Drifts of Snow Block- | ade Roads, Hampering | Search for Missing | BULLETIN GRAND | FORKS, March 17.—At 3 o'- | clock this afternoon the death toll from the windstorm has been placed at 55. GRAND FORKS, North Dakota, March 17.—8t. Patrick’s Day dawn- ed bright and clear over the north- west after Saturday's terrific wind storm that took at least 48 lives. The death list was increased by 1 three this morning by the finding of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig Foss and daughter Roselyn, 18, on the highway near Lockhart, Min-~ nesota. Like so many others of the dead, their ear stalled in the storm and ‘they - were *trying to Walk to safety but walked to their death. The death list in Minnesota is given out at 18 with the North Da- kota - deathy” list ‘placed at 30 this ! morning, i With the stiliness in the air came | increasing cold, 22 below at Bemidji, Minnesota, and 8 degrees below zero at Rochester. 8Snow plows still buck huge drifts piled up by the wind storm although the snow fall was light. The terrific wind at times reached 85 miles an hour and piled snow deeply on many roads, blockading them and thus hampering the search for the reported missing per- sons. LOSS AT SEA IN WARFARE REACHES PEAK Lloyds Shifi)fig Register Gives British Figures Since WlBegan (By Associated Press) With Hitler's spring offensive against British shipping just begun, the authoritative Lloyds Shipping Register lists British, Allled and neutral shipping losses for the first | 18 months of the present war at 1,245 ships, totalling 4,962,000 tons, jor 700,000 tons more than the Allies ilost in the first two and one-half years of the first World War. Lloyds also reports' that against the British losses, 422 German, Ital- ian and Axis-controlled ships, ag- gregating 2,028,000 tons were sunk up to March 2. Lloyds figures are compared with the claims advanced March 13 by the German commentary Dienst aus Deutschland that German destroy- | ers, submarines and war planes de- stroyed 9,000,000 tons of British ships since the present war started and also about 12,000,000 tons of ships of Norway, Denmark, Belgium and The Netherlands. | ARCHIE SHIELS SOUTH AFTER BUSINESS TRIP | | * Archie Shiels, President of the| Pacific Alaska Fisheries, with of- \fices in Juneau, sailed south on the steamer Yukon. He was ac-/ companied by Mrs. Shiels, who| joined him here several days ago. They are enroute to their home in Bellingham, , : ] 'BOMBERS ON ASSEMBLY LINE FOR BRIT On the bomber assembly at the Glenn L. Martin plant at Baltimore, Md., are tail sections of the Martin 167 bomber (foreground), known as the “Maryland”; and in the background, a line of nose sections for the Martin B-26 medium bombers for the U. 8. Army. e (anada Is Building Air AIN * Bases, Strefching from Bill Cutling Inherifance Tax_VeIoed Governor Kicks Cochran Measure Downstairs with Reasons The Senate refused today to override the Govenor’s veto on the inheritance tax bill. Senate President Henry Roden voted with Senator O. D. Cochran, the author to override the veto, while the other six Senators vot- Cochran, saying he resented some of the statements in the veto message, declared: “The Governor seems to have gone out of his way to tell us the Terri- torial interest was not consideerd in the passage of this bill.” Another bill passed by the Legis- lature ran up against the Governor’s veto power today, when Senate Bill No. 14, by Senator O. D. Cochran bi Nome, was sent back downstairs without approval. The bill would have raised the ex- emption from inheritance taxes. In a lengthy veto message, Gov. Ernest Gruening declares the bill “aims to lighten still further the already light inheritance taxes” of Alaska and “in its present financial condition the Territory can scarcely afford to abro- gate already established sources of revenue.” The veto letter, addressed ‘o Pre- sident Henry Roden of the Senate, is as follows: “I am returning without my ap- proval Senate Bill No. 14, “An Act to amend Sections 3096 and 3110 of the Compiled Laws of Alaska, 1933, re- lative to inheritance taxes.” “This bill. aims to lighten further the already light inheritance taxes existing in the Territory of Alaska. “Section 1 of 8.B. No. 14 amends Compiled Laws of Alaska, 1933, sec- tion 3096, which sets for the exemp- tions allowed under the Alaska In- heritance Tax. The paragraph head- (Continued on Page Pive) PoiEE South fo Alaska OTTAWA, March 17, — Tractor trains are moving mnto the Canadi- an Northwest with 800 tons of equipment and material to build a new series of air bases stretching from Edmonton and Vancouver to Alaska, the Canadian Air Ministry and Transport Department an- nounces. Air Minister C. G. Powder told newsmen at a conferemce scme time ago that such bases will be built as part of the defense pro- gram recommended by the Joint, Canadian-United States Defense| Board. The announcement today, however, is the first disclosure that work on the bases has started. The official statement said dromes, dotting two routes, one on either side of the Rocky Mountain barrier. North of Edmonton, on the east- erly route, airdromes will be con- structed at Grand Prairie, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, and Watson Lake on the Yuken Route. The route on the western side of the Rockies runs north from Van- couver to Kamloops, to Williams! then| joins the eastern chain at Fort St.