The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, October 13, 1942, Page 1

HE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS VOL. LIX., NO. 9162. ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1942 PRICE TEN CENTS MARINES ENLARGE GUADALCANAL HOLD President Urges Drafting 18-Ye Sailors Mass for Award Presenfation SAYS ALLIED STRENGTH IS ONUPGRADE Nation’s Leader Says We| Willkie Plane at Ankara Must Ration Manpower | to Win War WASHINGTON, Oct. 13.—~Pres- ident Roosevelt, asserting that Al- lled strength is “on the upgrade” and the enemy is growing nervous, last night urged the drafting of 18- and 19-year-olds so that an Army with the spirit ‘and hardihood of | youth may shorten the war wuh’ annihilating new offensives. i At the same time, the President | called for rationing of manpower. ‘Workers must be kept from chang- | ing their jobs at will, he said, and | pirating of one employer’s labor by | another must be forbidden. | The objective, he said, must be “the right numbers of people in the right places at the right time.” | Second Front Hint In addition, the President hinted of second front plans to divert “en- emy forces from Russia and China | to other theatres of war by new of- fensives against Germany and i Japan.” i The President pictured the jittery | lot of Axis leaders as that of nerv- | ously ‘watching the strength of the United Nations grow, and their own diminish. “The strength of the United Na- | | tions is on the upgrade in this war,” i “(Continuec on Page Six) WILLKIE IS Plane in the air at the left is a Pan-American Airways ship carry- ing Wendell L. Willkie, arriving at the Ankara, Turkey, airport with President Roosevelt’s personal representativi The planes on the ground are the American Liberator bombers, which were interned in Turkey where they were forced down during an air attack on the Ploesti oil fields of Rumania. Willkie flew to Moscow from Ankara. Japs Sunk 3 of Qur Cruisers in Action InSolomons, Aug. 9 ARMY-NAVY | WASHINGTON, Oct. 13. The Navy announced that three of its heavy cruisers, the Quincy, Vin- YOUTHDRAFT LEGISLATION WANTEDNOW Secretary o?TNar Stimson Makes Urgent Request on Committee WASHINGTON, Oct :mg the need for “exceptional sol- | diers,” Secretary of War Henry L. | Stimson today urged the House | | Military - Affairs Committee to ex- | | pedite legislation for drafting 18- | |to 19-year-old men. | In a letter to Chairman An(lrew‘ J. May, ,of Kentucky, vaumry‘ Stimson- said the urgency of the task of building up for the United States the best army in the world | “cannot be over-emphasized.” q The war Secretary further wrote: | “Our own survival is in the bal- | | ance. Its accomplishment demands substitution of the current neces- sity for our peacetime preferences.” Chairman May indicated his com- | I mittee will open hearings next week on legislation for lower age | for drafting. | - 13—Stress- | § | b Twenty-thousand sailors assembled on the parade ground at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station to witness the presentation of awards to two Navy fliers who participated in destruction of a Jap aircraft carrier in the Coral Sea. Lieut. George C, Wood, of Galt, Cal, was awarded the Navy Cross and Lieut. Robert D. Buchan, Chicago, received a Gold Star in liew of a second Navy cross. e ‘made st the reviewing stand at right. INSPECTORS Roving Reporter Bob | ( | | Presentation was SMALL SHIP ar-Olds Now SOLOMON POSITIONS ENLARGED Good Results Affained in Two Days of Offensive -Japs Lose Ships WASHINGTON, Oct. 13. — The Navy announced today that Ma- rines have succeeded in enlarging their positions on Guadalcanal Is- land in two days of offensive fight- ing. “The Japs suffered many casu- alties,” the communique says. The announcement also told of the destruction of 15 Jap planes, damage to two enemy light cruisers and the loss of two United States planes in the operations, October 9 and 11. This is the first offensive action reported by the Marines in the Solomons since the early days of the invasion which began August (4 The announcement of the dam- aging of two enemy cruisers raised to 40 the number of Jup snips re- ported sunk or damaged Jluring the Solomons campaign. The destruction of 15 Jap planes raised to 260 the number of enemy aircraft wrecked in the Solomons.. e S SAYS WE The Washington cennes and Astoria, were sunk in| a naval battle on August 9 during| the early phase of the American | occupation of the Solomon Islands. | IN CUSTODY - SENT DOWN Davis Dies; Story of CAN HOLD BOUND FOR Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) | | WASHINGTON — Some of the President’s close advisers are getting more and more concerned over | drafting a huge army and the; simultaneous problem of supporting ' that army. They figure that the quest for manpower is going to get tougher and tighter, and that even- tually we may find it a mistake to | draft arf army of ten million men— especially since we lack the means | of getting them to grips with the! enemy. White House advisers point to physicians as an example. Today | the army is plucking doctors from | civilian life by all sorts of methods. | first promising them commissions | if they enlist, then threatening thati if they don't enlist they will be| drafted. Students in medical schools | have been taken in as reserve of- ficers, and, in some cases, third-| vear medical students who couldn’t | pass the officers’ physical exam, are being drafted as buck privates—des- | pite three years of medical train- ing. The goal which the army seeks is seven doctors to every 1,000 men, | whereas the British have found the optimum figure to be four and a half. Result is that many small com- munities find themselves without a | doctor, and the situation will get worse. For at the rate of seven | doctors per 1,000 men, a ten million- | man army will need 70,000 doctors | and there are only 150,000 to 160,000 | in the entire United States — of | which only 105,000 are young enough for service in the medical corps. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION | Aside from doctors, industrial pro- | duction is also affected. The bigger | the army, the more production is needed, yet the less labor there is to provide it. This is the point which Donald Nelson and Paul McNutt hammered home to army chiefs last week. ¥ Meanwhile bills have been drawn | up by both the Manpower Commis- | sion and the War Department to| draft all men between eighteen and EAST TODAY Leaves Fairbénks Via Whitehorse for Last Legs”of Flight BULLETIN Minneapolis, Minn,, Oct. 13—Wendell L. Willkie and his party arrived here at 2:22 o'clock this after- noon CWT. Wendell L. Wiilkie and his party, who arrived at Fairbauks Sunday afternoon via plane from China, via Siberia, flew from Fairbanks late yesterday forenoon, (afternoon Ju- neau time) for the States via White- horse, according to advices received by The Empire from the News- Miner, Fairbanks. Sunday evening Willkie met a few friends in Fairbanks, asked about mining and agriculture in that sec- tion but made no statement for pub- lication about his trip, the war or policies. willkie and the members of his party, including the crew of the four-motored bomber, are in the best of health, feeling fine and they pro- nounced the flight on the northern route was superb. willkie and party were scheduled to reach Edmonton late yesterday and continue east today according to an unofficial flight schedule re- ceived in Juneau. TALKS IN EDMONTON Wwillkie intimated in Edmonton last night, according to an Asso- ciated Press dispatch to the Em- pire that he might say something about “the flippant statements made by certain public officials” concerning his second front utter- ance in Moscow, after his arrival in the United States. Said Willkie: material and reached certain con- clusions about our war effort and about other countries and our re; lations with them. “I already have reported some of my conclusions to the American i “I collected much ' The majority of their personnel was saved, said the communique, but ties. Capt. Samuel Moore, commanding the Quincy, was among those killed The announcement of losses brought the Navy's an- nounced losses in the Solomons to nine ships sunk—two destroyers, four transports and the three cruisers. Destroyers Damaged & In fldd)\)nn. the Navy stated that two destroyers were damaged in the Solomons. | The three U.S. cruisers wen? down in the same action which took toll of the Australian cruiser Canberra, the sinking of the latter being already announced by the Australian government. The cruisers formed part of a screening force, covering the land- ,ing of additional troops and sup- plies on Guadalcanal, and the Tu- lagi area on the night of August 8 and 9, after the original surprise attacks had been carried out against Jap positions on August 7. At about 1:45 am. on August 9, the communique read, enemy air- (Continued on Page Five) POSTHUMOUS 'AWARDS T0 15 FLIERS Gen. Buckn;r—Gives Purple Heart and Air Medals fo Lost Bombers' Crews HEADQUARTERS ALASKA DE- FENSE COMMAND, Oct. 13.—Maj. Gen. Simon B. Buckner has an- nounced the award of the Purple Heart to four officers and three there were still many casual- these | Explosives Plant Is Taken Over by U. S. Because of Bribery Charges | WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 The | Navy Department took possession | today of an explosives plant and two subsidiaries, it was announced by | the White House. The Federal Bureau of Investi- | gation arrested the plant’s vice- | president and an Army and a Navy | inspector on bribery charges, the | White House statement said. The inspectors are charged with accepting bribes in the guise of “service fees.” The Navy's preliminary investi- gation indicates that more than a million dollars in management ir- | regularities may be involved. | Those arrested include Josef Ben | Decker, Executive Vice-President J. A. McCambridge, until recently a civilian Army inspecto inald Gregory, chief civilian N inspector. FORTRESSES " HIT TOBRUK ' PORTAGAIN Batfer Axisfipply Harbor ~Withstand Another At- fack on Malta Base CAIRO, Oct. 13—Flying Fort-| resses of the U.S. Army battered the Axis’ North African supply harbor of Tobruk yesterday, while British fighters held off the sec ond day of a terrific German and Italian air assault on Malta, shoot- ing down at least 24 Axis planes and damaging about 50. The fortresses are said to have MONTREAL, Oct. 13.