The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 21, 1942, Page 1

VOL. LVIIL, NO. 8937. PRICE TEN CENTS JAPANESE THROWN BACK IN PHILIPPINES Allied Warcraft Shell Nipponese Invaders YANKS COME, F.D.R. TELLS ASIA ALLIES American Vanguards Al- ready in Action oron | Way fo Battle (By Associated Press) Allied warships today are reported shelling Japan’s invasion armies, swarming down the Malay jungle coast 60 miles north of Singapore, while the United Nations were fur- ther heartened by President Roose- velt’s disclosure that the “Yanks are coming,” with A. E. F. vanguards already in action or enroute to far flung battle zones. An official Japanese broadcast from Tokyo asserted Allied warships | entered the critical Battle of Singa- pore even as Japan's Navy Min- ister, Vice-Admiral Shamada, boast- ed at the Japanese ‘“virtually| command the Pacific from Malaya | and the Indies to the west coast of | the United States.” Ouch, Awful On the same exultant note, Pre- | mier Tojo asserted Japan planned “increasingly vigorous operuclons“‘ in’the Pacific and will continue| fighting until the United States and.| Great Britain “are brought to their knees.” Japanese dispatches said the bat- tle flags of the Rising Sun are ad- vancing southward along the Ma- layan west" coast “despite gunfire from énemy ships” in the Strait of Malaéea, which lies between the Malay'Peninsula and the Dutch East Indies island of Sumatra. —— .- WASHINGTON — The most im- portant thing to watch for when the Pearl Harbor investigating| board makes its report is the nll-‘ important question or responsibmty' petween the Army and Navy. The| mistakes already made cannot be: remedied now. But what can be remedied is the present cumbersome system of di-| vided responsibility between the Army and Navy. That must be remedied if we are to avoid the errqrs of the British when their planes failed to coordinate with land forces in Norway and Crete. This. divided responsibility is an old, old dispute going back for| years, and is one of the reasons ad- vanced by those who favor a sep- arate Air Corps. To illustrate the vital import- ance of this question, here are some of the fundamental facts re- garding the defense of Pearl Harbor| which basically must have con- tributed to the debacle of December . v The Joint Army and Navy Board had ruled that the Navy was res- ponsible for patrolling the ocean off Pear! Harbor, and for that mat-: ter off the coasts of the United States and its possessions. Origin- ally this had been the Army’s job, but after many years of debate, dating back to the Hoover Admin- istration, the decision was finally given in favor of the Navy's air forees. Furthermore, the ruling of the Joint Army-Navy Board was that if the Navy was not able to cope with an approaching enemy, it was to notify the Army. And only after! & huddle with the Navy, the air-| planes of the Army Air Corps were| to go into action. Thus, although General Short has now been removed from the} Hawaiian command partly because his anti-aircraft guns were so slow in getting into action, the fact is that it was not his prerogative l,oi fire until notified by the Navy. NO DEFENSE AGAINST BLITZ This was a system based upon the more leisurely methods of old- Gruening Leaves for Washingfon Governor tmlend Hear-! ing of Maritime Com- mission Friday Bound for Washington, D. C, where he will attend a public hear- ing of the U. S. Maritime Commis- sion on Friday on the subject of the recent 45 percent increase in| freight rates on Alaska ship lines, Gov. Gruening left Juneau by plane this morning. Mrs. Gruening accompanied the Governor and will visit in San Francisco with her two sons, Peter and Huntington, and her daughter- in-law, Mrs. Huntington Gruen- ing. Gov. Gruening plans to be out of the Territory about three weeks as he will confer with officials in Washington regarding matters of Alaska defense activities and other subjects relating to Alaska follow- mg the Maritime Commission hear- ing. S e 'lEGK;N AUXILIARY MAKES DONATION TOBIRTHDAY BALL It was voted to donate $10 to the Birthday Ball fund for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at the business meeting held last night by members of the American Legion Auxiliary in the Dugout, preceding the regular so- cial meeting. Open Houses Other important business which was decided included the setting up of an organization to handle “open house” whenever service men arrive in Juneau, similar to that held last week when a number of soldiers were in town for a day. These “open house™ occasions will be held under the Emergency Vol- unteer Service of the Legion