The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 11, 1944, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1944 VOL. XLIL, NO. 5973. Ml:MBE.R ASSOC[ATl D PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS ITALIAN BEACHHEAD BATTLE RAGING Japanese Are Wiped Qut on Hu 14,000 NIPS LOSE LIVES IN BATTLING Auslralians?ove North- ward to Join Amer- icans at Saidor ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN | THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Feb. | 11.—The climax of the five months’ campaign for possession of the plagued terrain of Huon Peninsula has been reached. The peninsula has been captured by the Australians who have moved northwestward on the New Guinea | coast and joined the American in- vasion forces near Saidor in the campaign there. The bulk of the Japanese force on Huon Peninsula, 14,000, are re- ported to have been destroyed. The Aussies have been plugging | away along the jungle mountain | covered Huon Peninsula since fall. Lae was captured September 16| and Finschhaffen was taken in Oc- tober after which the drive was more doggedly difficult. i The Yanks made their amphibious | landings at Saidor on January 2| (Continued on Page Bix) The Washington, Merry - Go- Round| By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on sctive duty.) WASHINGTON—Few people out- side the Administration know how | much bitter feeling there has been/ inside the Government against the State Department’s appeasement policy toward Franco’s Spain. It has come to a head more than ever| recently with Franco's shipment o(‘ essential war materials to Hitler,| at long last forcing the State De- partment to shut off gasoline and| oil shipments to Spain. For months, Cabinet members and other Administration leaders have been trying to persuade State| Department officials that its Span- ish appeasement policy was wrong. They knew on the inside what out- siders did not know. Among othert things, they knew that Spanish Fas- | cists had raided certain U. S. con- sulates, destroying large quantities of OWI propaganda. They knew that the seal of the United States over the door of the U. S. Embassy | in Madrid had been pelted with stones so that the enamel was chip- ped off, but the Franco government refused to apologize. They knew that slighting, un- grateful remarks had been made in the Spanish press about American Red Cyoss shipments of food, and that Fascist gangs picketed Ameri- can offices and made trouble for non-Franco Spaniards who were too friendl yto the U. 8. A. - They also suspected that the Nazis were using Spanish soil for air bases for raids against Allied shipping, and that strategic mater-| ials were going across the border to| Hitler. Nevertheless, Secretary Hull questioned some time ago about his Spanish policy, told. newsmen: “Whats wrong with it? It's suc- ceeded, hasn't it?” Finally, however, the State De-| partment has suspended oil and gas| shipments, in view of Franco's flag- rant and open sending of strategic supplies_to Hitler. How much fur- there Hull goes will now depend on the ire of U. S. military leaders. WILLKIE'S POPULARITY IN TEXAS | No matter what you may think of | Wendell Willkie, those with their ears to the ground in the South- west will tell you that he is the most popular Presidential candidate next to Roosevelt. In fact, they will} tell you that he is the only Re- publican who would have a 50-50| chance of carrying Texas against the President. For no matter what (Continued on Page Four) Some Snappy .Ewmg in _Mud ‘War-necessitated makeshifts are many, but one of the strangest is the surface of this dancing spot some- When American Red Cross clubmobile girls arrived at a bivouac area with hot coffee and doughnuts for the men, and a record player with a few late dance tunes, this informal dance developed on a “floor” of an expanse of mud. BIG AERIAL %Scrap Soon Begms for Democrai NumberTwe; Good Battle Is Indicated where in Italy. ASSAULTON FRANKFURT 84 Enemy?l-%nes Shot! Down in Fierce Dog- fights-We Lose 37 LONDON, Feb. 11.