The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 8, 1942, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LIX., NO. 9080. JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1942 MLMBLR AbSOU/\'ll D l’RLSS PRICE TEN CENTS REDS REPULSE NAZIS AT VITAL RAIL HEAD British Hold Rommel Back Seven Patten Brofhers Surwve U.s. S lexmglon | FLYING, LAND PATROLS HIT . NALI ARMIES No Major Attacks on Enher Side — Germans Re- ported Resting (RY ASSOCIATED PRESS) In the fifteen-day-old battle 0(4‘ Feypt, the British announced that their patrols of flying columns slashed into Marshal Erwin Rom- mel’s armies all day yesterday, de- | stroying Axis tanks and capturing prisoners, Overhead, swarms of Royal Air Force warplanes bombed and ma- chine gunned Axis troops grouped in a 35 mile wide “bottleneck™ 70 miles west of Alexandria. Dispatches from Cairo said that there lave been no major attacks by either side. Both forces are sav- ing tkeir heavy punches for the decisive battle expected at any time. Italian headquarters asserted that a strong British force has been repulsed with heavy losses.. Stock- holm dispatches from Berlin indi- cated uneasiness of the Nazi capital | ~ over Rommel’s position. One report said that Rommel is in difiiculty because his troops are“ exhausted by their 350 mile sweep across the sands of Tobruk while Gen. Claude Auchinleck's Armies | have been revitalized by fresh troops | drawn from the Middle East. e e—— MAKE SITKA TRIP | Ben Bellamy, merchandise brok- er, accompanied by Mrs. Bellamy, left fo- Sitka last night on a short b\mm trip The Washmgtun Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON—As Marshal Rom- mel’s army eats farther into Egypt, | U. S. oil experts face the un-| pleasant possibility of blowing up wells producing millions of barrels of oil in Mosul, Iran and Iraq. For the chief strategy of the Al- lies has been to cut Hitler off from oil—oil in the Caucasus, oil in the Near and Middle East, meanwhile bombing his oil supplies in Ru- mania. So if Rcmmel’s forces gel near these oil fields, they must be wrecked at all cost. And what frankly worries U. 8. oil experts is that they may not be destroyed. It is generally known that British oil wells in Rumania| fell into Hitler’s hands in complete working order. U. 8. oil-men had Leen sent all the way from Texas for the express purpose of touch- ing them off with nitroglycerine. But the British decided Rumania was ngutral, so nothing was done. In Java, however, very careful preparations were made. This time there was no neutrality to worry anyone. Japan had attacked, and there were about two months in whicn to prepare the dynamiting of the Dutch East Indies oil wells. But this time, though it never leaked out, something happened.| The Standard-Vacuum wells were completely destroyed—in the face of enemy machine gun fire. Ameri- can oil equipment and property val- ned at $150,000000 went up in smoke. But the Shell Company's wells were not wrecked. Later the British 1eported that this was “due to a slight error in judgment.” Naturally, therefore, the fate of the Near Eastern wells causes con- cern. Most of them are British, and this time no one wants another error in judgment, no matter how | slight. For such an error would put millions of barrels of oil immediate- | ly into the hands of Hitler. SUPREME U. S. COMMANDER British failures and errors in Judgmem have brought increasing (Continued on Page Four) 1S AGROUND, sunk while being towed to port. The’ crew was saved. as a merchant vessel but gives no further information. A Calling Card for Berlin > Pretty Katherine Sloan sits on a 2,000 pound bomb in New York City and signs her name on it. She was the first of many persons who will be allowed to autograph the Bomb for special delivery to the Axis. Purcha,_qcra of war bonds and signers of pledges will be given a pen dipped in special ink to write their names on the missile, - ALASKA AIR MEN FORCED DOWN TWICE Ed Bowman Reportedfw Missing Last -Night Near Anchorage 'TIN, Anchorage, earchers have io ed Bowman and Dillard, Al chilly after a g part way en the treachercus Cordova to Anchorage flight. Sleeping bags and food have been dropped and the fliers are apparently in no danger. ANCHORAG Alaska, July 8—| Ed Bowman, pilot and “Shortly” Dillard, his mechanic, were reported | missing last night for the second | time on a {light from Cordova to Anchorage. | The plane reported yesterday by | tadio that motor trouble had forced »d on a river sandbar, with | passengers and Bowman| “ EA LT HY — Bathing suit aboard. ) makers picked Janet Blair Pilot Art Glass went to the scene| (above), movie starlet, as ideal and prcked up the passengers, leav- | girl to show benefits of “swim ing Dillard to assist with repairs. | for health” week campai:n. Bowman again reported by radm that he was taking off toward An-| EGYPT TAKES chorage. Later he gave a weak radio signal saying he was making | another forced landing. Listeners thougint he