Aux- iliary, of which Mrs. John New- man is chairman. Other commit- tees which will take an active part in handling them are the Ameri- canism Committee, which Mrs. J. E. Neate and Mrs. Alfred Zenger represent and the National Defense Committee, with Mrs. Lucile Stonehouse and Mrs. Charles Bur- dick as members. Mrs. J. T. Pet- rich will have charge of entertain- ment for these occasions and Mrs. Waino Hendrickson, president of the Legion Auxiliary, will take aa active part whenever they are.held. Keep Cookies on Hand In order to be prepared for these open houses, for service men, for which no advance notice is obtainable, the Auxiliary mem- bers all voted to keep a good sup- ply- of cookies on hand in sealed Jars. = All women of Juneau and vicin- {ity, whether members of the Le- gion Auxiliary or not, who are willing to assist in this program for service men by having cookies to donate for such occasions are requested to notify Mrs. Newman or other members on the commit- tees in charge. Mrs. Neate Installed At the conclusion of the busi- ness meeting Mrs. J. E. Neate was installed as Historian with Mrs. Edith Sheelor as installing officer. Social Meeting Mrs. Esther Gullufsen, Legisla- tive Chairman for the Auxiliarr, had charge of the social progra:n and gave an excellent talk on leg- islative work, after which both bridge and pinochle were played by the women present. Mrs. Olaf Bodding won high honors at bridge land Mrs. E. M. Polley was pin- jochle winner. The enjoyable evening was con- cluded with refreshments served by Mrs. Ray G. Day, Mrs. Trevor Da- vis and Mrs. Harold Gruber. — e ‘(Continued or Page Four) BUY DEFENSE STAMPS Territorial Chamber Will Ac On Rafes Action taken by Territorial Chamber of Commerce in regard to the steamship companies’ 45 per- cent increase on freight and pas- senger rates will be described in telegrams to be sent to Washing- ton, D. C., the Territorial Chamber Board of Managers decided at a meeting today in the Baranof ‘Ho- tel. So far, the Wrangell, Ketchikan and Fairbanks Chambers have adopted resolutions opposing the raise. The Juneau Chamber, will act on the question tomorrow and telegrams will be sent to Nome, Skagway, and Cordova Chambers requesting information as to their respective actions. Seward and An- chorage Chambers do not cooper- ate with the Territorial Chamber. The messages will be sent 0 Gov. Ernest Gruening, who left Juneau today to attend the Unii- ed States Maritime Commission hearing on the subject in Wash- ington; to Delegate Anthony J. Di- mond and to J. J. Underwood, rep- resentative of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce in the nation’s capi- tal. Presiding over the session was L. W. Kilburn, vice-president of the Territorial Chamber of Com- merce. Present were Calvin Pool, of Douglas, secretary of the organi- zation; H. R. VanderLeest, treas- urer; Arne Shudshift, representing the Douglas chamber; Harry Sper- ling, representing the Cordova chamber; Dr. W. M. Whitehead, president of the Juneau chamber; Curtiss Shattuck, past president of the Juneau chamber; and Adjt. Stanley Jackson, secretary of the Juneau chamber Steamship company freight and passenger increases will be the main subject of discussion at to- morrow’s noon meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in the Bar- anof Hotel. On the agenda are a letter from Foster L. McGovern of the Sea'- tle Chamber of Commerce, stating detailed reasons for the 45 percen’ boost in rates, and a report from Charles Burdick, member of a Ju- neau Chamber committee has conducted a survey of how the rate raise has affected Juneau business houses. - e THREE DIVORCE ACTIONS Three divorce actions were filed here in PFederal District Court to- day. Signaling the prompt break-up of a Christmas eve wedding was the suit in which Ove Gravesen, local {miner, asked divorce from Geneva Gravesen, his bride of less than a month. Incompatibility was claimed as grounds for the action, which declared that Mrs. Gravesen spent the nights while her husband was working at the Alaska Juneau mine frequenting taverns and that they had lived together only onz week after the ceremony. . In another action, Clifford Matthews is suing for divorce from Dora H. Matthews. The couple were married here in 1930, according to the action filed, but Mrs. Matthews is alleged to have left her hus- band shortly after the birth of a daughter, now eight years old. Matthews asks custody of the child. In the third action filed today, Eva Kuki seeks divorce from Ma't Kuki on grounds of incompatibil- ity. The Kukis were married in Nome in 1938. