The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 2, 1943, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE VOL. LX., NO. 9230. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1943 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENT3 JAPS AT KISKA UNDER HEAVY BOMBING Germans Admit Th ELISTA IS EVACUATED BY HITLER High Command Can't Tell People Anything-So- viefs Maki Claims (By Associated Press) Hitler’'s High Command today acknowledged that German troops have evacuated Elista, capital of the Kalmyck region in the Cauca- sus, but denied Soviet claims that the Red Armies have won the key Nazi stronghold of Velikie Luki, 90 miles from the Latvian frontie Nazi headquarters said the gar-| rison at Velikie Luki was holding out stubbornly yesterday despite fierce Soviet attacks and added in today’s communique that “Rus- sian reports Velikie Luki has been occupled already are therefore not | correct.” | | | | | Garrison Slain [ The communique, however, did | not tell of the progress of the bat- tle today but Russian headquarters declared the entire Nazi garrison| was slain when it refused to sur-| render. The German communique sai Elista was evacuated after the town had been destroyed and is a “grim blackout.” = % Boviet war news was the first that greeted German radio lm-l eners this morning and for several | hours the populace was deprived | (Continued on Page Three) b SRR LR | i The Washington Merry - Go- Round | By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) | WASHINGTON. - Washington | hotels are now getting advance| reservations from the ship lobby- | ists, who are already preparing for | one of the first big fights of the new Congress. It will be a raid on the tax-till by the shipowners —with cheers from the Maritime Commission—in order to get a higher price for the ships seized by the Government to transport troops and cargoes overseas. Hundreds of these ships have| been expropriated under the Presi- dent’'s emergency powers, and a lot of them already have been sunk. Now the question is: What is a fair price to pay the owners? Center of this fight is hard- boiled Comptroller General Lind- say Warren, one of the few public servants still zealous in protecting the taxpayer. Lindsay sat in Con- gress after the last war, watched| lush, sky-high awards being passed | out to shipowners. He determined | to stop a repetition of that gravy grab. So while still in Congress he sat on the committee which framed the present law to prevent the pro- fiteering of World War. I. Today Lindsay Warren is Comp-| troller General, the watchdog of' the Treasury, answerable only to} «F » “o a . To err is human but for the president of the U. & take, well, it'’s unusual. The pr Situation! to make a mis- esident put too many “I's” in the salutation to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on a long-hand letter to be transmitted by radiophoto Information spotted the mis-spel until corrected. Above, Preside; Chinese Ambassador Tai M to Chungking. The Office of War lled word and held up the letter nt Roosevelt hands the letter to ing Wei in the White House. Thumbnail of War; Frontline Briefs —By the Office of War Information Direct to The Empire MOSCOW-—Reds recapture Velikie Luki, one of German strong points on Central Front, only 320 miles 126 KILLED 8TH ARMY CONTINUES ADVANCING | 'Romme! Still Chooses fo ; Retreat Instead of Fighting LONDON, Jan. 2. — The British Eighth Army is after another hurdle ! lin the pursuit of the Axis across Libya. Rommel’s forces still are | preferring to run rather than fight. The Na: have pulled their re-| | treating army further west of Wadi | Bei El Cehbir. | | Headquarters in Cairo said the| | Eighth Army's vanguards have driv- | 8 en Axis motorized units back after | a clash west of the Wadi series of | gulches, about 195 miles east of Tripoli. | Last Chance | This is one of the last places in | the Libyan wilderness wirere Rom- mel might make a stand with the | remnants of his retreating army. | Dispatches from the desert said the | British expect him to do so. This| decision on Rommel’s part may have | been forced by recent activity of Allied bombers and fighters over | Jeep Adds Variety fo Scene in Safi i In front of a row of shops bearing French signs is a United States Army jeep on a street in Safi, French Morocco. Sati is a port of occupation for the American troops in North Africa. Tripolitania and western Libya, har- 1 rassing his exposed forces and de-| | priving them of security he_ might | get by digging