| John to Port Nelson, Watson Lake! - Surrendered An airdrome will also be buuté near Prince Rupert! Lake, Prince 'George, and to Whitehorse. at Smithers, and within range of Prince George and coast points. Powder said that if the chmci 1 Coast ever became a “theatre of war, Canadian and United States fighter planes could be moved-rapid- ly to Alaska.” The new airdromes will have landing strips 4,000 feet long, 500 feet wide and full lighting equip- ment for night flying, and com- plete radio system to guide the aircraft over the route in all kinds of weather along the chain, New fields are being laid out at Watson Lake and fields Grand Prairie, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and Prince George will be enlarged and improved. MORGAN LOSES IN COURT CASE WASHINGTON, March 17—Ar- thur Morgan, dismissed by the Presi- dent many months ago as Chairman | of the Tennessee Valley Authority, failed today to obtain a Supreme Court review of the decision up- holding the President’s action, the, stations will be fully equipped air-| at| CANADIANS ONJOB AT GIBRALTAR —_— 'Hard Rock Miners Cutfing| New Defenses, Sub- ferranean Town ( LONDON, March 17.—Another. contingent of Canadian troops has arrived at Gibraltar to help rush Ithe job of making new fortifica- { tions, the War Office announces. Among the Canadians are hard rock miners, members of the Royal! {Canadian Engineers Tunnelling Company who have been trained to the job. The new arrivals will work with the first Canadian detachment of sappers who have been there since | the start of winter, cutting new | defenses out of the rock and build- |ing a subterranean town estimated |ao permit the Rock of being able to stand a siege of 18 months at least. Thyssenls To Germany Industrialist Who Aided Hitler, Then Fell Into Dis- favor, Is in Defenfion | VICHY, France, March 17.—In- | formed sources said Fritz Thyssen, |German industrialist who helped bring Hitler to power, then fell into the Puehrer’s disfavor, has been sur- rendered by France to Germany. Thyssen is now believed in a Dachau concentration camp. b The informed sources said Thys- sen, who was a refugee, was handed over under terms of the French- German armistice. He had been liv- ing at Cannes and was arrested last December by the French police. , e - MRS. IRVING HOMEBOUND Mrs. Wilbur Irving is a passenger PRESIDENT INDICATES NEW MOVE Chief Executive Makes Im- portant Address on In- fernational Affairs AMERICA MUST HELP OUT ON "VITAL BRIDGE” Inference Is Given Supply Ships May Be Under Con- voy Across Aflantic WASHINGTON, March 17.—Ad- ministration forces are today lined | up solidly against any attempts to cut the seven billion dollar fund the President has asked to provide implements of war to the embattled democracies. ‘The line-up follows the President’s call for urgent passage of the lease- lend program as against the opposi- tion which is hestitating on voting the full amount requested. The Administration has lined up for Great Britain, Greece and China, all governments in extle whose homelands are temporarily occupied increased, until total victory is won.” America’s Will The President also made the state- ment that America’s will to work and sacrifice depended on survival of a “vital bridge," of boats to trans- port supplies. This statement is interpreted by some as hinting of convoys but Ad- ministration supporters doubt that intention. ROME WILL BE BOMBED, IS WARNING Brifish Air Forces Will Make Atfack If Athens Is Air Raided ROME, March 17. — Reliable sources tonight declared that Great Britain has warned both Italy and Germany that British Royal Air Force bombers will attack Rome if Axis planes bomb Athens. The warning, it is said, had been conveyed to Berlin and Rome through Vatican channels. —— — COLLECTION AGENCY LICENSING BILL IS SIGNED INTO BOOKS Another bHl passed by the 15th Territorial ture became law today with ° signaturet of Gov. Ernest Gi being atached to Rep. Prank Bordonts bl onding and licensing collection agencies. A aboard the Northland, returning from a business trip to the Pacific Northwest, bond of $2000 is specified and an annual license tax of $50 for each agency or branch imposed.