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Jan. 21. — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 2%, American Can 64%, Bethlehem Steel 63, Common- | wealth and Souuthern %, Curtiss | Wright 8Y%, International Harvester 149%, Kennecott 35%, New York Cen- ed States Steel 52%, Pound $4.04. DOW, JONES AVERAGES ‘The following are today's Dow, utilities, 14.10; rails, 28.04. which' tral 8%, Northern Pacific 5%, Unit- U.S.PLANS T0 ABOLISH TRADE BARS Huge War Program for Western Hemisphere Is Being Outlined { WASHINGTON, Jan. 21—A gi- gantic war production plan for the Western Hemisphere, including the abolition of all trade barriers; the establishment of a common cur- rency for all anti-Axis nations and the use of United States naval air yunits to convoy hemispheric ship~ Iping, was disclosed today by a Ihlgh Commerce Department of= 1 ficial. The program, drawn up by the United States, is expelted to he agreed upon at the American Con- ference of Foreign Ministers, now in session at Rio De Janeiro, The Commerce official, who de- clined the use of his name, pre- dicted the plan would be applied to all nations subscribing to the ) program. | If Argentina, Chile or any other nation does not enter the hemis- pheric collaboration plan, he said, they will be ignored and the plan fwill be pursued by the remaining American republi ARGENTINA WARNED WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—Senal -Texas) said today American Is hoped Acting | President Castillo would change his “bumd against the Argentine’s join- ing other Latin American republics in a diplomatic break with the Axis powers or that the “Argentine peo- ! ple would change their President.” ‘ Connally told his press confer- ence that United States represen- tatives were in hope Argentina will see its way clear to joining the other nations despite Castillo’s assertion that his country’s position against such action is final. ——— 'FIRST AID CHIEFS ~ AND GRADUATES 10 | ORGANIZE TONIGHT' | All chiefs of First Aid Posts and | all persons having qualified on en- rolled in first aid classes, who wish | to be assigned to a First Aid Post are requested to attend a meeting to be held in the Territorial Build- | ing this evening at 7:30 o'clock, it was announced today by Dr. Court- ney Smith, of the Civilian Defense Committee. ' Organization plans and problems | in emergency first aid will be dis- cussed. Transportation of the in- jured and areas to be served by each | First Ald Squad will also be subjects | of study. An emergency First Aid kit will be demonstrated during the evening. | ———— 43 JURORS SWORN IN A panel of 43 petit jurors were' sworn in here today and received instructions from Judge George F.| ° Alexander regarding their actions during the current term of Federal District Court, then were dismissed until 10 a. m. Monday. U. S. Attorney William A. Holz- | heimer reported that his office is ready to begin trial immediately on murder charges against Roy Fawcett | of Hoonah, or Samuel Johnson, of Douglas, or on the rape case against James B. Sullivan, of Sitka. ———e——— MURDER INDICTMENT A charge of first degree murder was returned in an indictment by the grand jury today against Nich- olas Kitka, Sitka native alleged to, have slain his wife with an axe. An indictment was also returned against Wilho Alenius, of Skagway, charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious de- | struction of property aboard the! steamer Mt. McKinley, between Skagway and Juneau. \ e ——— | William Pege, who has been a patient at St. Ann’s Hospital for from ' the hospital today, ' T REDS RETAKE MOZHAISK AS NAZIS FLEE Moscow Celebrates Great- est Victory of New Russian Campaign (By Associated Press) Moscow celebrated the greatest victory of the war today as Red armies drove six miles beyond fallen Mozhaisk, 57 miles west of the capi- tal, in pursuit of Hitler's tattered legions along the Napoleonic road in retreat to Smolensk. London military quarters estimat- ed 200,000 Germans were forced to withdraw toward the narrowing Vyazma gap as a result of Moz- haisk’s recapture by the Russians. Vyazma is about half way between Moscow and Smolensk. Hitler Says It Is So Simultaneously, a bulletin from Hitler's headquarters acknowledged Russian troops had broken through the German lines on the Upper Donet River in a presumably fierce battle for the big Donets River steel city of Kharkov. The Germans asserted, however, that Nazi counter-attacks threw the Russians back. No hint of the defeat on the Mos- cow front was given to the German nation, Fresh Red Troops Soviet leaders in London declared the Tall of Mozhaisk' will signal “a titantic continuation of the battle” by the Russian army, which now has hundreds of thousands of completely fresh reserve troops ready to hurl into a giant offensive along the en- tire 1,200-mile front. Tass, Soviet news service, said the Germans suffered enormous losses in their attempt to obey Hitler's order to hold Mozhaisk at all costs. Nt % AR LARGE ATTENDANCE AT WOMAN'S CLUB LUNC ON Reservations made for the Ju- neau Woman’s Club luncheon held yesterday in the basement of the Methodist Church were far exceed- ed by the number who attended. High light on the program was a talk by George A. Folta on “Laws of Alaska as They Pertain to Wo- men and Children” in which he clearly pointed out both he strength and weakness of existing laws in this regard. : Following Mr. Folta's talk much merriment was the response to an impromptu playlet, “Better City | Campaign,” in which those taking part saw their lines for the first| time and presented them without | rehearsal. | Community singing concluded tl:e affair. ——,>- —— 'LEADS GUILTY | Allowed by U. 8. Attorney Wil-| liam A. Holzheimer to enter a plea on the charge of petit larcency | |rather than for the felony of bur- glary in a dwelling” house, Tim| Paul, native youth, today pleaded guilty to the lesser offense through his attorney, Robert Jernberg. ——————— LANDS IN JAIL In the Federal Jail here today was Mrs. Bliss Gallagher, local woman arrested for drunken and disorderly conduct on a complaint signed by ! Ken Junge, Police Chief. Mrs. Gallagher was arraigned be- fore U. 8. Commissioner Felix Gray here yesterday and will enter a plea after she consults an attorney, it was announced. HOSPITAL NOTES Harold Dawes, of Petersburg, was| admitted to St. Ann’s Hospital Tuesday for surgical treatment. Raymond Carteeti entered St. Ann's Hospital Tuesday afternoon for medical care. Mrs. Harry Young, who has been| a surgical patient at St. Hospital, left the hospital yester- day afternoon. Mrs. Lizzie Peterson left St after recelving surgical care. for Japan Cross 1 Border LONDON, Jan. 21—Reuters news agency said today that the Indian ‘radiu at Madras reported another enemy penetration into southern Burma, 2 | This time, Thailand forces, fight- ing for Japan on the Burmese frontier, were said to h-~ve crossed TOKYO, Jan. 21 — Constantin| Smetanin, Russian Ambassador to the border in the vicin - of Mya- waddi, about 60 miles northeast of L] Tokyo, will leave for Moscow sat-] rl(e on'ro urday, Domei, Jap news agency,| Legislation Legislation fo Get "Special Inferests” Groups Isin Making WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 — Far| reaching legislation to compel (oURI MARIIA[ “special interest” groups to sub- mit accountings of their funds and to limit profits in defense work, | FREES (olo“El is being prepared to meet the House | Committee’s blunt criticism o AFTER SPEE(H practices, Chairman Carl Vinson said to-| i day that he will introduce imme- HH diately a bill to require the "bngKreSS MUhIenberg’ c"h( chambers of commerce, labor un-| of Plane Dis"’ibu“on fons and all special interest groups” i to report to a Federal agency, their Dedared lnno(en' assets, liabilities, contributions and | Sxpendlng. | coLuMBUS, O, Jan. 21 — Col. Well informed congresslonnl‘mxs Muhlenberg today was found quarters said such a program Was | innocent by a general court mar- discussed by the President and con- \tial of charges that he wrongly ferees soveral manths ago. criticized distribution of combat Chairman Vinson also said he i5, planes outside the United States working on a second bill designed | jts jnsular possessions. to prevent “excessive and unconsci- onable profits” that he declared 'court martial called Muhlenberg, some corporations have made on‘"u,mg Air Corps officer, and naval contracts, Court President Col. Edgar Pry an- S e | nounced: ¢ “The court finds you not guilty on all charges and specifications.” ana an The gray haired officer of 55 |was charged with violating two of M . |the Articles of War after a public Almen In ibpnech here December 17, - e Thousands Reach England OI: B URMA H ! Together with Further | (ONTINUES Reinforcements | A BRITISH PORT, Jan. 21 ’ Thousands of Canadian airmen, one of the largest contingents to reu(hi Great Britain since the start of the war, have disembarked here. ‘The large convoy also brought further reinforcements of Canadian troops to England. — Moulmein. The radio report said fighting reported today. # | The report said Smetanin is re-| ywas still in progress north of that town, near the border of Japanese turning to report to his govern- ment on various matters as