The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 18, 1943, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE VOL. LX., NO. 9243. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1943 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS —] ALLIES SINK JAP SHIPS IN RABAUL RAID Hundreds OFf British Bombers Blast Berlin CAPITAL OF NAZIS UNDER BIG ATTACK Four-Tofi Bombs Dropped| —Fires Are Set-London Is Also Assaulted (By Asw:ated Press) BULLETIN—London, Jan. 18. — A strong force of RAF bombers laid huge fires across Berlin last night in a second gigantic raid but stiffened de- fenses of the German city took a toll of 22 bombers compared to only one lost Saturday night. London’s anti-aircraft gun- ners meanwhile threw Nazi raids into confusion by the fierceness of their barrage dur- ing two assaults last night and early today when the attackers lost 10 of perhaps 60 planes as London’s guns threw up a cur- tain of steel and fire more thunderous and powerful than (Comlnued on Page Threo) The Washingfon| Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON.—Some of the most significant political maneu- vering ever seen by seasoned dip- lomats is going on backstage re-| garding the filming of Ernest Hem- : ingway's famous book “For Whom | the ‘Bell Tolls.” ‘ Strenuous objections have been votced to Paramount by the ! Franco Fascist Government through its Ambassador Don Juan | Francisco de Cardenas, and it now | seems probable that the film will never reach the American public. | The book is the story of the civil | war in Spain, the struggle be- tween the Loyalist Government and the Fascist revolutionaries support- | ed by Hitler and Mussolini, which many people believe was the pre- lude to the current war. However, Sam Wood, the producer for Para- | mount, has left out all politics. | “‘Gone With the Wind' was a| hot love story,” says Wood, who worked on that film, “and ‘For| Whom the Bell Toll¥' is an even hotter love story.” | But even though the Paramount version emphasizes love and leaves | out politics, . Gen. Franco doesn’t like it. Paramount has already in- vested more than $2,000,000 in it.) Gary Cooper is playing the star role. But Gen. Franco says NO. Inside reason why he says NO| is briefly this: Showing of the film | will promote the sale of Heming-| way’s book. And though the film| shuns politics, the book decidedly doesn’t. So Franco envisages sale of the book all over the world. | Nobody ever dreamed that\ Franco'’s hand was that strong in- side the USA. But the State De-| partment is for him; also the Rockefeller Committee is not en-| thusiastic about the picture’s re-l lease. But most important of all,| the Vatican's disapproval is the real reason why “For Whom the Bell Tolls” will probably not be! shown. | “SISTIE” LAUNCHES A SHIP The optimistic note in the Presi- dent’s message to Congress has' also been reflected in his manner recently. Before going on the floor | of the House to deliver his mes- | sage, the President spent several minutes chatting gaily with Con-| gressional leaders and spinning a yarn for the especial benefit of Senate Republican Leader, Charles | McNary of Oregon. Henry Kaiser| is turning out Liberty ships at such | a phenomenal rate in Oregon yards,! the President told McNary. his little grand-daughter, Boettiger of Seattle, Wash., ccmparing Kaiser to Superman. (Continued on Puo m) |6 Messerschmitls {Shot Down by |Crippled U. §. Plane {boat has been developed for Amer- Depth-Charge by Plane Depth charges dropped by a British coastal command type (Whitley) aireraft at a U-boat lurking somewhere off the British Isles toss a geyser of foam ,uq ahead of the oncoming conning tower of the sub. Siork Is Busy Bird In Washingfon; Also Keeps Busy Elsewhere By JACK le!\!