The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 8, 1943, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE VOL. XLII., NO. 9518. JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNFSDAY DECEMBER 8, “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” 943 MI MBPR ASSOC lAfl l) PRESS PRICE TkN CENTS LLIES MAKE GAINS ON ITALIAN FRONT Nippons Blasted, Shot Up in So Allied Leaders Confar in Northern Afria | BIG ATTACK BY AIRMEN, 50. PACIFIC One Hundred Planes Make Assault-Rabaul Base Is Knocked Qut ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Dec. 8—Heavy and medium bombers, | REDS FORCED TOWITHDRAW IN ONE SECTOR : aided by dive bombers and Fight- | 1 ers, blasted and shot up the Japs on the New Britain Coast and near- by islands last Monday in a re- lentless assault on the enemy stag- | ing points and supply centers. The attack was the heaviest on| the Cape Gloucester area, the west- | ern tip of the narrow island. More than 100 planes participated, the spokesman says. Meanwhile, there is reported a great drop in the Jap Naval craft at the big Rabaul base which has been & frequent target of American airmen. Rear Admiral Robert Carney as- serted that Rabaul, which once; dominated the Southern Seas, is now no longer tenable to the enemy hecnu' "vp have complete control of thic. waters” Ground fighting at Empress Au- gusu Bay subsided but sharp clash- es are reported on Huon Peninsula where the Aussies are attempting to clear the Japs out to open the New Guinea-New Britain channel for possible invasion purposes. el = The Washington Merry - Go - Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON—If you make & check of Washington's leading hotels, you will find that an amaz- ing percentage of their guests prac- tice that age-old profession—lob- bying. Lobbying has flourished since the days when Southern plantation owners and real-estate men first high-pressured the Founding Fa- thers into making the mud-flats of the Potomac the Capital of the United States. But today it has reached perhaps its highest peak in history. Every one of these lobbies is in- tent on getting something for it- self, regardless of the greatest good for the greatest number. They are not interested in what is good for the nation. They are interested in what is good for their own small minority. Especially significant today is that a large preponderance of the lobbies are promoting something which, if successful, would come near bankrupting the nation— namely, inflation. They are bent on getting higher prices or higher wages on lower taxes or more busi-, ness for themselves—regardless of the effect on the rest of the coun- try. Here is the line-up of some of the most potent lobbies which have ever thrown champagne dinners or camped on Congressmen’s door- steps in the Capital ofthe U. S. A. The Cattlemen's Lobby has about 200 men, off and on, in Washing- ton, all of them hard-hitting, like- able, beef cattlemen putting up a terrific fight for a higher price for meat. Joe Montague is official head of this lobby, but inside operators are Congressman Dick Kleberg of Texas, biggest ranch owner in the world, and Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Grover Hill, from Am- arillo. Secretly, the cattlemen are allled with the big meat-packers, and though not all of them realize| it, the meat-packers very wisely use them as a down-to-earth front for a lot of their operations m ‘Washington. (Continued on Page Four) |most desperate German {tanks and left at least 1500 dead losses Are Offset by Gains ; Made in Drive on Key Rail Town MOSCOW, Dec. 8—One of the tank in- fantry assaults launched in the 7-week's battle for the Kiev bulge, forced the Red Army to retire from several towns in the Cheryakhov- Zorosten area, but the Soviet troops scored important gains southwest of Kremenchug, and enveloped Znamenka, vital rail junction on the Dnieper bend. A communique from the front said that Rumanian forces won a| been established by the Russians at Kerch in the Crimea, wiping out the Soviet landing troops in a three-day battle, and taking 2,000 prisoners. 3 A German Command broadcast | declared that fighting continued southwest of Kremenchug, where the Russians are spearing deeper into the Dnieper bulge. The Soviet advances were made with approxi- mately 1700 tanks which were hurled into the narrow sector west of Kiev. German Field Marshal | von Mannstein in a communique | said the Nazis lost 53 of their own on the field of battle. The Nazi gains in the Kiev bulge were offset, however, by Soviet gains south of here where three | Red Army columns are driving on Znamenka from separate directions, { billions to spend) Lridgehcad -in -t area. which aa = Housewife Can Pity Army Shoppers; They Have Their Troubles; T0 JAPANESE BY JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Dec. 8—When a chap in the Army quartermaster corps told me the other day that {the Army had to have nine month’s | supply of food on hand for every soldier overseas and three month's! supply for every one in this coun- try, I got to worrying about the | wpmblems that Army buyers are up reversal in the Whan I found out is that they are up against something that makes the housewife’s struggle with ration points seem like kin-| dergarten stuff. Don't ask me why they have to have all