in. | ! It is surmised he may be raeing westward and is prepared to aban- don all of Libya in order to join the forces of the Axis in Tunisia | for the final showdown of all of North Africa. It is still possible, however, that | he intends to make Tripoli, itself, a fortress from which he will try to stall the advance of the British. | Axis Reinforcements | ‘The Morocco radio reported that ! Rommel recently received reinforce- ments to bolster his resistance in | the Tripoli area. A Fighting French force under Brig. Gen. LeClerc, meanwhile, is reported still advancing slowly northward from southern Libya, pos- ANNOUNCES PEACE AIM Says Unity of United Na- tions in War Should Bring Peace WASHINGTON, Jan. 2. President declared yesterday that it is the “supreme necessity” (o plan for postwar peace to carry forward after the war the unity The east of the Prussian border, also | retake Elista, 170 miles southeast of | Stalingrad. Wipe out German Velikie Luki garrison when Nazis refuse to surrender. | | NORTH AFRICA — British subs {and Allied bombers smash six more | Axis ships. Two were sunk, another probably sunk. Report new raids on enemy North African bases and supply lines. Sfax, Sousse and Gabes raided by Allies Thursday. LONDON—Royal Air Force bomb- ers smash at targets in western Germany and northern France dur- ing Thursday night. NEW DELHI—British bombers hit | Jap field at Shwebo and also Akyab on Thursday. Raid shipping in ‘Taungup area, southeast of Akyab. BURMA—Fighting British patrols | contacted enemy patrols when they | clashed with the Japs east and west of the Oayu River, near Rathedaung. | PEARL HARBOR — Admiral Ni- | mitz discloses American Army planes bombed Japs on Wake Island Christ- mas Eve, said fires started from ttack visible 75 miles away. Nimitz said Americans also bombed nearb, IN STATES, NEW YEAR'S |Great Reduction in Violenf. Deaths Seen by Figures (By Associated Press) Death from the nation’s New Year's holiday, resulting from vio- lent causes, auto accidents, drown- ings, sfires, shootings and stab- bings, up until midnight last night, numbered at least 126, almost two- thirds below the total last year. This showed a 58 percent re- duction in motor vehicle deaths, indicated by the number of traf- fic fatalities reported since New Year's Eve. | were reported from 17 states, while |the largest number in any single state came from California where No deaths of a violent nature| sibly aiming at joining the British Eighth Army. | Aerial blows against the Axis sup- ply lines and bases still provided {the main action in Tunisia where both sides are still massing ground |forces for an impending decisive struggle. ‘Sha;ms ; Labor Coffer Almost Empty Haas Left Only $536.08 o Run Department for Three Months Walter P. Sharpe today took over the administration of the Territor- {ial Department of Labor and found that he was facing what is really | now being displayed by the United | Nations if another world cataclysm to be prevented. The President issued this state- t a press conference open- ing the New Year. He asserted that the United Nations are “passing from the defensive to the offen- sive,” adding, “The unity achieved on the battle line is being earnest- ly sought for not less complex prob- ‘lems on a different front | “In this as in no previous war men are co necessity for planning what will come after. Carrying forward into peace the common effort that will have brought them victory in the war, they will come to that the maintenance and safeguarding of peace is as vital a single neces- sity in the lives of each and all of us.” y This statement w first anniversary of the signing hiere last January of the “Declara- | tion of the United Nations.” | The President said that “all jplunmnq of the future is depen- |dent, obviously on peace.” WOMAN'S (LUB |ment al see ed on the ious of the supreme | FORCES IN - HEAVY RAIDS | | | Start New Ygr—by Blasting Various Areas in So. Pacific { ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN| | AUSTRALIA, Jan. 2—Allied Air Force in the Southwest Pacific started the New Year right with daring raids off New Britain, dam- aging a Jap submarine and three , while ground troops, fight- ing vagely, again split the Jap- anese defenses along the Buna beach, New Guinea. Rabaul was also the object of 1 number of successful raids and one large vessel, estimated at 10,- 600 tons, was hit; also two ships {in the center of the harbor of 6,- G0 and 8,000 tons, respectively, hit. The Japs lost two out of five fighters