The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 28, 1943, Page 1

. VOL. XLIL, NO. 9534. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1943 THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE e MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER RAILROADS U.S. Navy Craft Sunk by Nippon Air JAP BOMBS SEND DOWN DESTROYER | One Smalla;slal Trans- port Is Also Damaged in South Pacific SECRETARY KNOX GIVES OUT REPORT Sinkingsloafilace Before% ‘ Landings Attempted at | Cape Gloucester BULLETIN—Washington, Dec. 28. — One American destroyer was sunk and a small coastal transport was damaged by Jap bombs during the landing at Cape Gloucester, Secretary of Navy Frank Knox officially an- nounced this afterncon. It was previously reported that both: vessels went down but the Navy later announced the transport was only damaged. WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. — One American destroyer and one coast- | al transport ship went down under Jap bombs during the landings at| Cape Gloucester, at the western tip | of New Britain Island, Secreta.y! Knox announced early this morning. No names were given nor was the Navy Secretary able to provide any information as to the number | of men lost. ! Secretary Knox described as “fan- tastic as usual” the Jap claims that (Continued on Page Two) The Washington Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on sctive duty.) WASHINGTON—Secretary of Ag- riculture Wickard will soon trot up to Capitol Hill with a proposed bill in his pocket to put an end to, the farm land boom. He is keenly | worried about speculation in farm properties, has made a couple of speeches on that subject, but has!| not disclosed the full extent of the| penalties he will propose to stop| land speculation. | His bill carries a tax of 90 per cent on profits from the sale of| farms held less than two years. In| other words, if a farm is bought and then sold again in a few months, the deal is obviously for speculation, not for farm Produc-| . eoceq (o be retroactive to the| tion, and the profit weuld be prac- tically confiscated by the proposed tax. Farm sales are so heavy that, if the present trend eontinues, they, that the men engaged in this spec-| ulative buying are not farmers, and most of them are not even residents | of farm areas. They are invest- ment houses and insurance com- panies, who have money lying around loose and think they can the result of granting their demands| make a killing, as they did in World MARINE SERGEANT IS *‘PIN-UP BOY" SELECTED by Hollywood's pin-up Ankers, left, and Vivian Austin, right. InIernéiidnal | | | girls as their “pin-up boy," Sergt. James Marini of the Marine Corps poses with Movie Starlets ¥velyn (Internatonal ) Law” Is Only Just a Code Of Etiquetie, No More EL STRIKE STE IS DISSOLVED; PAY INCREASE War laborfiaard Takes Sudden Action — Men Returning fo Jobs WASHINGTON, Dec. crisis in the strike of steel work- ers seems dissolved as” the War Labor Board suddenly voted last night, 8 to 4, to guarantee wage in- steel workers to date of the expira- tion of the contract, Christmas eve.! im-| Phillip Murray, CIO head, mediately announced an order for MEN BACK ON JOBS PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec. 28.-—The one day walkout of more than 170,- 000 steelworkers appeared ended as and possible retroactive of pay. 28. — The! By HERMAN R. ALLEN WASHINGTON, Dec. 28.—War is supposed to be fought according to “international law.” But it isn't * * simple reason. The reason is that the interna- tional laws of war are little more than a code of etiquette. The only real force keeping a warring nation from violating them is fear of re- prisals. This explains why the Germans are so careful about the treatment of prisoners and why ithey have been so ruthless in sub-| marine warfare. They have few {merchant ships of their own which could be lost by reprisals. In the broad sense international “]aw is a code built up from cen- turies of custom regulating the commercial, diplomatic and military | |relations of civilized nations, i | The military regulations are con- hained for the most part in the, Hague Convention of 1899. They have been supplemented from Lime"‘ to time, principally by the Geneva; Convention of 1906, the Hague Convention of 1907, the Washington 1 for a very | | peisoned arms, poison gas or viru- lent bacteria. It is forbidden to kill or wound {a surrendered enemy, to declare !