—Flying Fol'l-; Frankfurt-on-the- | resses blasted Main with tons of high explosives again striking the already hard hit southwest German industrial and transport center for the second 29. operated time since January Liberators again pendently, slashing stallations in the area. Marauders, in the ninth opera- tion in 11 days struck other tar- gets on the “rocket gun” sector of northern France. inde- The operations kept the unprece- | dented Allied aerial assault going on another 24 hour cycle which fol- lowed yesterday’s mighty attacks on | Brunswick and Gilze Rijen airbase in Holland. In furious air battles 84 enemy planes were downed, and 29 Ameri- can bombers and eight fighters were lost. SOLDIERS TO BE SENT INTO ACTIVE DUTY SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 11. —*“Every ablebodied soldier must be | released between now and June” for field duty, post commanders and | personnel officers of 49 Army in- stallations of the Ninth Command were told at the opening of a three-day conference here. “Necessary replacements can be made by the use of less ablebodied soldiers and civilians,” Maj. Gen. David McCoach, Commanding Gen- eral of the Ninth Service Command, told the conference. at military in- | Pas de Calais Service | (AP errphmo) ""HOPPING MAD" |time in four days and the fourth | | | | TROUBLES OF WEALTHY JACK TOPPING, heir to copper mil- lions, extended clear aeross the contingent recently when Martha Montgomery, Hollywood starlet, announced she is engaged to Top- | ping and is “hopping mad” about | the New York dispatches telliirg of his $15,000 loss in a chemin-de-fer game while accompanied by Ruth Waldo, to whom he said he had given a $3,000 mink coat. Martha declared she wasn’t “sore” about the gambling but is “burned up” about the girl friend and doesn't know “whether to break ovr en- | gagement or not.” - FLAKNE HERE Joseph R. Flakne, formerly head MUSIC ABROAD U. 8. NAZIS BEING S! AUGHTERED BY RUSSIANS BB All Who Refuse fo Sur-| render Relentlessly Cut Down by Reds MOSCOW, Feb. 11.—The Red Army's spearheads, thrusting again: the steadily diminishing circle of death around the Nazi fotces bhacking the pieces, German salients to Red Star, Soviet Army organ, said the Germans are being slaugh- tered like sheep on the open steppes, and the entire garrisons at the “.villages of Yakhov and Myled were exterminated. To the south another body of Germans are threatened with en- circlement in the Krivoi Rog area by Red Army thrusts from three sides. NEWBLOWS STRUCK AT By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Feb. 11Tt appears now that the mnational Democratic convention in Chicago | in July isn't going to be without in-| terest after all. | The recent Democratic national committee meeting here made it pretty clear that even if they do “draft Roosevelt” for a fourth term, they are not going to be deprived this year of a good old- fashioned scrap over the vice presi-| dential nominee. | Talks with Democrats in Congress and political observers bear that out and two leading candidates for the nomination, sharply divided | over issues, already are in the field. They are, of course, Vice President Wallace, who launched his campaign with the avowed intent of extend- | ing the policies of the New Deal; and Speaker of the House Sam Ray- | burn, who is a conservative by na- ture and an old-line party Demo-| ‘crat of long, unblemished standing. | Results of the Associated Press committee poll, which showed these two about equally favored, with {Wallace having a slight edge, shouldn't be considered as ruling out other possibilities. In spite Ofi the fact that Wallace and Rayburn were far out in front and that third place fell to James A. Farley, whose nomination would be a miracle re-| gardless of his popularity, such men as “Little President” James F.