The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, September 24, 1942, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LIX., NO. 9146. JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, S}.PFLMR R 24, I‘)47 M MBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Alaska Highway is Now Nearing Completion TRAFFIC TO MOVE ABOUT DECEMBER 1 Secrefary of War Stimson_ Makes Statement Con- | cerning Great Road | WASHINGTON, Sept. 24. — The Alaska Highway will be ready for | use about December 1, War Henry Stimson announced to- day, and traffic is expected to move | steadily along its 1,600 miles until the spring thaws make it unposs)blo in April and May. Not only is the highway bEmg completed months ahead of sched- ule, but instead of the contemplated rough, “pioneer road, the Alaskan highway as now being constructed by Army Engineers is a well graded, well drained truck road for prac- tically its entire length and will afford two-way traffic over many long stretches,” Stimson said. Stimson said that the muskeg bog moss, expected to give the highway an unsteady base over long stretches | and to provide some of the worst problems in the undertaking, proved to be a minor consideration. The War Secretary said that the | “engineers report the threats of ‘ muskeg have proved wholly un-| founded, successfully skirted. That which was | unavoidable has been overcome by | using corduroy roads. In one par- ticular section, 60 miles in length, } reported to consist principally of ‘ muskeg, only four miles of it was encountered.” | Army arrangements for winter maintenance of the road include rest camps for operators of truck | convoys, barracks for engineeer! | maintenance troops and weather observation and telephone installa- | tions the length of the highway. | The Washlngtun Merry -Go-Round By DREW PEARSON i (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON. —The complete | story never was told, but it hap- pened two years ago this month. And if it had happened differently it might have changed history. A group of cabinet officers were dining at the British embassy with the late Lord Lothian—Secretary of War Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Knox, Secretary of the Treas- ury Morgenthau. They all agreed that it was suicide to continue shipping scrap iron and oil to Japan, that it should be stopped at once. The British ambassador agreed that his government would cooperate. Next ' day, Morgerithau ' flew to Hyde Park, put the proposal before F. D. R, got him to sign two execu- tive orders banning the sale of all; scrap iron to Japan, and all oil. But under the law, executive or—l ders must be issued by the secre- tary of state. And when the White House sent Mr. Hull the orders he vigorously disagreed. In fact he delayed issuing the orders until he and his advisers could argue with the Presidemt, finally persuaded him to reverse himself. The orders were changed s¢ that only high-test gasoline was em- bargoed, and all other forms of gas and oil could be and were sent to Japan up until a few months be- fore Pearl Harbor. The scrap iron embargo permitted the Japs to im- port all except No. 1 grade of scrap, though later the state department was overruled on all scrap iron. DAKAR AND AZORES During the debates on oil and| scrap iron, one significant confer- ence was held at the White House, | attended by Secretary Hull and/ advisers together with Admiral| Leahy, now chief of staff to the President. The state department argued that if we cut off Japan's oil -and scrap iron, she would at- tack the Dutch East Indies, and| that U. S. ships were needed in (Continuggd on Page Four) Secretary of | § and most of it has been |- 1 Jerry Colonna, Frances| Resistance in Sevastopol This picture will give you an idea of the type of stubborn resistance the Nazis are encountering in all parts of Russia. Even after the Germans had virtually destroyed Sevastopol, the defenders held out. Each house had to be reduced separately. Nazi soldiers are shown throwing hand grenades into doors and windows of wrecked buildings as they advance along a street during mopping-up operations. STORIES OF TOUR TOLD BY BOB HOPE BOB HOPE, GANG ARE IN JUNEAU SEATTLE, Sept 24.