\bTT WASHINGTON — Those aren’t | planes that darken the capital sky o re storks. | If there is any place in the | ¢ountry where more babies are be- ing born per capita, the statis- | ticians haven't found it yet, in ite of the fact that the birth rate is zooming from border to ‘gu]r and coast to coast. | The birth rate for Asks to Join Hess the EIGHTH ARMY | Rommel ithe coast and (meng nation | started climbing in 1933. It didn't | | omount to much. It was 16.6 births | 1pcr thousand of population in 1933. | Seven years later, it was only 17.9 but in the following 12 months it went to 18.9. (The first year of the |draft) and in the first year the United States was at war, tand nearly 45 births per sand more than the peak reached in World War I. In Washington, the rate now is 252, one birth per thousand more than that figure that staggered the statisticians and obstetricians here | last year. You can get all sorts of reasons for this from the experts, but the one most often given is the con centration here of army and navy officers and their wives. Back in the summer months, the Children’s Bureau made a survey of about half the states to determine the birth rate among military men and their Stork Is Busy British house of commons the wife of Rudolf Hess has asked permission of British authorities to join her husband in England. Recent Vichy reports said Frau Hess had applied through the In- ternational Red Cross for sanc- tion to join Hess, No. 3" Nazi be- fore his amazing flight to the British Isles on a mysterious “peace mission.” | © According to a report aired in the “ | | surveyed, but in Washington, n, was 7.9 for each thousand. That, it said, was because there are very few married privates and non- coms’ stationed here and there are ficers. with them and homes here, while many officers nd men stationed at training enters are separated from their| families. Not only do the experts differ on the reasons for the soaring birth rate in Washington; they differ ALLIE D HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Jan. 18.— The crew of a battered Flying Fortress, which flew over two hours late with enly two en- gines operating after a big raid birth rate goes up in wartime, and aways has all over the world. s 2 Few of them are willing to state on Tripoli last Tuesday, shot it so simply as: wars beget ro- :‘;"“b’:"kmf:‘”mh:““s °ndl’h¢ | rmance, romance begets marriages, ¥y ck, the spokesman dis- |, ;ayriages beget babies. closes. He also announced that | Some attribute it to some deep Lieut. John Cronkhite, of St. | .. i P . | stirring of nature to replenish the Petersburg, Fla., was pilot of Iy l B e ‘H'mau race when it seems hell- e Firus Retips I bent on Killing itself off. STy The simpler explanation seems A one-man collapsible parachute- petter, especially in view of the | s £ ican military pilots. (Continued on Page Three) A it sky- | | recketed to 22.9—an all time high thou- | 1 | wives. They found it was something on the people but protection for like 3 per thousand in those areas them.” | >t course thousands of married of- | Most of them have their wives here | have established | | led the aerial onslaught against the ot !German land and afr communica- | cn the whole problem of why the, OF BRITISH IN ADVANCE Momgomefi’s«Forces Re- ported Only 100 Miles from Tripoli 18. The British | sweeping across Lib- | cking Marshal Erwin | defenses at Buerat EI| Hsun, are reported today within 100 miles of Tripoli in a thrust ap- | parently designed to bypass Mi- | sourta and other points along the African Coast. | The communique announces that the ruard of the Eighth Army has reached the vicinity of Beni Ulid and this indicates that Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery's forces taking a straight line across the Tripoli-Tanian “hump” in an effort to get to Tripoli by the shortest possible route. Beni Ulid is approximately 100 miles from the nearest point on approximately the distance from Tripoli. Mentgoniery’s announce- id his forces were in con- | tact 1 the enemy last evening i the area between Beni Ulid and the coastal villages of Tauorga and Bir Dufan after advancing a total f more than eight miles. The Italian communique, picked up here by a radio station, declares that at least 20 Allied tanks were left immobilized in “lively engage- ments” in eastern Tripolitania and Allied attacks are held, the 'com- munique further states. | BROWN IS NOW CHIEF ON PRICES Former Senator Confirmed as Successor fo Leon | Henderson | WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 — The| Senate today confirmed President Roosevelt’s nomination of former Senator Prentiss Brown, of Mich- igan, to be Price Administrator. Brown is expected to immediate- {ly take over the reins relinquished {mexc by Leon Henderson as OPA chief. 