The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 5, 1942, Page 1

PoNGrRssroNaL 1 WASHING YON, D. ¢, HE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LVIIL, NO. 8950. JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1942 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENIS U.S. PLANES ATTACK JAP AIR FLEET Japanese Near U.S. Navy Yard Arrested ROUND-UP ON ISLAND Fifteen Nip;)afs in Custody | -Explosives, Firearms | Are Seized ’ SEATTLE, Feb. 5—Fifteen Japa- nese aliens have been arrested and a quantity of explosives and fire- arms have been seized as the re- sult of a search of Bainbridge Is- land homes of the Orientals. The Federal Bureau of Investi- gation announced that agents, worked from noon yesterday unt:l late last night in a search for contraband articles recently orderedv turned in. Bainbridge Island is close to the| Bremerton Navy Yard and it isi estimated has a Japanese popula- | tion of about 300. FUND FOR CHINA IS Honeymooning in the cast, Mickey ) Rooney, film actor, and his bride, ‘ iraer Ava Gardner, are W in a New York hotel. | ADVANCED pepoRt LuLL WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — The, Senate has passed and sent to lhe! White House the measufe making half a billion dollars available for ' financial aid to China. i | The fund will be administered by | TAN AREA | the Secretary of Treasury under ! proposal direction of the President. Che Brief Lef-up in Savage! . | Fighting Which Has Beewi | fi":‘@ . Going on Two Weeks | Orew Peersos : ON, F WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 The War Department today reports a {lull in the Battle on Batan Penin- sula, in the Philippines, and there| ihas been little action in the ‘sav-| |age character of the fighting which| {bas been continuous for the past| two weeks.” The fighting is unofficially re-| ported as a ‘“combination of the positional fighting of the World War and old-time American Indian -l Robert S.Alles “GO- WASHINGTON—The nation will always be proud of and grateful to the five members of the Pearl :‘I:;btora:garzoz:a;:::;ryreifirtme;; warfare.” Infiltration of Japanese| j |snipers is general, it is said. was a great tribute by true patri- 'I“):e .Iapngnese are especially adept o‘t;sito the honor and gameness ol"at sniping. Carrying only a hand- their country. Iful of rice plus their arms, they They had faith that the U'E'A‘Esncak through the lines and hide could take it and come up fight-|pigh in the trees, and remain ing to win. | motionless for hours awaiting their But there were certain Army and|chance. = Navy elements who ‘;{g “"; h‘“;“ The average Japanese is not an| lS“Ch mgdh com':;p;.s. e e:'“ “"""eu,expert marksman, but their snipers| ess candor and forthrightness. If|are especially chosen crack shots. they flfou\d have had their way n“""one American unit flushed six ;oadr: ;nr‘e;‘pgor:fw‘onucl:mr;tw 22:9 :e:gnlsnlpers out of a single tree. | ; o | Refused to Give Up “3;‘:;:;‘3‘,dxe“"::‘f"_‘mune:“a’;ms] Americans, on the other hand, y ! have successfully staged numerous| would have been used instead. |pnjght raids across no man’s land.| | wounded, refused to go to the hos-| elements sought to influence theipnal and led repeated raids to exertion of social and personal|gather prisoners and information. pressure on certain Board mem-| .The Américan commander dis- | bers to softl;pedalk their fm‘:i‘:'flswc]osed that the “first time Ameri-| These members now nothing fcan troops charged the ananese,i about this, because it was stopped |the enemy ran.”” This was while dead in its tracks. |the American-Filipino troops were Secretaries Stimson and Knox moving into position on the Batan saw to it that the Board had a | Peninsula several weeks ago. completely free hand to act and| To prevent the isolation of other speak as it saw fit. Like the Board, ;unmsn the commander said, the they too, are patriots who have Americans fixed bayonets and faith in their country. ‘shrieked war whoops” and at- tacked the Japanese who fled in| |disorder. In a second engagement, how- jever, the Japanese fought coura- ;geously, resisting yard by yard as FDR AXES LEWIS The inside reason why John L. Lewis was not'-named a member of |coast of Alaska and there may be| HIGHWAYS TO ALASKA DISCUSSED | House Roads Committee Holding Hearing - Gov. Gruening’s Views WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — Gov. Ernest Gruening told the members | of the House Road Committee yes- | terday afternoon that he expected | two or more highways from the United States tc Alaska will be constructed to meet the demand for land transportation of supplies and munitions. Gov. Gruening said Canada has not yet indicated its stand on the and immediate action is necessary as the delay of a few| weeks now might mean a delay of construction for a year. Gov. Gruening said the roads will | enable the rapid movement of sup-| plies to the great military and na- val bases in Alaska. Route Favored The Governor said he favored a route from Seattle to Prince George, Fort St, James and White- horse into Alaska where it would connect with the Alaska road net- work leading to military and naval bases. | Representative U. L. Burdick, Republican - of North..Dakota, and Representative H. Carl Anderson, "~ (Continued on i’a;é s1%0 RIGGS URGES HIGHWAYTO | AID DEFENSE Former Governor of Alaska Gives His Views on Northern Road ‘ WASHINGTON, Feb. 5—Thomas Riggs, former Governor of Alaska, and Acting Ehairi (of the Al-| aska Highway | Coffimission, testi- | tied today befefe the House Roads committee that:a $50,000,000 high-| way in Alaska is Yecessary for Na- tional defense and for economic development of the territory. Riggs testified in support of the bill to authorize construction of 1500 miles from the United States,| through Canada, to connect with! the Alaska road system. Riggs said available Shipping‘; could not handle the freight and| passenger demand now. 1 Riggs also said: “Japanese sub-| marines have been rumored off the more losses due to enemy activity. Loaded trucks cannot be torpedoed.