that attempted tc intercept the Rabaul raiders, but 1l Allied planes rcturned safely. All three ves: burst into flames md were burning fiercely as the aiders left. Ninety miles south of Rabaul, a' Nide Bay, Allied heavy bombers trafed a Jap submarine, inflicting amage. Hitler Spouts ves: ISDOWN- ON COAST Flying Boat Sinks Off Coos| Bay-Seven of Crew Are Missing SEATTLE, Jan. 2. — The Thir- teenth Naval District Headquarters ere announced yesterday that en men were missing from Navy PBY flying boat which sank mile off Coos hursday night, after alighting on the Pacific Ocean because of en- ,ine trouble. One officer eached shore. The Navy reported the plane, oh routine flight, set down after ireling and dropping flares, The Jlane started filling with water nd sank within three quarters of n hour, The crew abandoned the craft arly Friday morning. Ensign Brush was found un- onscious on a life raft and was Bay, Oregon, is known to have i aken to an Army camp at Yachats, ore. The Navy said a larger raft and ne life jacket were found ashore ut whether the seven missing men sached shore was undetermined riday afternoon. A search is un- or way e ENEMY SHIP ey’re on Run, Russ Front AIR FORCE 'MAKE HITS ON NIPPONS (Cargo Sh iAp'sA at Aleutian { Base Raided-One Zero Interceptor Shot Down WASHINGTON, Jan. 2. — The Navy reported today that Ameri- can Air Forces in the Pacific opened the New Year with heavy attacks against the Japs, at Kiska n the Aleutians and in the Solo- | mons, including in the latter the area believed to be the headquar- ters of the Nippon forces on (uadalcanal. . The Navy communique said: “On January 1, a force of Liber- vtors and heavy bombers, escorted y Lightning fighters, attacked Jap sargo ships at Kiska. Six Zeros at- mped to intercept the attack and one Zero was shot down. Near hits were scored on a small ship hut clouds prevented complete ob- scrvation of the results. No U. 8. rlanes were lost. Dauntless dive bombers drop mbs in the vicinity of Kokom- hono where the Jap headquarters {ou Guadalcanal are believed lo- |cated. The dense jungle growth, 1lmwever. prevented observation of results. NAZICLAIM, - | i 7 | - SEA ACTION ~ ISPUZLLING Issue Statement fo Attempt + Cover-up for Naval . Failure (By Associated Press) The Germans are claiming that combining action of warships and U-boats in a battle last Thursday |in the Arctic Ocean resulted to | damage to several Allied cruisers, sunk one destroyer, and torpedoed tour merchantmen The only ship listed as sunk was the destroyer. The Germans said . they also lost a destroyer in the |action which is sald to have taken |place near Bear Island oif the Inorthern tip of Norway in an at- | k on an Allied convoy either coing to or from Russia. There was no confirmation of |the German claims, but the report sore at least surface evidence that it was an attempt to cover up a (Nazi failure. It was noteworthy |that the German statement claimed | the destruction of none of the car- |80 ships, claiming only hits on iour. 1 The report did coincide with a | British report last Thursday which |sa2id British fleet units had con- |tacted Nazi units and action was | continuing, IS SCUTTLED Congress. As such he has already !known as an economy administra-‘ 0 lost their lives. tangled vigorously with the Mari- time Commission in his determina- tion to carry out the law he helped write. That law provides that a ship- owner shall be paid a fair price, but in no case shall the value of the ship be enhanced by the war. In other words by the increased prices as a result of the scarcity of ships. Despite this, the Maritime Com- mission already has paid prices which the Comptroller General's office considers exorbitant. Ships whose pre-war price per ton ranged from $16.59 to $69.14 have been‘ purchased by the Maritime Com- mission for over $100 per ton with-! in the last nine months. . | The Commission claims that] ship prices were depressed in 1939 when the law was written. Lindsay | Warren, however, claims that this is for the courts and Congress decide, that the Maritime Commis: snon has no business going over (Continued on Page Four) birds; Peale Island. WASHINGTON—Navy says Am-| erican patrols on Guadalcanal killed | 20 more Japs Thursday, reports new bombing of Jap airfield at Munda with( undisclosed results. MacARTHUR'S HEADQUARTERS — e, GRANT THREE LICENSES rict Court—Juneau Cold Storage, importer and wholesale malt; Percy Reynolds, restaurant; West Coast —Allied bombers smash at Jap ship- | ping at Rabaul on New Britain, | leaving three large enemy ships in; flames, shooting down two of five | Jap fighters which attempted to | intercept raiders. Other Allied, planes raided Jap airdrome at Buin, | Bougainville Island, attacked Jap g, jg 31%, American Can 71%,) sub off New Britain, raided airdrome | at Gasmata on same island. Jap| medium bombers attacked Merauke in Dutch New Guinea. i NEW GUI) — Allied troops | again split Jap defenses and slash | through gap to coast. i A Early firearms were named after the word “musket” signi- fied a sparrowhawk. Grocery Company, wholesale malt. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Jan. 2. quotation of Alaska Juneau — Closing mine Anaconda 25%, Bethlehem Steel 56%, Commonwealth and Southern tional Harvester 59'., Kennecott 287, New York Central 10%, Nor- thern Pacific 7%, United States Ste€l 477, Pound $4.04. DOW, JONES AVERAGES The following are today’s Dow, Jones averages: industrials 119.93, rails 2759, utilities 14.69. Three more Juneay liquor licens- |es have been granted in U. S. Dis- |ed the sum of $30,000 to carry into |tion—at least for the next three I months. He issued the following statement today: effect the act which created the | Department of Labor for the Ter- jritory ‘of Alaska. This sum was to |carry on the functions of the De- |partment until the end of the bi- |ennium, March 31, 1943. | “After being chosen by the people of the Territory to be their first {duly elected Commissioner of La- bor, I tcok over the duties of the office officially on January 1, 1943. Little Left | “Out of the $30,000 which was |appropriated for the biennium, I {5/16, Curtiss Wright 7', Interna- g4 o pajance of only $536.08 re- maining to cover expenses of this |office- for the next three months This sum is all that remains, in 'spite of the fact that the Commis- |sioner's salary is set by law, leav- |ing, as anyone can see, insuffici- lent money to carry on the affairs (Continued o: Page Three) “The 1941 Legislsture appropriat- | - GOING TO START | | The first 1943 business meeting of the Juneau Woman's Club will held next Tuesday afternoon 2 o'clock, in the Alaska Light and Power Company penthouse, Mrs. Tom Parke, President, an- nounces. Business of the day will include the report of Mrs. Walter Scott, chairman of the Department of Social Welfare and Civiec Improve- ment, who was in charge of club activities for December. Her re- port will outline presentation of the community Christmas tree, the Christmas carolling, arranged by . R. B. Lesher, and a listing of 2ifts made to needy families dur- ing December. Mrs. Charlés L. Popejoy, chair- man of the Department of Educa- wil} be in charge of club work for January, and will outline her schedule for the month. be at | tion, YEAR ACTIVITIES| To Nazis NEW YORK, Jan. 2—Adolf Hit er, in his fourth wartime New Year's message to the German peo- ple, broadcast which was picked ‘up hefe, repeated the theme that !Germany would not collapse or capitulate and in the end will b | victorious. + Hitler again discussed some of his special hates, international Jew ry, President Roosevelt and the national oppre rs of ‘“peace- loving Germany. The Nazi chieftain flopped wwever, and did nct have a peep o say about the disastrous Rus lan campaign, nor Rommel’s flight 1+ Libya, hor the Allied offensive in North Africa. —————— VISITING IN CITY P. Bairling and J. Tunaneng from rsion Inlet arrived in Juneau yesterday and will be in town for a few days. 2 IN ATLANTIC Crew Escapés ih Lifeboats, Later Taken Prisoners, Reppn _Says LONDON, Jan. 2—The British Admiralty announced this after- noon that an enemy merchant ves- sel of about 10,000 tons, was scut- tled in the Atlantic when inter- cepted by Navy patrols. The crew took to the lifeboats and were later picked up by Navy vessels and taken prisoner. I P RIS The musk-deer has but its upper canine teeth project ¢ as tusks, BUY DEFENSE BONDS no antlers, | | USO DANCE ON TONIGHT A peppy Saturday night USO |sance will be held tonight from 9 to 12:30 o’clock in the Union Hall, nd girls and service men are urged o yo early in order to enjoy the secial numbers for the first half e dance. The old-fashioned square dances nd Virginia Reel proved so popu- lar at the last USO dance it has been decided -to repeat the feature. he Duck Creek orchestra will pro- ide music and special arrange- inents E. L. Keithahn, will be chairman of the committee for tonight's nce. Mrs. Fred Geeslin, chair- man of the USO :Social Affairs Committee, will be in charge of refreshments, of the hostess