1é0 d In a statement after his confirm- | their "\lpmlu‘ ; as provided for by ation, Brown asserted that he did | the War Shipping Administration !not “fear”. his job before him. sen granted an extension to Brown said that Henderson in| T 1, to attend to.that im- his letter to the President when portant item. he resigned, said the job of “OPA| Unde ’ chief is a thankless task.” | ping Administration plan, Brown observed: “Price control|signees In Alaska have merely to and rationing are not impositions | authorize wholesalers or shippers from whom they obtain merchan- |(.w to act as their agents in taking ,mu the war risk insurance. ; | This particular insurance is is- sued at rates that are 50 percent |lower than® rates quoted by com- ! mercial companies. | Date Extended | The original deadline for appoint- STIll BY AIR ing each of the firms from whom u ailers buy as agents for insur- ‘anu purposes was December 15. But ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN! when due fo mail congestion or NORTH AFRICA, Jan. 18—United | other reasons many failed to fake States Fighter bombers have press- | advantage of the opportunity, the was extended to January 15 with that date having passed and jeast 50 percent of the Alaska kept ground operations at a virtua |c-ailers still delinquent, the fur- standstill. I ther and final extension was grant- The Twelfth United States Army -4 by the WSA. Air Force has reported the destruc- pProcedure in obtaining fhsurance tion of 194 German and Italian he reduced rates is easy. The re- planes from the beginning of: the 'ujler simply writes to the firms North African campaign Novem- from whom they buy their mer- ber 8, through Friday, January 15, chandice, authorizing said shippers against a loss of 97 American Air- craft. Lockheed Lightnings downed a pair of Junkers-50 and two trans- Alaska OPA ports returning to Sicily from Tu- cify that all freight and insur- nisia yesterday. A Junkers-88 .;co costs may be included in the bomber was heading toward Tun- isia, it was announcec CAIRO, Jan Eighth Arm; ya after are same Gen. W on progress of the nation in Stlndlng at the President’s ;DEMERS IN ALASKA ARE NOW WARKED ance from WSA by February 1 failed to insurance SEATTLE, Jan. 18 retail ts who have on (AMPAIGN N NORTH AFRICA tions while repeated showers have insurance. No Choice e (Continued on Page Three) A stern-visaged President faced the new 78th Cox ard at last in Europe, Asia and Africa, backed by a de was Gen President Henry A. Wallace (left) and Speaker of the Housc Sam Ray! Wimry Weatlier Is Nol Contributing fo Hitler's Disasler, Russian Froni Must Get War Risk Insur- . sr provisions of the War Ship- con- ¢ ) cover their shipments with the ( regulations - a year of war. Edwin Watson, By EDDY GILMORE Associated Press Correspondent) WITH THE RED ARMY SOUTH- EAST OF ROSTOV, Jan. 18—The Red Army is advancing over a vast front in amazingly mild weather, disproving any theory that bitter | winter temperatures have contri- ! buted to Hitler'’s current Russian disaster. Right now as I stand along this | windswept steppe road, the Ger- according to Lieut. Gen. Mal- i, are showing ns of be- 'ment but there are signs they may try to make a big stand on the banks of the Don. I came to the Zimovniki region by train and truck and crossed the Volga. I stood on the banks of the Don and scmetimes it has becn more of a blem to cool than to warm, al- of course. 1 am b-zero temeperatures but I have stood the streets and actually shed my ercoal This is what the natives the warmest winter since 1924 & what the Army Commander ibe as ideal weather for Panzers which are not doing well at the moment of this writing. Big guns are banging around us. The Germans are fighting back hard and the Red officers frankly ad- mit this. e e - dressed for s on (GECRGE FOLTA BACK AFTER VISITING N SOUTH WITH FAMILY George Folta, buln,um for interior Department, returned his Juneau office over the week- end after a joyful holiday reunion with his family in Los Angeles His wife and son, Dickie, and daughter, Claire, are spending the winter in Los Angeles. His other son, Lieut. jg. George Folta, Jr who has been in practically every big naval battle in the Pacific since Pearl Harbor, surprised the Folt in at Los Angeles with leave to’' spend the holi- the to licutenant's from the Solomons and was at st C port for repairs .