The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 18, 1942, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALI, THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1942 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS VOL. LVIIL, NO. 8985. JAPANESE INVASION FORCES SMASHED . S. Troops Are In Australian Battle Camps AMERICANS ARRIVE ON NEW FRONT Khaki Clad Soldiers Sca- tered to Various Aussie Stations UNITS PREPAREDTO | MEET JAP INVASION| Military E;Eris Caution Against Too Great Op- fimism, However (BY ASSOCIATED PRESS) Khaki clad United States troops, officially described as “most sub- stantial” in number, moved to their | battle stations in Australia as Gen.| Douglas MacArthur took over Lhe§ Allied Supreme Command to meet | the. threatened Japanese invasion. | Dispatches from Melbourne id{ the Americans have been scattercd | to camps throughout Australia’s vast domain of nearly 3,000,000 square miles, and at some points have been quartered alongside Aus- tralian troops. . (Continued on PA‘T “Two) (The authors of The Washing- ton Merry-Go-Round, believing that President Roosevelt should be consistent with his opposition to “The Nine Old Men” serving on the Supreme Court in 1937, have written a series on “The Four Old Men” in the Roosevelt cabinet who are engaged in vital war jobs—Secretaries Hull, Stim- son, Knox and Jones—all aged around 70. Herewith is their ap- praisal of Secretary of Com- merce Jones. —Ed.) WASHINGTON—If Jesse Jones had not insisted on the dual role of Secretary of Commerce and Fed- eral Loan Administrator, he would not be such a brake on our war effort. Originally it never was intended that one man should hold these two. all-important jobs. Roosevelt didn’t intend it, and ' Congress didn't intend it. In fact, it was specifically required by law that one man could NOT hold both of- fices. However, when the President first offered Jesse the Commerce Department, FDR consented in a weak moment to let him remain as Pederal Loan Administrator — ii Jesse could get permission frox Congress. The President thought of course, that Congress never would give it. But he forgot that Jesse Jones as Loan Administrator, had passec out juicy financial tidbits to th constituents of almost everyone o Capitol Hill, Congressmen remem bered that. Also they figured tha some day they might want more So Jesse actually got a specia resolution through Congress per mitting him to hold both jobs. It was a great day for the eg of one man, but a tragedy for th 129,999,999 other citizens of the 1 8. A. BANKER JONES Few people realize how importan loans are to the American war mz chine—and even less do they kno: what a throttle-hold the man w¥ controls those loans has upon w: production. Reason is that mos | Numbers Drawn in New qu’s First Draft Lottery; 9 Million Men Involved WASHINGTON, March 18.—Num- ber 3485 bobbed up last night as the first drawn in the new wa 1 |first draft lottery, intended, said | Brig. Gen Mz;r Florida 1 [ | | | Lewis B. Hershey, Se- | i | lective Service chief, to add millions ¢ | to that pool of men who stand ready | for selection for necessary | whatever they may be. tasks, | | Hershey stressed that some 9,000,- | | 000 involved in the lottery might be | drafted to man the factor | their comrades manned guns. | The first number was drawn by | Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson ‘from among 7,000 slips encased in | green St. Patrick’s Day capsules. It | meant that among the men who | | registered February 16, those hold- | ing that serial number would be the | first in their districts called for | possible service. Navy Secretary Frank Knox drew ‘ the second number, 2, 850. while PEACE REIGNED IN AUSTRALIA—TH EN—continued Japanese raiding stabs at Australia have brought about all-out preparations for war, when it comes, Tl ew of Brisbane, a city of 326,000 and capital of the state of Queensland. The third, drawn by Representa- | tive Andrew J. May of the House | Military Affairs Committee, was 4,- 301. The fourth number drawn was | 441; the fifth, 3,743; sixth, 3417T; seventh, 5298; eighth, 6.724; ninth, % Australia’s “Burma Road” Begins Here 4,618, and the tenth, 4,002. i | | | i | 13 HOURS FOR DRAWING | WASHINGTON, March 18—The | Nation’s first draft lottery of the | present war, a step toward clas- | sitication of 9,000,000 men for pos- | sible military service, ended at 4:10] !o'clock this morning, Pacific War | |Time, a little over 13 hours after | |the drawing was started. | e, TORPEDOED, SENT DOWN ON SUNDAY Merchant Craft Is Sunk Off Atlantic Coast-Fatal- ities Given CHARLESTON, South Carolina, | March 18.