“no quarter,” to use arms causing]| unnecessarily severe wounds, to| make improper use of flags of truce! ‘THE SOUTH PACIFIC, Dec. 28.—| | —American fighters covering the 'Marine landings at Cape Gloucester | 18 BOMBERS OF JAPS IN BIG ATTACK Two - Engihe& 'Mitsubishng : Attempt to Pound U. S. Navy Task Force | i i MARINES GO INLAND ON CAPE GLOUCESTER Oc(upalion';)f~ New Britain Area Beautiful Co. ordinated Action | ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN Eighteen 2-engined Mitsubishi bombers unsuccessfully attacked the United States Navy task force whose planes raided Kavieng, New Ireland, on Christmas morning. | Admiral Halsey's headquarters reports the attacks on the Navy task | force began -during the day and| lasted until night. Early reports said the task rurcel suffered no dameoge. & Carrier-baseu planes sank one ENGLAND LONDON COMPIEGNE (222) [ d PARIS FRANCE VITTEL (460) AP Features Jar. destroyer, two cargo ships and amaged one- destroyer and othet| ships in the harbor at’ Kavieng. | Gen. MacArthur's headquarters| announces the Marines on Cape, Gloucester, New Britain, have al-| ready moved inland from the, beachheads established last Sun-! day. } Maj. Gen. William Rupertus,| Marine Commander, at Cape Glou-| cester, said the Jlanding was a | “peautifully coordinated attack! from the sea, following a devastat- ing bombing and Naval fire.” PR 2 T S 61 ENEMY AIRCRAFT | SHOTDOWN American Fmers Engag- ed in Two Furious Com- | bats in South Pacific | ADVANCED ALLIED FIGHTER BASE IN NEW GUINEA, Dec. 28. last Sunday downed 61 enemy air- craft in a doubleheader combat that | came close to matching the most furious aerial scrambles of the war! in the Southwest Pacific. Every type of aircraft, Thunder- | bolts, Lightnings and Warhawks shared in the day's achievements as they patrolled the landing areas in relays from dawn to dusk but the actual combat was concentrated in two brief sessions, 20 to 30 minutesi AREKILLEDIN PLANE CRASH % %se are the prificipal Nazi cam ETTNANG (190) Force GERMAN PRISON CAMPS HAMMERSTEIN O (1400) €% Y PR 4 GERMANY COLOGNE ERLIN ® Gooesserc [o U | DIPLOMATS) FUERSTENBERG (2800) BADEN BADEN (143) 0 MU(NL"IG‘"G -ty (2430) ¢ ° V7 BRESLAU L4 ®0AGUE | [ FRANKFURT MOOSEBURG (1400) T P b 4 ) I d % () SALZBURG (130) 0 AUSTRIA MUNICH €O AMERICAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS (OAMIRICAN INTERNEE CAMPS War Prisoners In Nazi-Held Part of Italy Believed To Have Been Redistributed Into German Camps. AP Foatur ps where Allied prrisoners of war and internees are held. After the eol- - lapsé of Italy, the Germans rounded up as many prisoners as they could find in the south, and transfetred them out of the reach of Allied a many. Figures on the numbers of I!e»publitaflns Think TheyHave Something TARGET HILL,, NEW BRITAIN, IS OCCUPIED Enemy Opl):)s;fion Driven Out of Hump by Test- ed Leathernecks ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD- QUARTERS IN NEW GUINEA, Dec. 28. — Light medium tanks mov. along the road to the Cape Gloucester airdrome as American Marines spread the invasion front from two beachheads in western New Britain. Jungle tested Leathernecks drove the enemy opposition from Target Hill a 450 foot hump near Borgen the Arawe front, 60 miles southeast| a of Gloucester. Homesick Soldier rmies. Best indications are that all Allied prisoners were sent to Ger- prisoners at each camp were compiled by the Red Cross. GERMAN RAIL BY RUSSIANS Fast DwindAIiir;g Nazi Com- | munications on Eastern Front Serious Threat ler’s (h_arges% By JACK STINNETT { WASHINGTON, Dec. 28.—One of | the phrases becoming stock around nere is “anything can happen in Washington and generally does.” Just when we thought the Good | Neighbor policy was rocking along | smoothly and we could take our e eyes off it for more important war| MOSCOW, Dec. 26 —Gen. Vatu- | affairs, Senator Hugh A. Butler,|tin’s Pirst Ukrainian Army swung Nebraska Republican, makes a 20,-|southwest of Kiev in a new plunge 000-mile trip through Central andtoward Rumania and the old Polish South America and comes back to|border, cutting two railroads out of iblow the lid off with charges that|the Germans’ fast-dwindling net- the New Deal has “boondogg | work of communications and threat- its way through six billion dollars|ening to flank the enemy forces on this project. He insists the along the lower Dnieper River. {manner of handling the Good| Gen. Vatutin's spectacular ad- | Neighbor policy has created more {vance through the town of Andru- ill will than good and has placed |shevka, 120 miles from the Ruman- |the mation in the old indefensible ian frontier, was preceded by ter- | position of indulging in “dollar dip- | rific artillery barrages which carried lomacy.” 