—Robert H. Davis, roving reporter who it around the world, author, dra- matist and editorial executive of the New York Sun, died in a hos- pital here at the age of 70. Bob Davis was given an as- signment in 1926 that newspaper- men dream about—to roam the world, not to stop until he had seen all of it and to write about it in his own way. For many vears he did that, chronicling for The New York Sun the curious and odd bits of news in many | lands, meeting the high and the | low, enjoying life immensely in the meanwhile. | Was “Discoverer” ! But before becoming a roving| reporter he had established him- | elf as an editor; the “discoverer” of O. Henry; friend and adviser of scores of writers; a dramatist, and a distinguished amateur pho- tographer. More than 2,500 promi- nent people were snapped by his camera and the book, he made of | the photographs sold at $100 a| copy. O. Henry was only one of the| literary lights whose writings | passed over his desk when he was editor of Munsey’s magazine. For | vears he turned thumbs up Dr‘; beat {7 | tive Literature, |other magazines, | judgment. and the ability out fine writing instinctively Life Like Ficiion i ROBERT H. DAVIS ~ down on a million words a week intended for sey's, Mun- Detec- and publication in Argosy, All-Story, Live Wire He had a sure touch of literary to pick (Continued on Page Two) Fifth Columnist Gets _while Red Army troops are reported | |Fleet Reported Bound for His in Prison; Given Punishment, By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 Capital in Wartime: A few days ago, in the Pederal prison at Milan, Mich, a fifth columnist got what was coming to | The “ | rebelled Thgn»Howls became a trouble - maker prison’s No. 1 problem child at everything. He | the other prisoncrs | He damned the USA | the | He | tried | to incite to violence. OFF COAST Sitka Man Tells of Torpe- | SOLOMONS Rear Admiral Confident of doing - Says Japs | Bum Shooters | BY LELAND HANNUM ! PACIFIC COAST PORT, Oct. 6. (Delayed)—Take it from boat-| wain Nathan Astashkin, Sitka, | merchant and mariner, “those lit-| tle yellow Japanese sons of some- | bodies, are bum shooters.” Astashkin and 47 other survivors of a medium sized United States coastal vessel, were brought here ! by a foreign vessel, flying a neu- tra] flag, that picked them up two hours after their craft was tor- pedoed and set afire off the Ore- (Continued on Page Five) STALINGRAD SIEGENOW WEAKENING MOSCOW, Oct. 15. — Weakened, | but still attacking, the Germans are struggling to get a fresh offensive going against Stadngrad this week, cutting several sectors in the Mozdok | by vigorous counter-attacks. he renewal of the assault on | Stalingrad after a three-day lull was devoted to artillery duels { It found both German and Rus- | sian soldiers muffled in great coats | against the autumnal chill. Ttalian | troops and tanks appeared in the fight | The Russians said their arc of | fire held off all the invaders after | minor penetration of a single street | yesterday. | Red riflemen and artillery bat- Expansion-Tells of Jap Losses WASHINGTON, Oct. 13.— Rear Adm. John McCain, unti] lately Naval Air Commander of the South- west Pacific, declared - confidently today, “We can hold the Solomons and expand them.” McCain was called back to head fhe Bureau of Aeronautics, He said he based his belief on evidence that American units in the Solomon Islands campaign have shown = “sufficient superiority of material and men.” The Admiral appeared at a press conference held by Secretary sof the Navy Frank Knox He reported that during one period from August 21 to Septem- ber 17, the Japs lost 133 planes over Guadalcanal to 25 American planes, or a ratio of five to one. MANY JAP SHIPS ON NEW MOVE South Pacific fo Meet Allied Offensive LONDON, Oct. 13.—A Reuters dis- patch from Chungking quotes the Chinese military spokesman as say- ing a Japanese fleet, including four aircraft carriers and seven battle- ships as being sighted “some time age,” steaming toward the South Pacific A similar report of a large scale Jap Navy movement was current sixty-five, and all women between eighteen and fifty for national serv- ice. Congress, under these bills, will be asked to vote the authority to the President, who would then dis- pose of the manpower and woman- power of the nation as he sees fit. He would be able to transfer any | people and some to the President. |T will 'be in the United States short- |ly and shall report to my fellow |citizens further and in full, and |to the President if he wishes, on Isuch subjects he desires to discuss with me.” * AR R BUY DEFENSE | teries held the Germans northwest Milan also is the “domicile” of the city in the suburbs a group of Nazs. Because of the| pispatches said that Russian mot- | 3 danger of riots, the Nazis had been | orized infantry is reported checking “"'“Hs their major naval strength isolated from the other prisoners.|all enemy attacks against the left !0 meet the United Nations' of- Prison officials, finally at wit's- flank on the south of the burning, |iensive heralded by Roosevelt as, end with their fifth columnist, smoke-hazed city new and powerful reinforcements - for the badly damaged forces in the BUY DEFENSE STAMPS acuthyss), Jup operatigns, men and an air medal to three; officers and five men, all lost in Aleutian action. The Purple Hearts were sent to the families of the crew of a bomber which shared for three weeks in attacks on the Japanese him—and he didn’t like it. He was a member of a religious sect opposed to war but this fel- low carried things a little too far. He dodged the draft. He was caught, tried and sentenced to a term in the penitentiary. That ap- parently taught him nothing. He his several weeks ago and the roport, if true, indicates the Japs are di- scored a probable hit and several near misses on a medium sized ship in Tobruk harbor. > Night pasturing of farm horses during the heavy work season en- ables them to do more work than they otherwise could. BONDS (Continued on Page Four) |Ct;r'mnuerdron Page Five) B (Continued on Page Five)