| |Byrnes and Sen. Harry S. Truman| can’t be written off. | Even if the convention delegates; | assemble with the sole intention o(] nominating President Roosevelt om ithe first ballot, they are going to ‘hflve some say about his jrunning| mate. The President’s nod will be important, naturally, but it won't be as important as it was in 1940 |if the delegates don't like the man |the President names. At no time in the President’s long |career has his selection of a run- ‘nmg mate been so important to party unity and perhaps even to 1px€\ent1ng a split in the party nt\ {the polls. | The selection of Robert E. Han-| |megan, of St. Louis, as national committee chairman to succeed| Postmaster General Frank Walker! ‘xs no real clew. He got his job {mainly because Walker wanted him | /his mission is freedom. LONDON—Eighty percent of the|20d neither the White House nor| lof the United States Employment songs broadcast by the BBC are iService, now with the War Man- power Commission, arrived in Ju- ineau today from Seattle aboard the Inorthbound steamer. AP SRR Empire Classifieds Pay! by American composers, the Asso- ’clauon for the Advancement of | British Songs estimates. The Asso: ciation is asking parliament to com- pel the BBC to put in their pro- grams 50 percent of British songs. any important party faction had| any serious objection to him. | ‘Whether he is a “second Farley”| remains to be seen. He was the " first to deny any such comparison, | |declaring he wasn't skilled or even[ (Continued on Page Two) at the Dnieper bend are| and are relentlessly cutting | down all who refused to surrender. | MARSHALLS Twelfth Raid of War Car- ried Out on Wake Island PEARL HARBOR, Feb. 11.—The twelfth raid of the war on Wake ™~ 2,000 miles west of here, § Island, and continuing attacks by American warships and pldnes on unidentified Japanese held atolls in the Marshalls, was announced by Adm. Chester w Nimitz, The new blows on the Marshalh were carried out with sustained as- | saults on Japanese positions through ‘Thursday for the fourth consecutive day in a post invasion campaign to clear the archipelago of the enemy. Not a single plane is reported lost | in any of the operations, nor there any report of ship damage. The bombed Marshall atolls wcre “CAESAR,” jungle-trained veteran K-9 A BOUGAINVILLE HERO of the K-9 Corps, seems happily ex- cited as Marine Pfc. John J. Kleeman, Philadelphia, fastens a collar message he’ll deliver to the front line on Bougainville. Note the dog’s bandaged leg, wounded earlier ir. the landing attack. Through 48 hours of fighting, “Caesar” was the only means of communication befween the command post and the line. U.S. 'BEBOMBED Marine Corps photo. (International) C.CHAPLINIS INDICTED BY ~ BY RUSSIANS GRAND JURY not identified, a policy of the Nnvyj Department to keep the Jap high command guessing on the directtion | of attacks. — e WILLKIE HAS MISSION, HE SAYS IN TALK Makes Address in Seattle| af Rally-Then Shakes Hands with 2,000 SEATTLE, Feb. 11—Wendell Willkie described himself as a “young man with a mission,” and “A long continuance means the loss of freedom and I am dedicating myself to the end-| ing of such power,” Willkie said in a speech here last night. The candidate for Presidential ‘honons made his address at a Re- publican rally, and after which he and Mrs. Willkie shook hands with| nearly 2,000 persons in 40 minutes. Willkie will give the major Lin- coln Day address in Tacoma to- morrow night. e DARN THOSE PANTS! LONDON — Two years ago the | Post Office Department started sup- plying trousers on request to its war- | time postwomen. Now 14,000 pairs' have been issued and many girls on cycling duties are asking for spare bits of cloth as “patching pieces. L.| in power | |mans are | | from Moscow-Hungar- ians Can’t Get Aid LONDON, Feb. 11.—-The Moscow I.Adl() in a broadcast warns Buda. (pest it is the next on Russ |bcmbing list and asserted the cf would “share the same fate as Hel- sinki” If Hungary continues to |fight. The broadcast added: “The Ger- unable to protect their lown citizens and cannot help their | satellites.” b il et Well, Whal The Hell, |Anyway THE 11— SOMEWHERE SOUTH PACIFIC, Feb. Marine fighter pilots have strange stories to tell of radio conversations with Jap pilots during air scraps over Rabaul, New Britain. The favorite tale is concern- ing a Marine torpedo bomber pilot being attacked by enemy fighters who called for help over the radio: “Fighters, come and help, they are swarming all over me.” Immediately came a clear English answer: “Well, what the hell did yom expect. We didn’t ask you to come up here.” - IN \Banks Is Nommaled Yakufat Postmaster Presi- had luck with his Victory Garden. petrovsk, WASHINGTON, Feb. 11— * Warning ls Sent by Radlo Film Comedlan Four Times Married, Charged with Mann Act Violation LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11.