—Bob Hope, interviewed here yestgrday morning | just before taking off to return to tangford Accompany | Comedian North Edm\n from the Northland to fulfill his radio contract, revealed how he Bob Hope, voted the nation’s top comedian, together with pop-eyed|in one of his gags draws the most and mustachioed Jerry Colonna,|laughs in his current tour of en- glamorous Frences Langford, A-1tertaining soldiers and sailors. radio singer, and Tony Romano,| It is the one about the Air Force guitar composer and singer, ar- parachute instructor who tells the rived in Juneau by plane from the |boys how to go about it. south shortly after 7 o'clock last| “First you jump. Then you count night, and at 9:30 p. m. were put- | ten- Then you gull the cord. When ting on a show which “wowed” mu yeu get to the ground, there’ll be a bave’ at: the: Ay Post. station wagon there to meet yo Fatween 7 ahd~ 9 o'clogk, th(-[ The neophyte leaps, counts ten, A " | pulls the ripcord. Nothing happens. troupe relaxed from their planc| = qy, flier complains bitterly as ride in their rooms at the Baranof | . fa)ls: “And I'll bet the damned Hotel. Hope sat on the couch, |station wagon won’t be there either.” plying needle and thread over a rip in his coat, and discussing his tour of Alaska posts. Having traveled at an unprece- Shaac Taoe. ';“‘;‘;;gs' °;‘0i':;"i:h:‘;;l Hope tells of being scared stiff north as Nome, then dashing southlwm" he et iAo for (Hp hours over an Alaskan town, unable again to put a show on at McChord t S the thick fog. Field, and fulfil their national | "*pand bechiise of the thick 06 i He said: “I was a little concerned, radio con}ract. on Tuesday from | 514 boy. The fog ran right down Fort Lewis, the four entertainers had a right to take “five” for a breather. Came Back on Own Hope feels he is “really doing are Frances Langford, Jerry Colon- na and Tony Romano. Scared Stiff ing over the town and we couldn’t eet down to the airport. We were flying at 13000 feet in blowing sleet and it really looked bad, brother. Alaska after making a hurried trip ' found the practical use of Alaska | Going back to Alaska with hlm‘ to the ground.s There we were fly- | HOUSE OKAYS FARM BLOC'S PRICE BILL Passed in Form Unac- ceptable o President | | | A | WASHINGTON, Sept. 24. | House passed the anti-inflation bill | last night with a vote of 284 to 96, | | after irorced adoption of an amendment | providing higher parity prices for | farm products and so made the imflnsure utterly uracceptable to ! Roosevelt. he Meanwhile, the Administration | forces in the Senate apparently out- numbered by the farm bloc there, | are none too hopefully seeking 2 compromise formula which would prevent inclusion of a similar amendment in the Senate’s version of the bill. The amendment adopted by the House and proposed to the Senate ! would require that farm labor be added to the other jously considered in computing the parity price level. | The Office of Price Administra- | tion estimated that the new formula will increase the annual overall cost | of living by three billion to three and one-half billion doum-s SENATE IN FRAY ovm PRICE BILL Farm Parity Levels Being Considered Before Tak- ing Vote on Measure WA%HINGTON Sep! 24 —Sena- | tor Prentiss M. Brown, Republican, of Michigan, declaring that Con- gress is heading for a “collision” with the President, which might have to be settled by the Supreme Court, asserted that the President has ample powers to act on his own initiate to reduce farm prices. Brown took the Senate floor to plead with his colleagues to pass the anti-inflation' bil! and to revise the upward 12 ' percert basis of agricultural® parity level on which |ceiling prices could be fixed. He said if this" amendn ent, ready approved by the House, is !finally adopted by the Congress, Ithe bill will be vetoed. “There is not the slightasi dount in my mind that the situation after the veto of this bill will be one on |which the American people will ai- demand the President to take ac- | tion,” he said. Neither is there ,doubt in his mind, | Senator added, that the the Michigan ers Act designed on March 7 ‘Anti-lnflaiiah Measure Is! — The | the victorious farm bloc had | factors prev- | the President | | has authority under the War Pow- | to | something” when he puts on shows in Alaska. His tour might have ended when he got back in the south Monday night, but Hope and the other three in the troupe in- sisted on coming back to the north to hit the spots they had missed. He said: Tuesday night to tell my listeners jover the NBC network that I was eq and Jerry just bugged his eyes going back to Alaska to finish up at the posts I missed.” Hope was especially pleased with giving shows at such places as Nome, Bethel, Watson Lake in Can- ada and other out-of-the-way places where other entertainers |have not appeared. At one place, where there were only 50 men sta- | tioned, the plane stopped to refuel and the four troupers got out on “It was a great thrill| “That place is set right in among mountains. We were afraid we'd hit a crag or the hills at any mln-‘ ute. There was another plane up, jthere too and we got so close m; |him we could feel the backw: | Wow, that, was the most tremendous | M("un MURRAY immnom of my life. ! I ) All Are Brave 1 GREEN Io MAKE | we go’ in that old Colonna voice.