The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 19, 1942, Page 1

\y THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS VOL. LX., NO. 9194. ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1942 __ MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS TERRIFIC BATTLE DEVELOPING IN AFRICA Allies Are Now Closing In On Japs In Buna U.S.TROOPS LAND NEAR ORAN GREAT BASE OF NIPPONS NEARING FALL Heavy Bom—be—rs Attack En- emy Destroyers Mak- ing ""Maneuvers” ALLIED HEADQUARTER SIN AUSTRALIA, Nov. 19. — United States and Australian troops have closed in on the Japanese New Guinea base of Buna, as heavy bombers streaked ahead to attack eight enemy destroyers “‘maneuver- ing off the north coast, apparently in support of enemy ground forces.” There is also a possibility that there are Japanese destroyers at Buna, attempting to evacuate the remaining Japanese there. Gen. Douglas MacArthur is now in the field in New Guinea direct- ing the Buna cleanup. CARL-ERWIN PARTY RETURN HERE TODAY | Mr. and Mrs. Walter Carl and Marshall Erwin and his young brother-in-law, who have been stormbound at Olivers Inlet since Sunday, arrived back in Juneau at 2 o'clock this afternoon on Erwin’s boat, the Sea Otter. They reported that although var- iety of food became rather limited, they are all well and happy to be back home. The party left here last Friday, intending to return Sunday. The Washington Merry - Go-Round| By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON—Though dwarfed by all the war news, the Federal Power Commission has called a significant hearing to be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, Tt is a secret as to what the hearing is all about, but it concerns an important. prin- ciple. The power commission has un- earthed information that Jesse Jones, builder of the hige new aluminum plant at Lake Catherine, Ark,, is buying electric power from private companies at the rate of 995 mills per kilowatt hour, then turning round and selling the same power to the Aluminum Company of America at the much lower rate of 3 mills. The Aluminum Company is the operator of the government’s plant. Why Jesse Jones, who is head of Defense Plants Corporation, should buy power at such a high rate and then sell it to Alcoa at such a low rate is something which the Fed- eral Power Commission wants to investigate. Another item it will probe is the fact that Jones's Defense Plants failed to make use of all the gov- ernment power obtainable from the FWA Grand River Dam in Okla- homa, for sale at the low rate of 5.5 mills. BASE FOR SECOND FRONT In the last war the city of Bizerte, on the French Tunisian coast, was a refugee camp for the Serbian army, after it fled its own land in 1915. For months the Serbs sat looking out over the Mediterranean toward Sicily, only a stone’s throw away, waiting for the day when they could begin the advance back to Serbia. Today, the same city of Bizerte promises to be the most important key, first for throwing Rommel out of Africa, second for the invasion of Italy. It is toward Bizerte that U. S. troops are racing today. And it is to fall back on areas around Bizerte, especially the French-African Mag- inot Line, that Rommel is racing from the other direction One glance at the map will show why Bizerte is all-important. It juts out into the Mediterranean, the nearest point of Africa to Sieily, even nearer to the Italian Island " (Continued on l;nue Two) {is attending Juneau High School, JAPS EXPECT MORE FIGHTS == —— ' INSOLOMONS ™ | 22 {Nipponese Admiral Quot- ed by Germans as Ex- pedting Offensive (By Associated Press) \ German broadeasts heard in Lon- don last night quoted Admiral| Takahashi, former Commander in| Chief of the Jap Navy, as saying We must reckon on further heavy fighting in the Solomons.” The broadcast added that he de- clared “Americans are obviously planning to use the Solomons as a springboard for an offensive with the view of regaining the is- lands of the Dutch East Indies.” The radio report was based on| {a DNB dispatch and conflicts with | 'epeated declarations of the Tokyo radio saying that heavy losses in the Pacific naval battles have re- luced the American fleet to im- potency. e ALCANROAD | CEREMONIES