those supplies on hand but they do and can prove it and| there-in lies the first of the prob- lems—overbuying or underbuying. The Army has recently released for public consumption large stocks of butter and grapefruit juice, to mention only two items (they've; also released a lot of wool). Those are cases of overbuying. For cases of underbuying (they’re darn few as your would be too if you had| you'll have to ask the boys service what they don't get. Bul “these’ are errors inm judg= ment. It's the day-to-day buying to fill known demands that drives the supply boys crazy. To them a pair of shoes isn't just a pair of shoes; it’s 13 different articles that |go into them; its grain hides for uppers, another hide for soles, sheepskins for heel pads; reclaim- ed rubber for heels; crude rubber for sole laying compound; strip steel for eyelets, and so on and on. Having broken the shoes down |into their component parts is just the beginning. The next problem is to find the raw supplies. In recent six-month period, the Army shoe buyers bought up nearly 4,000, 000 hides. Do you wonder that shoes |are rationed for civilians? The next problem of course, is! to get the article manufactured and (Continued on rage Twor (Continued on Page Two) SIXENEMY BOATS SUNK; MARSHALL . WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. — United | States carrier task forces which at- tacked the Marshall Islands on De- cember 4 sank six enemy vessels, damaged four others and destroyed at least 72 enemy planes in the air, the Navy Department announces in a communiue. The announcement said that task forces, in attacking enemy installa- | tions at Kwajalein and Wotje atolls, sank one troop transport and three’| cargo transports and that United States forces strafed and burned an undetermined number of medium bombers on the*ground. . One of the American ships suf- fered minor damage, but our air- craft losses were light. The U. S. forces fought off prolonged aerial |torpedo and bombing attacks. .- —— LIEUT. EVAN HILL ON FURLOUGH HERF Lieut. Evan Hill former ‘with the Armed forces for over (wo| sleek and sassy, on a seven day furlough from the Interior, where he is now stationed. b A Y FROM INLET Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Batham, of | Excursion Inlet, are gilests at the| Gastineau Hotel. E. L. May, also from the Inlet is at the Baranof. { b known reporter on the Empire, now mation WELL, WE AR TONGUE TIED; YOU SAY IT NEW YORK, Dec. 8.—British and American leaders in the Cairo con- ference are “presumptuous” in say- ing they want Japan to “become a third class nation,” Premier Tojo | declared according to a Tokyo broad- cast. The Premier also said that “such propaganda is merely a strategic illusion and camouflage to their re- peated failures.” | Rumors Hint | 0f Roosevelt Franco Talks WASHINGTON, Dec. 8—Secre-| |tary of State Cordell Hull said the! weli-/ State Department had no infor- concerning reports that; President Franklin D. Roosevelt years, is in Juneau today, looking might confer with General Fran- cisco Pranco. Mr, Hull made the’'comment in response to the question on publish- ed reports from Cairo that such a |meeting might be held. -————— SEATTLE MAN HERE H. A. Dudley ,of Seattle, is a guest at the Baranof Hotel. a "RICE BOWL' "HAS FALLEN ! i | ? | | i | 3 | | i “Chmese Admit Serious Re- | | versal in Battling in Central China (By Associated Press) The Chinese suffered a serious “Rice Bowl" sector |in Central China, but on all other | ;front: in the Pacific War the of-| § |fensive remained in the hands of | |the Allies. 3 The Chinese command admits [the loss in Hunan of the ciwy of} ‘Ch'uu,lrl\ on December 3, after a} 19-day seige by the Japanese. i | Fall of the city brings up the; & prospect of a third Jap attempt to capture Changsha provincial cap- ital. | x1 | The victory not only gave the lenemy control of the ‘“rice bowl”| region, but also the Cuthulmn" Szechwan, supply line for one of !China’s armies and principal source |of suppnes in lhw Southwest. BURMA AREA, STEPPED UP. Night Attacks Made on Jap-| anese Installations for Eight Days (By Ass;ch:d Press) An Allied communique from New Delhi, today told of night attacks dpring the past eight days on Jap installation in Southern Burma, Adaman Islands, Bay of Bengal and Burma. | Targets included Rangoon, Man- dalay, Akyab, Prome and Reho. The _|Allies lost 12 planes and the Jap- S anese 180. In a move to facilitate better tim- ing blows against the Japanese, | General Douglas MacArthur, South- west Pacific Commander, and Ad- miral Mountbatten Allied com- |mander of Southwest Asia agreed on plans for instantaneous inter- |{change of information. NEW FIGHTER PLANEGOING T0 TAKE AIR Craft Is as Superior as Am- | erican Bombers Now in Field WASHINGTON, Dec. 8—Two new, WASHINGTON, Army Fighter planes, superior to Senate has approved P-38s and B-47s, are now in pro-'of a resolution extending t:::tion and are expected to 81V¢ months the statute i U';"’;gms“;l‘;i $ ':‘: ::i‘:m]’:, |under which Rear Admiral Husband Robert A. Lovett, Assistant Secre- E- Kimmell and Maj. Gen. Walter tary of War, says in the Army and C. S8hort may be brought to a court- {Navy Journal. 