( | “Frances just sat there and smil- “Everybody tried to be brave but | WASHINGTON, Sept. 24—Paul | we were all scared to death. Then |V. McNutt, Chairman of the War one of the officers handed us each ‘Manpower Commission, American a lifebelt and said, ‘If you land in |Federation of Labor President Wil- the water pull on these things. |liam Green, and Congress of Indus- “That got us. When I get through | trial Oranizations President Phillip with the tour, I'm going to take a ‘Murray'are planning a speechmak- service course in swimming with a |ing tour of the Pacific Coast for the parachute on and learn how to trim later part of October, informed of food in the interests of Na- | tional Defense. ;nnd sat there with the old 'stache | wavine, then just said: ‘Well, here | control the price and distribution | the field and gave an impromptu show for the enthusiastic soldiers. Would Visit Kiska One thing Hope says he has been dreaming of is putting on {shows in the cities for civilians after his camp shows. The pro- (Continued on Page Five) down caribou if I ever have to land in the mountains.” (On landing in Juneau, Hope said the fog was so thick on his way up that the birds were walking.) e BUY DEFENSE STAMPS |labor sources assert. | The tour will start immediately after the conclusion of the A. F. of L convention in Toronto October 15 ‘They will visit San Francisco, Seat- ‘tle and other %ar production centers on the West Coast, but the definite itineraries are not yet available. i | i | | | S ( sliyward as the German bombs dr | | | f TIE ADIUSTMENT_H a director of the WAVES, adjusts tie of Lt. (J.G.) Virginia Carlin of Springfield, Mass., at first showing of the WAVES’ newly-ap-~ proved uniforms in Moforized Army On Saving Program; Gef Down fo Earth Now slightest | BY JOHN GROVER (For Jack Stinnett, On Vacation) | WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 —Here's lgood news for taxpayers: the in- creasingly motorized Army is really going to town on a program of sa ing gasoline, tires and repair bill on its mechanized equipment. The new bugaboo of sloppy driv- ers and careless Army mechanics is Preventive Maintenance—short- ened to PM by the short-cut dough- boys—which is working wonders in cutting down the cost of moving from here to there by truck, jeep and command car. * The PM crews do their effective work by surprise visits. Without prior announcement, the four en- listed men and the officer who| compose the erew drop in on some outfit'’s motor park. Woe betide the drivers who haven’t kept their trucks in tiptop shape. Woe betide the mainten- ance crews who haven’t repaired defects reported by the drivers. Stukas Attack Red Tanks in Caucasus These near hits did not stop the Russians from dislodging the enemy from this part of the Caucasus, tank battle is raging in the narrow, flat corridor between the Don and the Volga to halt German forces from striking for Stalingrad, only forty miles away, | { [ SOVIETS IN - FIERCENEW OFFENSIVES ;Wrest Several Fortified Positions from Grip of Enemy in Siege City '(OURAGEQUS REDS SCAY 7,200 NAZIS Huller Reported Sending ' New Reinforcements by Plane to Fill Ranks MOSCOW, Sept. 24.—Red Army | | ting op close to the Russian tanks that keep on rolling toward their destination. A big | | 2 AMERICAN SHIPS LOST IN SOLOMONS F Desfroyer Jarvis Presum- | ed Sunk - Transport Little Sent Down | WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 Navy Department announces that the United States destroyer Jarvis | has disappeared in the Southwest Pacific without leaving a trace. Pre- umably the ship was sunk by enemy | ubs or aircraft. The auxiliary transport Little also was sunk in recent action in the Solomons. Possible loss of life from | the two sinkings is estimated at 250 men. The Jarvis was enroute to a re- pair base from Tulagi when it van- ished. Several weeks