-—Charles Chaplin, one of the wealthiest ac- ! tors, faces the stern reality of a! federal indictment charging a Mann Act violation by the 54-year- old, four times married comedian, who is accused of an additional felony and conspiracy. | A federal grand jury late yes-| derday concluded a long inquiry into his relationship with Joan Berry, 23, former protege who as-| serts he is the father of her four-| months’ old daughter. | Six others, including several prominent in Beverly Hills, were also indicted in an asserted con- spiracy to deprive her of her con- stitutional rights through intimid- ating her into leaving California after an arrest on vagrancy charges. - STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Feb. 11. — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today was 6's, American Can 82%, Anaconda 25, Beech Aircraft 10'%, Bethlehem Steel 58%, Curtiss |Wright 5%, International Hurves- ter 70, Kennecott 30%, North Am- erican Aviation 87, New York Central 17'2, Northern Pacific 15%, United States Steel 52. Dow-Jones averages today arg as follows industrials 13541, rails 3745, utilities 22.63. A e LUCKY HARVEST ALTOONA Pa—George Swartz on Peninsula TERRIFIC " BATTLING REPORTED ‘Allies Throw All Combat Planes Avaliable Info Furious Fight GROUND OPERATIONS SUPPORTED FROM AIR ‘Americans,_Bfi'ish Sirug- gle Against Huge Ger- man Forces Now ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN ALGIERS, Feb. 11—Throwing vir- tually every available combat plane, including the giant four-engined bombers, in one of the greatest ground support operations ever undertaken, the Allies have launch- ed a terific onslaught against the Germans to protect the Anzio beach- head already converted into a bristling hedgehog of hundreds of massed guns. The Americans are still fighting bitterly in the ruins of Cassino on the main Fifth Army front, and have captured five more buildings. American artillery has levelled the town prison which- the Nazis made into a fort but the Germans «re still fighting tooth and nail in the underground dungeons of the prison and the cellars of the blasted bulldings. GERMANS MAKE REPORT BELRIN, Feb. 11.—The' German High Command broadcasts a com- munique stating the German troops have penetrated the Carroceto- Aprilia beachhead, 10 miles north of Anzio, capturing the railway sta- tion and “mopping up of the Aprilia area continues.” ‘The broadcast says the Americans and British have lost more than 4,000 taken as prisoners and 89 tanks in the Nettuno area. The communique also says the ' Allies penetrated for the third time in the northern part of Cassino, 60 miles east of Anzio but have again “been thrown out.” e ————— BEACHHEAD SITUATION NOW TENSE Roosevelt ‘Admits Heavy . Fighting Exists-Good Weather Wanted WASHINGTON, Feb. 11.—Presi- dent Roosevelt said a very tense situation and heavy fighting exists on the Anglo-American beachhead below Rome but the Allies, on the whole, control the seas and the air. The Chief Executive told the re- porters at today's conference that “we are praying for good weather to aid the sea and air operations.” The President said the most im- portant news in the newspapers today is the announcement of the capture 6f Huon Peninsula, New Guinea, with the Australians mov- ing up from the southeast to join the Americans coming in from zm northwest. PRI S R T .SOVIH CHILDREN ARE SLAUGHTERED BY NAZI FIENDS LONDON, Feb. 11—The Germans killed 128 Russian children in the village of Kikhallovka near Dnepro- the Moscow radio an- dent. Roosevelt has nominated Sid- He harvested a potato weighing'nounces in a broadcast. The bodies ney Banks to be postmaster a‘ three pounds—and shaped like a of the children have been found in nYakutat, Alaska. i horseshoe. a ditch.