—The Sixth Naval District Public Relations Office reported this afternoon that a merchant ship was torpedoed off the Atlantic Coast at 1:22 oclock last Sunday morning after it was lighted up by red and green flash lights from a sub- mersible. The ship carried a crew of 36, in- cluding the master. Three of the crewmen were killed | and five crewmen are listed as miss- 1ing. T0 INCREASE SUB PATROL EAST COAST | Secretary Knox Pays Un- Jivilian Defense Board, has pre-| »ared the following instructions fcr% S(hedu'ed vls“ fo New 1e drill. Citizens are asked to >ad them carefully and do mvir} York - Statement 'tmost to make the alert a suc—’ 8S. Betty Jean Bailey | Among the first beauty queens | picked in 1942, Betty Jean Bailey, | 16, rules as “Miss Florida.” follow- | ing her selection at Coral Gabies. Miss Bailey is a Miami Yigh school girl ISSUE RULES FOR JUNEAU ALERT DRILL Alarm Will Be Sounded at 1 o’Clock Tomorrow Evening Tomorrow- evening at 7 o'clock he Juneau fire alarm will blast jut a 1-2 signal and Juneau resi- lents and members of the Civilian Defense Unit will ‘hold an “alert,” | the first of several practice drills; planned by the Civilian Defense Board to perfect a well-organized, mooth-working civilian defense or- ;anization for Juneau. R. E. Robertson, member of the - .| NEW YORK, March 18. — Secre- h’:‘h:a;l:rcmm be cfuriu:’] O‘L‘ fn lta ry of Navy Frank Knox said there er as a blackout, ki) pe 5 “considerable increase in xcept there will be no dousing ne submarine patrol fleet along the wtely 15 minutes. The all-clear |days.” ignal will be 1-1. Citizens in| Secretary Knox made the state- eir homes, unless they have some |ment at a conference with the news- duty to perform as a member men after inspecting naval installa- M the Civilian Defense Unit, tions in New York harbor and also hould remain indoors during the the burned-out liner Normandie. His rill. Those on the streets when |trip here was not scheduled but the e alarm sounds should seek Newsmen soon found him and told helter indoors immediately. | him of subsraids being made on Take Shelter | shipping off the coast. He -then If you are near your own home, ! made the statement of an increase - 'a friend’s home, go there. Oth-| M the patrol fleet. | P — ‘wise, take shelter in the nearest, myoe are 562 states in Indie { the eight air raid shelters. 8igns| ;1o native rulers in contractur- (Continued on Page Four) (Continued on Page Two) |8l relations with the British crown. | | | i | | | ian army camp at Alice Springs. Annual Fanfare of Thirly Australia’s own important “Burma road,” the new four-lane defense highway from the barren interior to northern ports, begins at Alice Springs, virtually in the center of the continent. Sinews of war from the industrial south are transported over this highway which terminates at Birdum, where a railroad line runs directly to the port of Darwin, site of a naval base. The picture shows an Austral- SUBSHARK - Year Old Cherry Blossom ; i , By JACK STINNETT [national capital's 30-year-old Cher- | |ry Blossom festival is out. | | It hasn't been announced def- initely yet by the Greater National Capital committee, which has charge of the annual fanfare, queen selection, music and pageantry that {ordinarily accompany the affair. | But civie leaders will give odds it won't come off in 1942 and even money that there won't be another cne for years to come. ‘The cherry trees, you see, | Japanese, The annual ceremony around the| Tidal Basin, timed (hopefully) to are of the cherry trees that partially| | encircle it, has had two purpr»es} {since that eventful initial planting | |in 1912: (1) to signalize the good- | |will between the United States and | iJapan, and (2), to stimulate the| | tourist trade to Washington. All that’s nece those two purposes wrong side out and you'll have the two best ex- i«ny of for Japan rigm.'now is jgoodwill. And a spring invasion of Festival Is Out This Year | city would be about | son, | Basin back to thg Mall is now just| | pack-jammed as welcome tourists to this already There is, however, one more rea-| . The area from the Tidal acres of temporary buildings for war workers—and, piles of lumber for such buildings yet to be con- structed. | | le . e pi— View of army camp at Alice Springs, Australia NOW GIVEN UP AS LOST American Craft in Western | WASHINGTON, March 18—The | as a septennial visitation of locusts. | Pacific 0verdue ~Ta- coma Man, Captain WASHINGTON, March 18—The avy, in '8 rommunique today, dis- that the American submarine | clo Probably the only Per-|gp .,y js overdue in the western sons who will see the 1942 blCOM- pyeific for more than one month ing of Japan’s good will trees Will ;ng «myst e presumed to be lost.” be those federal workers who are laboring in shifts to knock The next of kin to those aboard the the Shark have been notified, the donor of those shrubs into a dent- communique further states. ed helmet. Public opinion about the Cherry Lieut. Commadr. too.|of Tacoma, Washington. Blossom festival has changed, A few years ago, when there was| trees to make way for the Jeffer-! son Memorial, several irate ecity mothers chained themselves to the | commissioner of the Territorial De- | partment of Health, left today for the south, where he plane for the east. trees in protest. Now, letters are pouring into th: National Capital Parks Commis-| The next of kin includes those of Louis Shane, Jr., - —— { lights. 