1th troops forward approximately ! il |40 miles from the starting point of In answer, Coordinator of Inter-|Mis offensive in the Brusilov sector | American Affairs Nelson A. Rocke- | and carried him to within 15 miles {of the Zhitomir to Odessa lateral !feller declares that our expendi- tures, including military estahhsh-“rafl,w“y line. i 4 ments, in Latin America haven't This strategic railroad, which Mar- been over $600,000,000. Senator Kenneth McKellar, €05t during his ill-fated November Democrat of ‘Tennesses, derendmg}“"k onslaught, is again in imminent LINES TAKEN shal von Mannstein cleared at heavy | danger, according to dispatches from | and it may be well to understand few things about it. Senator Gerald P. Nye, North Dakota, one of the most vigorous Administration foes, and ranking Republican mem- ber of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has declared his com- mittee will go to the bottom of {pushed them back in the Zhitomir and Korosten sector. Berdichev is on the major Axis railway feeding the German forces in the Ukraine from | Poland | Soviet forces !from Brusilov crossed the east to west Fastov-Zhitomir railroad and turning southwest | U.S. ARMY '~ SEIZES ALL ~ RAIL LINES Orders for Move Are Is- sued Last Night by ‘ Roosevelt ACTION IS "ESSENTIAL TO || PROSECUTION OF WAR" 'Maj.Gen. C.P. Gross, Army | Transport Chief, Is in Charge | BULLETIN 4 WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. — Swiftly taking over the physical possession of railroads, the Army is concentrating troops | with railroad experience to sup- plement any possible manpower shortages. Secretary of War Stimson disclosed the use of troopers at a special press conference, as- serting that “terrific dangers” | confront the Nation if a strike | .is carried oul | Stimson als oun ™~ “alsond Présionts Tave. Boen appointed Colonels and are ready to take over operation of as many divisions. | Stimson explained that rail- | roads will be returned to civil managements when the crisis is over. WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. — The United States Army last night took over the United States vast net- work of rafiroads under direct or- ders of President Roosevelt. | The President ordered the seizure of the rail system. so transportation of war materials will continue in |the faceé of a threatened strike. Gen. Brehon Somervell, head of 'the Army Service of Supply, im- |mediately acted for Secretary of [War Henry L. Stimson in making the seizure, | Maj. Gen. C. P. Gross, Army Transport chief, was placed in charge with Martin W. Clément, | President of the:Pennsylvania Rail- (road, as advisor. | President Roosevelt's order said the move is “essential to prosecu- ’uon of the war,” although 17 to 20 |rail unions had abandoned plans to |strike at 6 o'clock Thursday morn- ing. The railroads were taken over at 7 o'clock last night, Eastern War Time, the unions agreeing to arbi- trate. The unions represented about one million three hundred thousand wonkers. Helldives Just That; ThenSome 1 Something fo Hit and Run Against Enemy WASHINGTON, Dec. 28.—Newest teammate to the carrier based killer jcrews, the helldiver, was introduced -7 | full-time production, and steel cen-|Treaty of 1922, and the Geneva|eqch Bay which was B - X 2 g pounded heavily |the Administration, sets the figure > :fl :u:g::dtyh::: Diogaml:"l'nw!:;c: tees fimost Bbignie: hegart TORITING IRENE!. of 1030; —————— rm¥11 the air and by Naval war-{at $2200,000,000. Vice Prcslumfl“’m' front. ¥he ceptyes of. Ande- & R e Bty an | D vok [The noyement. £ Provisions Listed i ships before the Marines landed on|Wallace skips over all the figures|Shevke bt the Russians 20 wmiles | ;;ree b about 170000 men, Who Went OUt| pcce are some of the main pro- i and