said near an island, but searchers flying over have as ) been anable to locate the plane o1 its crewmen. U.S. VESSEL Minister About Aleutians SOUTH AFRICA ....... July 8 Runs Ashore During Fog-- Pull Off, Then Sinks- Crew Is Saved CAPETOWN, South Africa, July 8 —Naval authorities announce that fotr a 5500 ton U. S. vessel went aground near Dassen Island off Cape Good °PServed that the Hope, in a fog yesterday and then 4d 1otel LR % ‘. ® o o & 0 0 0 o 0 B ek le WEATHER REPORT WASHINGTON, July 8 The ® (U, S Bureau) Navy Department describes the ship ® Temperature Tuesday, July 7 e Maximum 55, Minbmum 52 (9 00 e 0 0 0 o 0 ship in theatres, | share mv Pacific War Council today. Leighton McCarthy, Minister. Lo operations orated COUNCIL EYE | President ?Js Canadian The |situation in Egypt and its relation- the other|ing the interior to the coast of war received the major of attention at a meeting of |; Canadian id that he had inquired about the Aleutian Island situation and that the President had corrob- reports of the sinking of Jap destroyers there and had weather had been on Egypt Front MAY (REATE U.S. CHIEF OF ALLIES ?Speculaie in Capital on United Nations Su- preme Commander WASHINGTON, high nrter-allied personage: | are speculating on the possibility {that an American, pcssibly Gen. | George C. Marshall, U. S. Chief of Staff, might some day become Sus| preme Commander of all the United Nations Land, Air and’'Sea forces througriout the world. So far no official move has becn; made toward creating a Supreme | Comn.ander but it can be said for| the idea that some important people | who refuse to permit the use of their names, either expect or hope | that the commander, assuming the| job goes to an American, which | both British and American sources here do assume, might not neces- sarily be Marshall Other possibilities include Adm al William Leahy or Gen. Dougl MacAithur, MEXI(O HITS ENEMY SUB, SEA ATTACK First Blow Since War De- clared Is Struck by Army Fliers MEXICO CITY, July 8—Mexico struck iis first blow since declaring ar last month, with a dive bomb- ing aitack in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican Army General Staff announced today. Apperently the fliers crippled enemy sub, according to the nouncemwent. .- FIGHTING IS July 8 — Some here museum piece at Portland. \ 4 1 an an- director of the Wome at her office in Washington, D.C. } | HMome in Portiand, Ore,, on furlough, the seven Patten brothers, who survived the sinking of the U. Lexington in the Ceral Siea, were with their father (extreme left), on the old battleship Oregon, now a 'ARGENTINA WAAC C HI EF 1 N UNI FOR M_st William P. Hobby, 's Army Auxiliary Corp: ears her uniform Ii's the WAAC summer officer’s uniform of gabardine, Ier rank corresponds to major in army. FIERCE, ONE United States Studies CHINAAREA Food Bonus; 'Defenders Are Closing in Around Jap Advance Forces at Two Towns (BY ASSOCIATED PRESS) Chiang Kai Shek’s Chinese mies are reported today to have |closed in around the Japanese ad- vance forces who penetrated th towns of Fengchang and Char in a new drive aimed to cay | the Kiangsi-Hunan Railway. | The Chinese are still clinging to |a 25-mule sector on the Chekian: Kiangs: railway. | The Japs are attémpting to the Kiangsi-Hunan loop thus ¢ |rupting the rail trunk line lir JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, July 8—It hasn't even been hinted yet, but several government departments are work- ing on a food bonus plan for de- pendants of men called into the armed forces. It will be some sort of varja- tion of the food stamp plan and therein lies reason for the delay in bringing it to public attentior Agriculture, OPA, WPB, and Army all are afraid that tue pub- lic will think of it in terms of a dole. That might be fatal to the morale of dependants whose bread- winners are in militi service. If and when the government agencies involved can be certain that the terminology of their plan won't bring psychological repercus- ions from the public, minor differ- ences will be ironed out and the plan will be laid before Congress. BY ar- iz Fierce fighting is reported ra ing around Fengchang and Chang shu. ——-,e—— WELL-BABY CLINIC SET FOR TOMORROW A Well-Baby Nursing Conference iwlll be held for all Juneau mothe {and their children tomorrow ® 1 to 4 oclock in the Juneau Pub ® lic Health Center. Only well babies should be takn ® to the center, Mothers will di @ cuss their growth and diets ® means of keeping them healthy The idea would be to issue food tamps, either as an additional honus or as part of the dependency payments made to wives and child- ren of men called into military ser- vice. Th would be redeemable for a1l merchandise (or perhaps under certain terms beneficial to the pur- chaser for surplus commodity mer: chandise), sold in grocery stores The government would take them up, paying the stores out of funds and sel aside for reimbursement ol de-! Dependents Of Soldiers fo Be Aided pendents of men drafted into the armed forces. While the several wartime agen- cies are fretting over details, they agree that the main objective i to avoid the flood of criticism that poured down on the original food stamp plan. Merchants, who later hailed the food stamps as a boan to sales and stock turnover, first screamed loudly that y contributed much to the fight . Congress over the proposal Voters who damned it a varia- tion of Ll‘e dole contributed the rest. e Those well-meaning government workers (mostly in the Department f Agriculture) whens fought that battle through are still a bit shy of launching another campaign which they fear may have similar counter-attacks and repercussions. 