3 Lovett said the new planes are | Harbor. as yet uncontested in combat w; The action came after the House “restrictions still keep them under @pproved a resolution revised to wraps,” but they are expected to|meet the objections of Senator| be as superior as American bomberq'clark who accused both Secretary NEfHERLANDS EAST INDIES Indian Ocean 1000 . STATUTE MILES AT EQUATOR years indicaled. | R ‘COURTMARTIAL . TIME OF SHORT, KIMMEL SET OFF Dec. 8 The unait umomly for six of limitations | in their field. of War Henry L. Stimson and - ., — Secretary of Navy Frank Knox of | “disgraceful dereliction of duty,” ELKS HI JINKS . The Ketchikan Elks are pmmmg‘m postponing the courtmartial. a big Hi Jinks for New Year's evp The Senate resolution must now and a hustling committee has been |80 back to the House which pre- appointed to do some novel gr.yviaualy voted extension one year rangements. |after sthe defeat of Japan. ] AR ATTACKS { Japanese Empure Tar put under Japanexe mandate aft.cr ‘World War L ‘SHIPYARD ON R mfi.l’llnl for the Jap attack on Pearl| I‘resldenl Rooseyelt, Prime Minister Churchiil and President Chiang Kai (right), smiled during an interlude in. the North African conference which brought together the three | Allied leaders and their staffs. (AP Wirephoto from OWI rl(lmphnln) escadores FORMOSA 1895 {gmuwmz 15.1942 .MARIANAS 1919 B M o Rabaul W Stomon g GUINEA] is. CALEDONIA TASMANIA% President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Chiang Kai-Shek agreed at a conference in North African plans’ to smash Japan and strip her of all territory she has acquired since 1894. Black areas on this map and islands enclosed in black line have been occupied or dominated by Japan since the In case of Marshall, Carolines and Marianas, year 1919 represents time when islands were (AP Wirephoto map) COAST TAKEN OVER BY NAVY WASHINGTON, Dec. 8.—Presi- dent Roosevelt today directed Sec- | retary of Navy Frank Knox to take shipyard ol Los Angeles Ship Building and | over *and operate the the Drydock Corporation The Whitehouse said the Presi- dent’s action was on executive order and added that was based on fail- | ure of the corporation to “perform satisfactorily the work called for in its con! ts with the Navy De- partment.” The order was signed December 3 and the yard was taken ove | today. gel of Allued (onlerence T Midw?y ‘Wak 1941 lomon Area FIFTH ARMY ROUTSNALIS, TAKE RIDGE Enemy Shoved Back on Rain, Blood Soaked Field by Steadyls. Thrusts ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN ALGIERS, Dec. 8.—The Allied Fifth Army has captured the lofty sum- mit of Mt. Camino and routed the Nazis from three villages south~ west of Mignano and recaptured the rain and blood soaked Monas- tery Ridge. There was bitter fight- Iing to win the heights overlook- ling the Cassino-Rome road. “The enemy was shoved back to he fringe of the ridges on the northwestern edges of Mt. Camino and Mt. Maggiore by steady thrusts jof the American and British troops,” says the official report. w9 | On the Eighth Army's Adriatic coastal sector, Montgomery’s forces jcrushed repeated Nazi counter-at- tacks and report limited advances in the area of the Moro River hek (left), with Madame Chiang {where both British tanks and in- faniry crossed the stream. As evidence of the severe Ger- man casualtles in defense of this com same.. diseovery . Kesselrinig has thrown' the | 19th armoted grenadier division into ithe line there to relieve the 65th infantry Division which was so badly smashed that oné of its bat- talions lost all of its officers, emprg- ing with only a ‘ll'rgelmt Major in | Command. Continued rain as well as fierce enemy defense slows down the that 15 | thrown heavy artillery bombard- ment but the Allies held Lanciano, key junction of the inland road leading toward Chieti. - House Commitfee . Kills Legislation on Govl. Adverfising WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. — The House Ways and Means Committee has killed, in effect the legislation that would have authorized paid newspaper advertising by the Gov- ernment to promote the sale of war | bonds. The vote was 11 to 10. Chairman Doughton said the ac- tion tdbles the legislation but how- ever some ohe will probably intro- duce another such bill. ————.—— 10 MAKE REPORT "ON ISLAND FIGHT ' OF MARINES TODAY “ SAN DIEGO, Calif, Dec. 8-—A report to the Nation will be made |by Lt. Col. Evans Carlson, Com- pRoDu(I'oN IS |mander of the famed Marine raid- |ers and observer at the initial land- BIG URGE “ow,mg on Betio Island in the Tawara atolls, will be made this afternoon _____ at 4:30 o'clock PWT in.a Na WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. — The | wide” broadcast over Mutual. g | e e — }War Production Board has sounded JOHNS TO HOONAH la hurry-up call for vast quantities Samuel G. Johnson has left An- lof steel in December and January goon for Hoonah where he will be | for record breaking production for in charge of the Hoonah Presby- | “troop carriérs. landing craft of all|terien Chureh this winter. Ikinds and other equipment” and a, ~— plea to mills and workers. The urge follows by one day the| | announcement that landing craft lare now number one priority of | war. Pacific Ocean . HAWAIIAN ..,‘. e AR SHALL IS. NEW ZEALAND TR e o o o o WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. Bureau) Temp. for Tuesday Dec. 7 Maximum 40; Minimum 36 Rain 53 o o British advance. The Géimans have . .