| After the war is over, the highway| will be more than useful in peace- time pursuits.” * Proposes Route | Riggs urged approval of the route from Seattle to Prince George then to Whitehorse. He said feeder| roads could easily be constructed | to cities and defense establishments in Southeast Alaska. i Riggs also said a further east! route, known as B route, is also! feasible but not as desirable.” He| said the road from Whitehorse to! Fairbanks could be constructed within a year. The entire road could; be kept open the year around. Riggs said the road should be at| least 25 feet wide with a gravel surface. | Road Defense Project i The former Governor also testi-| fied that the whole defense of the| | was the three-man CIO peace commit- tee was because President Roose- velt personally. blocked it. When he and CIO president Phill Murray discussed the counter plan: that scuttled Lewis' blitz scheme, Roosevelt advised that the new This army had been trained for the ¢d 2fter the project received cbn-‘ AFL and CIO peace committees be limited to three members each. ‘That would avoid turning the the Americans successfully carried out line straightening operations. Japs Use Crack Troops American officers consider the Japanese imperial Fourteenth Army a first class body of troops. past fifteen months in Formosa by Gen. Masaharu Homma, obviously for the specific purpose attacking (Continued on Page -Four) (Continued on Page Two) Pacific Coast depended on the suc-| v § ¥i/e : M THEY'RE IN THE N AVY N O W_Training eraft and navy blimps on temporary recess from their Atlantic patrol duties sauat in an east coast hangar. The blimps from which trained observers scan the seas carry bombs and machine guns. e o UN Jap Fishing Boats Seized at Canadian Ports These are Japanese fishing boats, rounded up at Canadian ports after the dominion had declared war on Japan, They are shown tied up at Steveston, Vancouver Island. The boats will be leased or bought AllBalderdash AboutU.S. REP Going Back fo Horse and | Buggy Days; Won't Dot IS WANTED gy,eyii that in some instances where dis- Ke,(h l k an (hamber of By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — The potential crisis in motor transpo; tation in civilian life is giving rise ito a lot of balderdash. The idea that we are going to return really to the horse and bugzy days, for example, is some |of it. Naturally, with a shortage of tires, trucks and cars, some truck- ing and delivery companies who |can adopt Old Dobbin to their |needs are going to do so. The use of hors for getting about and for hauling in farm and small communities also will increase. But if just that went to anything like the limits of its possibilities all over the country, the horse market would be as empty as the barn with the open door. One government expert told me recently that it would take about ten years to breed the nation’s horse population back to what it in the buckboard era. Even if a sufficient increase could be developed in time to do any good, there still would be the problem of reviving the manufacture of carriages and harness. Any demand for these in great REPEAL OF JONES ACT tances are short, a bicycle mizht help a lot. As an auxiliary vehic ft- commef(e Sends Appeal for short runs, 1t could be maic| to Se(y. Of commer(e to go far towards saving the fam-| ily jaloppy. | | KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Feb. A radiogram seeking “speedy ac- But to consider the fac puts another face on it. Acco! tion” in suspending the provisions “(:f the Jones Act so that Canadiain [ dita ing to the National Safety Council, there now are about 8,000,000 bicycles in the coun- | T ty, be allowed to carry American ! h try. The production from the |, .. 