well as occupied Thalland. to recover his health. Rubber Check After 49 minutes’ deliberation, the | Thailand Troops Fighting Hang_ing Fire INVADERS LOSE OUT ONBATAN MacArthur's American and Filipino Forces Engaged in Savage Fighting WASHINGTON, Jan, 21. — The official bulletin of the War Depart- ment today says Gen. Douglas Mac~ Arthur’s valiant American-Filipino | defense forces have driven back the !J-plnm invaders with heavy losses |after “particularly savage fighting” on Batan Peninsula, The bulletin further said Japanese troops gained “some initial success- es” of infiltrations in a frontal at« tack near the center of the defense line before the counter attacking United States Army forces hurled |them back and all lost ground was recaptured.” The communique said “enemy | losses were very heavy but our cas- ualties were relatively moderate.” | Surprise on Enemy In the far north, in the main bat- tle sector on the upper part of Luzon Island, the War Department says \guerilla . bands . and MacArthur's forces staged a surprise raid on the Japanese airfield at Tuguergo, kill- ing 110 enemy. soldiers and putting | 300 others to rout. Coincidentally, the Russian news- per Red Star estimates, according , that there are about 6,000 American and 32,000 Filipino native troops opposing not less than 100,- ' 000 Japanese on Luzon Island alone, ALLOUT PLAN IS FORMING WASHINGTON, Jan. 21—Donald M. Nelson, the one man in con- trol of all war production, an- nounces he will abolish the Office of Production Management and ibring all of its functions and ac- tivities under his authority. As Chairman of the new War | Production Board, Nelson told the |newsmen today he is setting up six major divisions under the War Pro- duction Board, eliminating the old contract and distribution divisions entirely, and incorporating priori- Ities and an allocation system, The new division of industry on- erations is charged with full re- sponsibility in conversion of all possible American industry in war production, Nelson told the newss men. Nelson said the important branch jof the set-up will be the Require- ments Committee to be headed by William Batt, Philadelphia indus- | trialist, and composed of a repre- sentative of the Army, Navy, Lend- | Lease Administration and all other FESE Ann’s| Writer Jailed Harold C. Hostetter, local rub- ber check artist, drew eight months of sentences in Federal Jail here today as the result of his indis- criminate signing of checks he cashed recently at the Gastineau and Baranof hotels. | Hostetter was charged with two counts for bad checks written) against a noneexistent account at a local bank, He was given four-, month sefftdnces on each count,| with the two sentences to run con- tinuously. The second half of the stretch will be suspended, howeve-,| provided he can make good on the $42.50 repres¢nted by the checks he wrote, it was. by U. 8. Com- missioner Fi Gray. ——— GEORGE RIV. LEAVES ON SH( TRIP SOUTH George Rivard, of the firm of ! south to be away for several weeks. |promises a big time and especially WASHINGTON, Jan. 21—A joint| agencies concerned in the produc- congressional committee here to-!tion of raw materials. day agreed to raise the *annual, salaries of the price control ad-! ministrator to $12,000 a year but| failed to reach a compromise on' Two persons were arraigned be- o e TWO ARRAIGNED numerous ‘other controversial fea-| fore the Pederal District Court tures of wartime price control leg-. here today on indictments returned islation, yesterday by the grand jury. ORI i o SRS Floyd Cromwell, alias Frauk | Jackson, was charged with obtain- I ERS |ing property under false pretenses, ‘Harry O'Brien, 15-year-old youth |Who revealed that his real name or EI.KS To {is Harry Arthur Hart, was charged {with burglary in a dwelling house. | Slated for arraignment but un- ‘able to come here from Sitka, HAVE NIGHT‘where she is free on bail, was Mrs. |E. H. Hardy, alias Ruby Mazel- | wood, who is charged with attempt- Tonight is Oldtimers’ night at siatlse hibefl,.__m et the Elks and Walter Bathe, chair- man of the committee in charge, nonx l.i)z(i“’l‘ L iy a big oldtimers’ feed. The celebra- m:h;x::yer:ed in mxs(‘r::r. tion will take place following the )adder at_the Hirst-Chichagof Mine brief business session of the lodge. yesterday was brought to Juneau All members, new and old, also by plane today. Funeral arrange- Jones averages: Industrals, 109.06; the last few days, was dismissed Ann's Hospital yesterday afternoon Rice and AhlerS, has left for the visitors, are urged to attend the ments are being made by the C. W, .>vent. Carter Mortuary,