ago it was damaged during enemy air attacks off Guadalcanal. Approximately half of the person- nel of went down. Those missing include Lieut. Commdr, Willlam Graham, Jr of the Jarvis, and Lieut. Commdr. Gus Lofberg ofthe Little. The Jarvis, 1,500 tons, was built in Bremerton in 1937, - o MEAT WILL BE CUT ON The | Comdr. Mildred McAfee (right), Washington, D, C, These PM crews are perts on motor vehicles. super-ex- Phey work from a carefully prepared master {list, and check all the vital parts s an Army vehicle. When they Secrefary ‘offi_Agricquure Warns Civilians fo Cut Down on Use et through, they know exactly vhat's wrong with the buggy ther it’s had proper care maintenar They make a formal report on the results of their survey to ihe outfit's commanding officer. If the check test shows poor handling and | inadequate maintenance, somebody s whe- and Agriculture Claude Wick- today that begin- of announced tary ard ure to get “reamed,” which ning October 1, civilian meat con- Army for a triple-distilled bawl sumption during the last three out months of the years will be re- | The preventive maintenance idea stricted to approximately 79 per- |grew from the nec y of conserv- cent of the amount delivered to ing rubber. That problem of mak- tires last is just as serious Army as it is with your car. ‘True, the military ing the lin the personal last quarter of 1941, He reiterafed that ns should voluntarily limit themselves to 2'% has first claim on all rubber sup- pounds of meat a week per person | plies in the country, but there’s to permif fair sharing of gvailable no guarantee that our expanding supplies i Army won't need rubber in quan- ! (Continued on Page Three) i > BUY DEF SE BONDS the Little was lost when it | OCTOBER 1 | burns, and Jane, 10, 1 Both WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 —Secre- | Government Hospital. packers for civilian use during the body men in Stalingrad have torn a group | of fortified positions from the grip jof the Germans and have recap- tured a settlement northwest of the city, slaying more than 7200 in- vaders in a dramatic resurgence of | both defensive and offensive power, AL ording to the German eca; tion accompanying this photo, Russian tanks are being attacked by Nazi | a bombers as the Russian panzers carry out a counter-attack in the Caucasus. Note smoke rr today’s Russian dispatches say. The communiques implied that not a single new breach of Russian lines has been forced within the streets of the embattled Volga city They reported that the Germans are again “hurriedly bringing up reinforcements by plane” to fill their depleted ranks, The Red Navy's Volga River gun- | boats are helping the Red artillery- men and machine gunners and riflemen to mow down the invaders by the thousands. Official reports from midnight until midday lsted 115 additional tanks and more than 48 field guns cked or captured in fresh actions in the bitter month-old struggle. The Russians declare they are doggedly holding their positions on barricaded streets and smoking ruins, under shot, shells and bombs. The fact that Stalingrad, never a fortress eity, is still holding out on the 31st day of the siege, is re- garded as one of the greatest of testaments to the skill and courage of the Red Army. GERMAN REPORTS BERLIN, Sept .24.—The German Command said today that “during the course. of strong Soviet counter- attacks in a northern direction, 34 Soviet tanks were destroyed,” in the battle of Stalingrad, and that “street fighting in Stalingrad is continuing in undiminished bitterness.” BABY DIES IN JUNEAU HOUSE FIRE Four-Year-Old Suffocates in Early Morning Tragedy Four-year- ol(l Ralph Miller lost his life early this morning, and his five sisters and brothers nar- rowly escaped the same fate when a fire broke out in the second floor of the residence of Mr. and Mrs, James Miller in the Indian Village. Injured were Esther, 12, from her hand cut out a windov. treated in the she broke are being when The alarm sounded at 4:10 a. m. and lasted until 6 a. m. Fire, Chief V. W. Mulvihill said that 28 men were used in fighting the blaze. He said that the fire’s ori- gin was not determined. Firemen found the suffocated of the four-year-old under the bed where he had apparently crawled to escape the smoke. Grace, 6 years old, Marlene, and Rose, 16, all escaped injury. They were found in a neighbor's house after the confusion of bat- tling the blaze was over. It was (Continued on Page Three) Pl