ARE FRIDAY|Break from Hitl Mark Epochal Feat of Building WHITEHORSE, YT, Nov. il T o b A ribbon of red, white and blue! will be slashed and flung to the Arctic winds in the opening of the Alcan Highway tomorrow, and be- | . ween the fluttering colors of the United States and Canada will roll | an Army truck manned by two New Drive in China Areas proud-soldiers from the ranks. They will be followed by cars bearing the civil and military of- ficials of the two nations. This will be the vanguard of a series of mighty convoys—convoys safe from submarines and all but immune from air attack — which . will move northward toward Ja- lndl(a'ed, Dedares pan. I | Dignitaries of Canada ana aws-| Offiial Spokesman ka will join west Service his epochal the war. The road was pushed 1681 miles through one of the world’s great wildernesses in seven months and 17 days. Last March 17, the final agree- ment for the project was reached the jubilant North- corps in celebrating engineering feat of CHUNGKING, Nov. 19. — The Chinese Army spokesman reported .ndications are the Japanese are oreparing a drive in the Yunnan 2rovince, southwest China, from french Indo-China, making a di- rect thrust. The spokesman declared the chrust will be coordinated in sec- ’l:elween the United States and|.ions of Yunnan Province adjacent Canada. o Burma which the Japs occupied On November 3. Cornoral Re-| ast spring and Have been station- fines Sims, Jr., Philadelphia - ne» gro, and Alfred Jalutka or Ken- nedy, Texas, almost drove their bulldozers into one another near he Alaska-Yukon border. Like two' needles threading their way through a vast haystack of Jjackpine and spruce, they met head an and nearly “beaned” each other with crashing trees. ¢ e, ———— F. E. WOOD TAKES POSITION HERE F. E. Wood has accepted a po- sition as accountant for the Un- 2mployment Compensation Com- mission, it was announced today. Mr. and Mrs. Wood, formerly of Sitka, are now established in Ju- neau, having taken a house on; Seward Street. They have two sons, Lowell, who ary there since May. The spokesman said the Japs re- cently increased their strength in ’he Yunnan area by 12,000 men, oringing their total to 30,000. At the same time the Japs have bol- stered their air forces and made airfields ifi the occupied border regions. R SRR MISS LILLIAN SLOATE 10 BE ASST. MECHANIC FOR PAA, FAIRBANKS To join the mechanical staff of >an American Airways' Alaska Di- ision in Fairbanks, Miss Lillian oate left today for the interior. ss Sloate worked as assistant nechanic for PAA for a short time n Seattle before leaving for the North, Miss Sloate is the second wo- nan to be employed by PAA in and Douglas, who is also in school here. A daughter, Doreen, 17, is| \laska in the mechanical depart- now visiting her grandparents in| nent. The first, Miss Corinne Nebraska, but: expects to join her| Jenne, formerly of Juneau, joined family in Juneau soon. he PAA staff early last summer. R - e e——— - RBUY DEFENSE STAMPS BUY DEFENSE BONDS In this first picture by radio on the North landing barges from the troop shins that carried them to North Africa to open the Newsreel Association films to reach London. e — erls | Opening_Tomorrow Will Indicated; Move Is Undercurrent One LONDON, Nov. 19.—A responsi- ble foreign diplomatic source here said today that an important Junta of aristocratic German military leaders, convinced that Hitler can't win the war, has begun to “isolate | the Fuehrer campaign. | It is thought the group hopes to establish itself with! the ‘Allies in the event of a stalemate peace defeat or The foreign diplomatic source said he believes the information is reliable He said the leaders of the Junta include Field Marshal Walther Von Brauchitsch, dismissed Army Commander. in Chief last winter after counseling against Hit ler's winter campaign against Mos- cow and Field Marshal Von Bock ousted this fall in the midst of the drive against Stalingrad, together with their followers. ! These generals are both .said |have disagreed with Hitler's stra- |tegy. to EE D Women fo Register For Work ‘ Chiefs, FDR Deals with U. S. Womanpower WASHINGTON, Nov. 19.