046 hés been sent to the 12 manufacturers in the United Secretary of Commerce Jesse Jones 1 thir States, has averaged something |, "y " woronigan Chamber, o E ar for the over 1,000,000 a ye | Bomierds; last four years. (When the g : manufacturers met here recent- | 10 plea pointed out the increas- ing demands on existing facilities :{“"“"I‘:‘:PMS:L?;;: m‘d‘::frl: :»n:l the needs of the Ganned Sal- bike,” they estimated their ig41 |"O% INAusty. i output at 2,000,000 | Rocgsoe: oot With the “victory” bicycle. of | standard design, lighter frame,| STO(K OUOIMIONS smaller tires, and a maximum - only 25 pounds of steel, this pro-| NEW YORK,'Feb. 5 — Closing duction might be stepped up con- quotation of Alaska Juneau mine siderably — if the industry wese stock today is 2%, American Can given priorities on all of its needs. |63 Anaconda 27%, Bethlehem One report here recently had it Steel 64%, Commonwealth and that priorities didn’t want to allot|Southern ', Curtiss Wright 8, In- more steel to the- bicycles than ternational Harvester 51'2, Kenne- cott 34'%, New York Central 9%, | vessels, now reaching Alaska emp- | enough to produce 750,000, cesful defense of Alaska. |quantities would necessitate vir- Riggs said that Canada has nottually new industries, with a de- agreed yet upon the construction of | maud for new machine tools and the road but Canadian officials said new craftsmanship. There sti'l a speedy agreement.could be reach- would pe the problem of priorities | gressional approval. |” Donald MacDonald, member of| Amother bit of fallacious reason- Ithe Alaska Highway Commissiy, |8 is that the nation is going to ~_ltake to bicycle wheels overnight. " Here again, it goes without saying Js (Cnntg\fia-a;}age 8ix) United States Steel 534, pound $4.04. But to return to the 2,000,000 a year or even twice that, it would take from five to ten years to put a bike beside every car in the land—or an average of one toevery Sitka will mnot advance clocks family. And of course, where one when the states goes on daylight car will do for many families, one saving time on February 9. Sitka went on Pacific Coast time in May, 1940. PN SIS STAYS ON OLD TIME (Continued on Page Three) RED VICTORY PROMISEDBY PURSUITERS AID DEFENSE ' EAST INDIES American Craft Engage Superior Force of Nip- pons in Air Battle ARTILLERY DUELS RAGE AT SINGAPORE British Guns Reported fo Have Silenced Main- land Batteries (BY ASSOCIATED PRESS) Japan’s siege armies still hesitat- od today to gamble on a direct as- sault against Singapore amid flaming artillery duels across the mile wide Johore Strait. Japanese warplanes again attacked the big Dutch Naval base at Soerabaja, on the Island of Java, also Port Moresby, New Guinea. The War Department in Wash- ington today issued a bulletin that U. 8. Army P-40 pursuit planes are aiding in the defense of the vital Dutch Indies and gttacked a great- force' of Japanese bomb- ighting planes, a Nippon ly superi 1 3 ; ©is and ke TuR iy e da, it the ‘icinity of ‘Java | Reo«upaiimf Republics Lost fo Germany Is Seen by Kalinin MOSCOW, Feb. 5—President Ka- linin in a message to the Soviet people today, , Lear when all the occupied re- publics of Russia will return the family.” The Soviet Union is growing cleser and closer each day, he said, as the Red Army is approach- |ing the borders of White Russia— Latvia, Esthonia and Lithuania. Kalinin’s message was spread | ac the main pages of all news- |papers. It said that although the | Germans are fighting for every inch of ground, in some places th2 Russians have driven the inygders |back as far as 175 miles. > - las ~ Spreading ~ Panic Now | Russian Deh_cimenls Bat- ter Nazi Concentra- tions—Cut Lines MOSCOW, Feb. ila dets wholesale panic behind the proclaimed “the hour| to | 5—Soviet guer- ments are reported creat- Island, The. War Department said one | American plane is missing in tha | reported attack on the Japanese armada. The Java headquarters of Gen. Archibald Wavell also reports the wrrival of American planes bat they have immediately into action, Jap Batteries Silenced The British headquarters the Singapore defense guns llenced the Japanese shore teries and raked Japanese trans- ports in the Johore and - Bahru wreas directly across from the be- leaguered island fortress. Overhead, RAF fighters battled Japanese warplanes which inflicted nearly 300 casualties in two days of fighting in which 63 have been killed and 228 wounded. Siege Guns Thunder Out A Tokyo broadcast sald Japanese slege guns have been thundering across Johore Strait since 6 o'~ clock last night, pouring a steady stream of fire into the Imperial troops in a grove of rubber trees near the head of the dynamited causeway from the Malay main- land to the island. RAF .scout planes said a heavy movement of troops southward through Johore Strait is still pro- gressing. The Dutch Commander in the Dutch Indies reports that despite violent bombing attacks, the spirits of his troops “remains like red peppers and will be indomitable.” - eee QUITS BANKING Winfield Ervin, Sr., who has been in the banking business from the beginning of Anchorage, has re- signed as cashier and director of the Pirst National Bank of Anchor~ age, and left for the states. Harry M. Hamill has succeeded Ervin as ;jerman lines as the Nazi armies|cashier. ought to throw up fortifications in| - = lan attempt at counter attacks in| imany sectors. Dispatches from the front to-| Inight tell of wide ranging damaging | lines to ! oviet attacks onh railway ential to the Nazi effort ring up reserves. | 7004Y's BLOW Xfrr LIBERTY, n one sector on the southwest- m front, guerilla bands are said| o be marching 35 miles nightly in plan aimed at des-| truction of Ger ©n the main t Communique battle front, neu ties in the Kalinin area ‘man communication. the tonight an- 5 the recapture of five local- ! and cap- ure of many Germans while others killed or wounded il ¥ LR 2 GAFFNEY PROMOTED e V. Gaffn moted to Colonel, commanding of- Ladd Field, Fairbanks has If you are sure your neighbor is a spy, tell it to the FBI, only.