1t will last for approxi- |eastern coast within the next 60 ccincide with the bursting blooms | talk of cutting down some of (he pg. syITH LEAVES FOR CONFERENCE Dr. Courtney Smith, stant will take a Dr. Smith has been asked by KNOCKS OUT SLOW-UP IN PRODUCTION ‘Nelson Promises No Inter-| | ference Whatsoeverin | | iy Supples - ! 23 NIPPON SHIPS SUNK OR DAMAGED American and Australian Air Forces Make Raid on New Guinea TWO PORTS ARE UNDER ATTACK: GOOD RESULTS \One Large Airplane Car-- rier Also Reported Sent Down WASHINGTON, March 18—The Navy announced today that the Japanese invasion force concen- trated near the New Guinea is- land ports of Salamaua and Lae has been smashed by American and Australian air forces, sinking or damaging 23 Japanese vessels in- cluding 12 warships. The Navy communique said, | “heavy losses were inficted on the enemy by the combined American and Australian forces and ac- complished with the loss of only one plane.” Tn the American and "Australian’ - raid on the Japanese forces the Navy communique says the: “ships | WASHINGTON, March 18.--Don- | Probably sunk't.include two heavy {ald M: Nelson, War Production Ad-, Cruisers, one light cruiser, five | ministrator, today gave Americans a transports or cargo ships, one gun- |new promise tc knock down all in- boat, one destroyer and one mine ;trrfcr(’nce in war production wheth- jer it is haggling of managements or |tinion slow-ups. | | Nelson said the nation’s factories are now turning out good produc- tion. He said plane output has gone {up more than 50 per cent since | December 7 | In conclusion, Nelson said ‘“there is no reason for false complacency. | We need more and forever more of | weapons. We need, planes and | guns. We need them now. We have | |to realize the value of time. Ma- chine gun factories are in full swing | |and can equip a whole regiment in | a day and a half.” | '3 Submarines Make Atfack On ULE.Ship Two Torpedoes Strike in Engine Room-Another Under Lifeboat NERFOLK, Virginia, March 18.— Three enemy submarines, one large and two small, of the pocket medium | size torpedoed an American ship off the Atlantic coast early last Sunday | and sent her to the bottom Two torpedoes -were placed ac- | ‘urately in ghe engineer room and | six members of the crew lost their lives, the Fifth Naval District an- nounced today. 1 f The announcement also said 33 | ivors were landed at Morehead | , North Carolina, after being adrift on life rafts for 39 hours. Loss of life resulted from one tor- | pedo which struck and exploded just | belew one of the lifeboats as it was | being lowered tn the water. ’ | —————————— - STOCK QUOTATIONS i NEW YORK, March 18—Closing quotation of American Can stock |today is 59%, Anaconda 26%, Beth- lehem Steel 60, Commonwealth and Southern %, Curtiss Wright 7%, | International Harvester 43'%, Ken- | sion, demanding that the gifts from |Dr. W. W. Council, Territorial Com- Inecott 33, New York Central B\,\' ry is to turn|Nippon be torn up by the roots, missioner of | chopped down, burned. Old timers here see an omen and | cuses for NOT holding the festival|strange foreboding in the etrcum- | eral Thomas this year.» What we don't have|gances that surrounded presenta-) 'O (Continued on Page Three) |the Territory | ference with Health, to represeat at a nation-wide con- U. 8. Surgeon-Gen- Parran in Washing- D. C. S e BUY DEFENSE STAMPS {Northern Pacific 5%, United States |Steel 507%, Pound $4.04 | DOW, JONES AVERAGES ! | The following are today's Dow,[ Jones averages: Industrials, lOI.M‘,i rails, 26.34; utilities, 12.11, sweeper, total of 11, Ships believed heavily damaged include six warships and five od‘er ships including one destroyer, total of 12. AIRPLANE CARRIER SUNK MELBOURNE, March 18—It 1s officially stated this afternoon that a large Japanese airplane carrier was sunk in the American and Australian air attack at Salmaua RED OF KHARKOV Russian Tr&);s Surround 20,000 Germans in Great Pocket (By Associated Press) Russia’s Ukraine armies are re- ported this morning storming the suburbs of Kharkov, the Soviet's Pittsburgh. Dispatches from the front received . at Stockholm declare the Russian troops on the Central Front have surrounded 200,000 Germans in a great pocket west of Moscow. A Reuters dispatch claims that Russian parachvtists have dropped in the Smolensk area, 230 miles west of Moscow, and destroyed the Nazi fortifications. This was during a snow storm. Front line dispatches said the Russians have captured five more communities in the gigantic encir- clement movement and cut off the -« * “escape corridor” for the German garrisons in the Rhez-Vyazma sec- tors. 2 Latest reports said the gap has narrowed to a bare 20 miles. Other dispatches assert the Rus- slan counter offensive has sfirged along the entire front. FINE JUNEAU MAN ON SPEED CHARGE F. T. Secrettie, Juneau, was fined $10 by U. S. Commissioner Felix | Gray this morning. Secrettie was arrested by Territorial Highway Patrolman Floyd Fagerson on a charge of speeding at 55 miles an hour on the Glacier Highway: <l “IN SUBURBS