—Predic- tion that an announcement Will be made within a fortnight for steps to be taken before the first of the year toward registering of Amer- ican woman power was made today by President William Green, of the American Federation of Labor. The prediction ference of AFL and CIO men with the War Labor Board and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the conference, the problem of determining the available supp! of women for war work %as dis- cussed, Green said. Regis' 40 and 50 million women. { 1 followed a con- |’ African front shows U. S, Rangers and their eguipment landing on a beach near Oran, Algeria, by “Second Front. This picture was taken from the first British This piciute sent by radiv fevs Lonuden to New York and then airmailed to The Empire. Unidenlified Poison Takes Lives of Scores, Oregon ADMIRAL FREEMAN RETIRING Thirteenth Hval District fo Have Vice Adm. Frank Fleicher as Chief 19 The Thir: d "TLE, Naval annour that Vice Admiral C. S. Fr Commandant of the district he Northwest Sea Frontier to retire Saturday, having reache age of 64 He will be succeeded by Vice Ad- miral Frank Fletcher, 57, who Nov. today commanded the United States task | force tduring the Navy's victories in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. The command will be transferred in a brief ceremony on Saturday Freeman is ending 46 years o service in the Navy. SKAGWAY PIONEER HAS PASSED AWAY Mrs, SKAGWAY., Alaska, Nov.19. Margaret Webster, one of the early’ pioneers of Skagway and a mém ber of the Eastern Star, has passed y at the White Pass Hospital a lingering illness. e deceased daughter-in-law, Mrs. Frank Web- ster, residing in Portland, Ore Webster came to Skagway ng the construction days of White Pass and. Yukon Route te when the Klondike gold rush was on. Mr. Webster was cne of the engineers and he hauled the first passenger train over White Pass immit when the railroad was completed. Her son was also an death several years ago. is survived by a FEIGHTH ARMY . PAST BENGASI Southern VVmE of British. " Force in Contact with | | Ronimel’s Men ! CAIRO, Nov. 19.-~The vanguard! |of the British Eighth Army has reached a point about 50 mucsi |south of Bengasi and 15 miles| |from the eastern shore of Sirte,| | overlooking the main coastal read | between Bengasi and Agedabia It is disclosed that these forces| |apparently make up the southern |wing of the British pursuers ol‘ | Marshal Erwin Rommel’s broken‘ | Axis Army. | | The communique said that the | forces made contact with the enemy | | Libyan port The advance placed the in the region of Antelat, close to the highwater mark in their first, westward drive across Libya, and| | indicates that at least a part M; |the Eighth Army has by-passed | Bengasi, threatening the only ave- | nue of land escape for any hold-| {out garrison that Rommel might |leave in that port. | British | | ~ ATTACKING, Insane Hospifal ~ SAY NALZIS e, ore. o 19 f‘m\»fGerman Cofin—unique Ad- jinsane inmates of the Oregon State | o i s | Hospital are dead, stricken by an m“s Russwns Have Come to Life . unidentified poison A corps of physicians are strug- gling to sa the lives of more | ‘H\'nn 400 other men and women. | Npw YORK, Nov. 19.—A German The poison was possibly con-| .. qi0 proadcast picked up here this tained inftiogen BEGK afternoon declared the resurgent This pgisort gleuck swittly with-|poy Army has gone from defensive in 15 minutes after dioner last|g..core to violent attacks in the night, Caucasus, along the Don and south Within an hour the poison had|,e peningrad on the Rybachi Pen- |caused the first death and by 10| 04 the northernmost end of! :o‘rk)ck, five hours after the m\'al‘Lhu Russian-Finnish frontier. | nad been ‘served, ten persons had| pne Berlin radio broadcast was | died 1 communique and claimed that By midnight 32 persons had died | || jew attacks of the Russians {and at 4 o'clock this morning ““‘\were repulsed and suggested they | death toll reached 40 inmates. | might be a prelude to, 8 new win- | The eggs, believed to have con-|ier comeback drive of the sqvm! |tained the poison, were Ubli““""i,\rmy | |irom the Federal Surplus (;mnn\u':’ The only advantage the German lities Corporation Army eclaims in the communique | Dr. g. C. Evand, Hospital Super-|is in the Tuapse sector along the |intendent, said: “The victims had|plack Sea coast of the Caucasmj sea, followed by vomiting. Their | yhere the Russian force has been | blood ows evidence of an acute|cut off by air forces and suffer- toxic condition, respiratory paraly-|ing heavy losses. | | sis, violent cramps which preceded | death.” | ALASKACOASTAL MAKES CHARTER | - IN CAUCASUS passengers with Alaska Coastal Air- lines today were onard Tate, Ernest C. Stewart and Faith Stew- | art, Arriving in Juneau from Excur-| sion Inlet on a charter flight today were M. L, Evans, Curtis Fowler, Alford Waites, Arthur E. Hill and | Curtis Fowler, Jr. B | S { Russians Take Iniiative in A“a(kAIng .German NO ALERT TONIGHT No practice alert will be held this| rmies | evening but it is now planned to g p hold one next Tuesday evening, R. MOSCOW, Nov. 19.--Extending | . Robertson, Civilian Defense Di- their job of bleeding and blocl rector, said today. ing the German armies, the Rus-. Residents are requested to be |out the Germans and Italians THREE TOUGH ALLIED ARMY Converging in Triangle on Bizerte, Tripoli, Ben- gasi fo Mop Up Axis LONDON, Nov. 19~Three of the toughest armies assembled by the United Nations since the start of the war are converging on Bizerte, Tripoli and Bengasi in a triangle, fighting to contact the Axis forees, which are digging in for a last stand. Meanwhile, Allied planes and parachute troopers are continuing to build up air power in prepara- tion for the final assault to wipe in North Africa ;mu(h of Bcnufiasx .\'p‘:l,n(-inluv ‘w.hfltf‘ Frenoh Are Alding Aled bambers, includlug WMeSWV| As the Americans and British | U8, planes, pounded anew al he squeezed into the last Axis foot- hold from east and west, a motor- ized column of Fighting French is reported driving up from the Lake Chad base, 1200 miles to the south, to put the Lorraine cross of the Fighting French into battle along with the tricolor of the French North African garrisons. Some of these groups have joined with the Allies in sweeping back outlying Axis patrols.” . , Axis Digging In, .. . . Lieut, Gen, Kenneth Anderson’s First Army, veterans of | - e, 1 RED ARMY /7. =5 { \ 4% }arove on toward Tunisia from Al- geria at several points in a sweep . intended to crush the German and Italian air borne army which is reported digging in in Tunis_and Bizerte ‘against the pro= French resistance Leaping ahead of Anderson’s ground forces are British and American parachutists. seizine vital airfields for use by the follow-up units, The U. S. Army air forces and Royal Alr Force already are gun- ning their way through the Axis aerial screen. TURIN HIT BY RAIDERS OF BRITISH Fifth Attack, Successful One,, Made on Italy ‘ This Month LONDON, Nov. 19.—Great Brit- ain’s four-motored bombers streaked across the Alps last night and de- livered another heavy blow on Italy, choosing the big Fiat Works at ‘Turin as the chief target, the Air Ministry announced. With clear skies alding them, the RAF bombers accomplished “good results” on the fifth big raid on Italy this month and without the loss of a single plane, the official announcement said. e 'SCHOOL BAND T0 APPEAR FRIDAY AT B. B. GAMES At a special basketball game to- morrow night in the Juneau High School gym the High School Band will make its first appearance this | season and play before the game |and during intermissions. | The schedule calls for a double- sians have taken the initiative in the Stalingrad and Cascasus re- gions. ‘Today's battle reports show no major changes anywhere, but said that during the night “Our troops launched active operations and cap- tion would cover between engineer on the railroad until his|tured several enemy fortifications” | in southern Stalingrad | prepared for a dimout, with blinds or coverings provided for all win- | dows of lighted rooms before Tues- day as it is possible that a dimout will be called at that time > Colorado has more than 8,000 ,miles of fishing streams. | header starting at 7:30 o'clock, the | first game between the WAACS and | Malamutes and the second between | the Juneau High School and Doug- |las High School Alumni. ¥ There will also be two games: af 'Douglas tomorrow night, Waves vs. Hillcrest and Bruins vs. Beavers, SR R A il a { !