50 a The wartime realists, whom are new to the of national opinion( sometime called politics) have a different lant. The primary purpose of pay- ments to dependents of the fight- men, they argue, is to see that hey are assured of food and shelter Why, then, shouldn't a portion of he payme be made in food or tamps redeemable in food? This would be insurance that ome proportion of the payments many of intricacies (Continued on Page Five) | Alres SHIPS SKIP U. 5. COAST From Now Ofi;VNeutraI Na- | tion's Boats to Dock in Gulf (BY ASFOCIATED PRESS) High official sources in Buenos report today that neutral Ar- while still holding to the vight of freedom of the seas, has ordered her merchant vessels avoid the East Coast of the United States which Germany has declared a blockade zone, Argentine authorities in the dock on the gentina, said that United States of Mexico, - Aflantic Sinkings Confinu Navy Announces Loss of Dutch Ship in Carib- bean Sea ASBOC l.\ll D PRESS) The sinking of medium-sized Dutch cargo vessel in the Ccarib- | bean two months ago has ml]V now been announced by the Navy,| bringing to 344 the unofficial As-| sociated Press tabulation of United and neutral nation ship losses in the Western Atlantic since Pearl Harbor, All 37 aboard the Dutch were rescued although the was sunk by an enemy ship wi in ten minutes, the Navy announc menb said. The Navy announced the dostruction in the of thiee merchantmen vessels, small British tanker, a medium- sized Norwegian cargo ship, which, with the less today, swelled the toll in thut area to an unofficial 113. ouly at ports Gulf By a ship yesterday Caribbean Mrs. Merle Janis Pitts has r turned to Juneau after spending the last two weeks in Haines visit- ing her husband Sergeant Jack Pitts. The couple was married in !Juneau early in the spring. to future Argentine ships will | | |ings on | wiped out. RUSSIANS CHECKING GERMANS German Break at Voronezh Is Reported Tonight as Turned Back (BY ASSOCIATED PRESS) Marshal Simeon Timoshenko's Ar= mies, recoiling after an initial shock assault of 200,000 German troops, are pictured by Soviet dispatches as checking the 120 mile Nazi break through in the heights west of Vor- onezh, inflicting terrific losses on the invaders. Red Army headquarters ignored the cificial German claim that Voronezh had fallen, declaring the battle is still raging before the key city of the Moscow-Rostov Railway. The Russian communique said thal mere than 3,000 Germans are dead ir. the battle areas and fhat 35 tanks have been destroyed. However, a bulletin from Hitler’s headqmrte‘s asserted that strong Russian forces are encircled behind Voronozh and that the front gap of Soviet lines has been widened. Tonight’s Report Russian reports tonight from the front, received * in Moscow, said counte.-attacking of the Red Army has resulted in the wiping out of the G:rman bridgehead on the east bank oi the Don River in the bit- terly contested Voronezh sector. The night communique also says the Red Army has successfully re- pulsed all further enemy attempts lo cross the stream and all land- the east bank have been .- AUSTRALIAN AIRFIELD IS UNDER FIRE | Slight Darfiiafge Done in lof Arthur's 116 Jap bombers last night raided the | reconnaissance” is reported. | Arthur says Allied fliers are keep- vessel New Jap Raid-Recon- naissance thhts HE.ADQUARTF‘RS IN TRALIA, July 8--In the battle Australia, Gen. Douglas Mac- headquarters report that ALLIED AU Allied #irdrome on Horn Island in | Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, inflicting slight dam- age. Otherwise only “intermittent air Mac~ ing a constant vigil against any new assing of Jap invasion ar- madas in the ring of islands above | Austraia. HOUSEDROPS POSTAL BILL IN REVERSAL Plan fo Raise Second and Third Class Rates Is Shelved WASHIN(-TON J\llv 8 The a House Ways and Means Committee has decided to drop the once ap- proved plan to raise 102 million dollars in additional revenue by in- creasing second and third class postal rates and has turned the questicn over the House Post Office Committee, Merubers said that the reversal followed a disclosure that Post Of- tice officidls couldn’t make ‘the new |rates effective before January 1 in these categories of mail to make up a delicit estimated at 100 million,