tssues an apology to all of Latin [LOrtheast of the key rail city of, =5 4 A ... .. |yesterday, back to their jobs also|yicione of the laws of ” 4 0 ! Americs | Berdichev, even closer than last| & A Wickard has evidence indicating | A . |visions of the laws of war? Marine artillery began shelling iCs. 5 otk tato o immediately started | It is forbidden to ‘use poison,| the Cape Gloucester airdrome on} This thing isn't going to end here|MONth before Mannstein's ""“Lk‘New A"(fa" lees "aVY ; War I. i racts are being nego-|Or the red cross emblem, to attackq &' s l . . " ] L 5 _New contracts are being nego R klly ghich Has HE Addtared g A s ome eaves Senator Butler's charges. Senator another line rruunlng .sculhwgbl, from today with the officidl tip that “it record of their speculation in tiated. 4 A ;M ' D 'h Wh I C i, 2 Ha P e | Vinnitsa and Zhmerinka, which con- % that period is still written black on' Reports from the union score| OPCW’ or undefended, fo pillage| el Vea lie Lovering : rry P. Byrd, the Yiginle antl-| g the eastern web of the vital [S1V€S the navy the reach it is seek- the pages of farm history. It 1S poards shows that plants in nine %Y Place cven if taken by assault. i H ELIZABETHTOWN, Tenn.—Post-|New Deal Democrat, and leader Of |wqreay Odessa rafl network, The|!n€ for its aetial Sunday punch.” sesn avery time ARA mukes benetlt| o e e ety FOspitals and religious, artisti, American Landmgsl |master Mrs. Grace Shell weighed|the economy bloc, already has an-|p frbi W ORE f00 PEROTE | Dive bomber is an old name, but B Ninnts: for he Jayost Gtiacks tii mm.om‘y".m.me i Rk 8| ccientific and charitable institutions| c GI ' ::]:péigr‘::. 4-{:e‘nher p:lcknkge des- | nounced plans for his committee’s no™ 00 Conthwest of Kiev it is a brand spanking new war- H s y i kAt ¢ ¥ : r a soldier in Alaska. restigation. % Many Bistes go, nob fo Individuall,, resume work for uninterrupted | TUSt be spared as much as possible ape oucesier She asked the sender what it con- Pudos 4 i afet plane. The Maiver. wes: Gaphee During the investigations, by the Navy as “fast enough to these things in mind: ¥ e keep up with its speedy new fighter unless they are used for military | bear |purposes. But it is up to the home ‘ farmers, but to insurance compan- jes and banks which have bought HE-MEN CROCHET | production of steel. MELBOURNE, Dec. 28. — Brydon |tained and the mother said: land or taken it over by foreclos- - — team to mark such buildings and Taves, 29, Australian Bureau Man- “It's just leaves. The most beau- (1) It soon will be election year. | er! AKRON, Ohio — Don't tell these escorts, the Hellcat and Corsair.” |MRS. DANIELSON, SON The Republicans and anti-New ing mortgages. {notify the enemy where they are. |ager of the United Press, and Arthur tiful autumn leaves I could find. Wickard is prepared for opposition | LEAVE FOR ANCHORAGE| ynanchored mines are prohibited | Raynor, Australian war correspond- My son would like to see the color- {unless they become harmless with-|ent. were killed in a plane crash |ful East Tennessee mountains and to his bill. However, the opposit- T Mrs. Carl Danielson and young!lin an hour after passing from con- |While covering the American land- [T thought maybe he'd pin these Performance and striking power are still secrets. B ARVEYS HERE Dealers have apparently got their| MUskles crocheting is a sissy busi- teeth in something that may em- | Dess for women. They are the ones barrass the Democrats. It's good\"“ a war plant here who crochet the jon will come, not from farm ele- ments, but from the speculators,| and also from Wall Street hrokers| . (Continued on Page Four) ) - at son left last night for Anchorage. trol of the side which plants them, |ings at Gloucester, New Britain, last 'L”Vfi They will join Mr. Danielson, Who| Anchored mines must become harm- | Sunday. is in the armed forces, stationed that place. (Continued on rPage Two) ‘Taves was the husband of Diana Parnham, Australian actress. up in his quarters, look at hem, and not be so homesick.” e - BUY WAR BONDS politics to pursue it. (2) Don't let that vast discrep- (Cofitinued on Page Two) (big nets that cover the envelopes |of the Navy's sub-hunting blimps. in takes 275,000 knots to make one net. Here from Hoonah, Mr. and Mrs. James Harvey are guests at the Baranof Hotel.