- A Was prehistoric times, ship was back inhabiled in Serious President Faces New (ongress ,-ress in Washington, flanked by serious aidcs, to re- Hle said the cause of the Unlted Nations was moving wmftacle of produclion” in"the Unitea States. Presidential Secretary. Behind him, Viee- burn, HOUSE HAS ARMY-NAVY ON CARPET Commitiee -Tnvestigating Contracts-Huge Fees and Profits WASHINGTOR, Jan. 18 — The House Rules Committee decided to- day to summon high Army and Navy officials before it to explain the attitude of their departments on war contracts described as al- lowing huge fees and profits. The Committee acted after Rep. Hamilton Fish told the members he thought the departmental offi- cials should be questioned as to why contract overcharges and large profits were allowed, and why it was necessary for congressional committees to expose them in order to stop the practice Chairman Vinson of the House Naval and Military Committee re- ported that investigations in the past resulted in the savings of more than two billion dollars, most- y through contract renegotiation. ARMY BOMBER IN CRASH; 9 MEN DIE BOISE, Idaho, Jan. 18—An Army bomber crashed near Kuna, 10 miles joutbwest of here killad *about nine officers and men."This is the announcement made by Capt. E. R. Davis. - STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Jan, 18. — Closing quotatiopn of Alaska Junéau mine stock today is 4%, American Can , Anaconda 26, Bethlehem Steel , Commonwealth end Southern Curtiss Wright 7}, New York al 11%, Northern Pacific 8'%, United States Steel 49%, Pound $4.04 AVERAGES Dow, DOW, JONES » utilities, 15 .- Pegues recently suffered cident at Skag- fractured a received John B Peg to reports and Mrs. leg according | here, FORTRESSES MAKE THREE HOUR ATTACK Three Waves of Bombers Sweep Over One Sec- tion in Solomons ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, Jan. 18—Five Japa- nese merchant ships in the harbor of Rabaul, New Britain, were bad- 1y damaged or sunk in three waves cxtending over a three-hour raid by Flying Fortresses last Saturday nizht. T'he total tonnage of ships hit ls glven at 25,000 tons Allied ground forces, with air support, have made further pro- ress at Sananda Point, cutting the main road behind the Japanese and killing at least 122 Japs. - 0 PLANES OF NIPPONS SHOTDOWN American Forces in Solo- mons-Damage Qestroy- ers, Set Ship Afire WASHINGTON, Jan. 18. — The Navy announced late last Saturday 10 American forces in the Solo- shot down 30 Jap planes, three = destroyers and left burning a cargo 0s of actions appar- resulting from determined attempts to reinforcé and 1p troops on Guadalcanal, seven United Sintes planes were 2 o saod in a ny heaviest day's fighting oc- red on Friday, Sclomons’ time, ning with an attack by a iwle Catalina reconnaissance lane against a group of five Jap destroyers 16 miles northeast of Lussell Islands and 16 miles north- west of the American airfield. The Catalina scored one direct nit and two near hits and one destroyer was left in flames. Later in the day a force of dive bombers escorted Navy Marine fighters and attacked nine destroy- ers 145 miles northwest of Lunga Point. Two of them were seriously lamaged. Twelve Jap Zeros at- cmpted to intercept and eight were shot down. One American dive bomber was forced down and five 1l;htl‘l§ mled to return. BIG VICTORY FOR SOVIETS IS REPORTED BVLLETIN — LONDON, Jan. 18.—The Russians asserted to- night, in a special broadeast from Méscow and picked up here, that the siege of Leningrad had lifted with the recapture of the fortified eity of Schues- selburg, to the east. ‘This claim to one of the most significant successes yet report- ed since the Soviet armies seized the initiative from Hitler, aec- comparied the general Red ad- vances in South Russia. Russian offensives, the broad- cast declared, had forced cross- ings of the northern Donets and Manych rivers, and on the Vozonezh front, it was stated that German prisoners in hand now aggregate 31, - e, — BUY DEFENSE BONDS