The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, April 15, 1944, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1944 VOL. XLI, NO. 9627. PRICE TEN CENTS MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS SPRING OFFENSIVE ON KURILES STARTED Aussies Moving Toward Big Japanese Base Liegler Talks Tonight BOGADJIM IS CAPTURED BY AUSTRALIANS Wewak Again Smashed by Bombers—60 Build- ings Are Destroyed ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, April 15. — Australian troops captured Bogadjim on Thursday and are in contact with enemy patrols on the road leading to the Japanese sup- ply base at Madang, 18 miles north. The Australians entered Bogad- jim without resistance and also cap- tured some abandoned equipment. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's com- munique also announces that ad- vanced units of the American Thirty Second Division have gone up the New Guinea coast and are reported to have made a junction| (Continued on Page Two) The Washingion Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSOM (Lt. Col. Robert B: Allen now on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON—It hasn't.- leak-| ed out yet, but Lauchlin Currie, hard-working deputy chief of the Forelgn Economie Administration under Leo Crowley, has been urging that we do a little cracking down on neutral Sweden. Reason for Currie’s urging is that the Swedes of late have stuck their necks out unnecessarily to help the Nazis. While it is recognized that the Swedes are in a tough spot, nevertheless no one can forgive them for sending SKF ball-bearing experts to Schweinfurt to build up the ball-bearing works there which U. S. bombers, at a eost of 60 planes and 600 men, had knocked out. The SKF company of Sweden did not own the Schweinfurt plant, was under no obligation to the Nazis, and had no material interest in the factory. Nevertheless, word has trickled back to Washington that the Swedes sent men to Ger- many to rebuild the plant. Washington indignation has cen- tered on the SKF ball-bearing com- pany in the U.S.A. whose presi- dent, William Batt, is a vice-chair- man of the War Production Board. Of course, the SKF in this country is an American corporation, there- fore probably not subject to seizure or retaliation. Ngvertheless, as it is largely owned by the Swedes, re- sentment here is strong. Chief opponent to Currie regard- ing Sweden is Winfield Riefler, FEA representative in London. Re- cently returned to the United States, he has urged the President to continue to cooperate with the Swedes by sending them strategic materials. It is now up to .the President. NATIONAL VOTE SLUMP ‘The Gallup Poll people have made a so far off-the-record survey which shows that only about 37,- 000,000 civilians will vote next No- vember. This is due to two factors. One is that around 10,000,000 young men are in the armed forces. The other is that millions of war work- ers have migrated away from their homes and either have not register- ed, or else capnot register, where they live now. This Gallup survey is one of the most disturbing factors haunting Roosevelt political supporters. They figure that, if only 37,000,000 peo- ple vote, the President connot win. In 1940, around 50,000,000 people | voted. If 13,000000 of these are missing this' year, brain-trusters | figure that most of those failing to| vote would be workers®or soldiers| who ordinarily would support the President. Here is the tabulation worked out by some of Roosevelt's political friends as to how the voting would help or hurt him. (Continued on Page Four) Veniamaneff, Al SRR S5 U e 1 will be announced ——————— It is estimated to have reached a height of The crater now is 9,000 feet high, with a new crater eufian Volcano, Blows High |SEVASTOPOL Veniamanoff, pictured here by a evacuation of the Aleutian hamlet HITTINGOUT | INDIA AREA Admit Strong Jap -Resist-; ance-Many Roads Are | Being Blocked 3 NEW DELHI, April 15.—The Al- | lied forces are apparently moving eastward to Dimapur in an effort to | BLASTED BY TWO FORCES Sea and Air Units Smash-| ing at Greaf Naval Base, . Crimean Peninsula MOSCOW, April 15.--The power- ful Red Army has pinned the Ger- mans on a narrow strip of the coast around - Sevastopol, Crimean naval base, and are within sight of the hills on the outskirts. 1 Planes and warships are pouring shells into the enemy at the docks. One giant explosion has occurred, Ppresumably an ammunition dump. Soviet torpedo boat guns are blasting directly on the embarka- tion points. Many ships have been sunk in the harbor which is littered witn wreckage. | Indications are the Germans arc| attempting a Crimean Dunkerque. e MORE BLOWS, JAPAN'S FLEET MAY BE SOON Admiral Kin-g—Declares that| Enemy Cannot Hopefo | Make Up lfs Losses WASHINGTON, April 15.—Jap- an’s fleet is already damaged ‘“so badly that it can, never hope to| make up its losses.” Heavy new | blows at it, however, may be ex- pected within the ‘“next few| months,” Admiral King, Navy Com- | mander-in-Chief, declared. | “We are seeking opportunities to clear the Naga Hills to Kohima in strike whenever we can get within the Manipur Valley. ‘,range of their warships or bases The Japs are blocking the road and I think you will find that and are threatening the communica- | within the next few months we tion routes into the Imphal Valley. shall create these opportunities,” he Small Jap forces are still holding |said. Japanese Adivities One of the world’s oldest volcanos is this Aleutian Islands volcano of naval air transport pilot as it burst ence again into activity. nearly 20,000 feet before its top was blown off. forming inside the old one. Veniamanoff's last major eruption caused of Perryville. (International) > ( PENNY DRIVE 10 BEGIN MONDAY MAKE RAID, r . FOR ORTHOPEDIC | - B | The annual penny drive for the |Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle will ey Istart in Juneau next Monday with st ELolu Mae Alexander in charge. HHIH in | Districts have been assigned so Ploesti Qilfields Are Again |, "o, "sicting ot the - city s 1 will be made for this most worthy Target-Nazi Supply ~ [u» i i Full details Lines Are Hit [ ’ | Seventy five percent of the cases | ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN in the Orthopedic Hospital are free.| NAPLES, April 15.—Liberators of Many Alaskans have been success- the 15th Air Force attacked targets fully treated there and several| in Bucharest and Flying Fortresses children are now in the institution | streaked over the big Rumanian oil receiving the special care. center of Ploesti, in the fourth at- | tack of the war. . | | They met a number of enemy | t fighters and shot down many ofIMOOSE (oMplE'E them. Early reports said both tar- gets were important communications : Pum Fon vunlv | centers to the Germany supply line for armies battling the Russians in MEMORI‘I' SERVI(E | Rumania and also on the Black Sea | ) coast. | Plans are being completed today | Ploesti, 35 miles north of Buch- for the annual memorial services arest, announced attacks “in great to be presented tomorrow in Lhe’ strength.” Big bombers accompan- Moose headquarters by members of | ied by Lightning and Thunderbolt the local chapter of the Loyal Order | fighters, working in relays, on the of Moose. targets in Bucharest and the “im- At last night's meeting of the mediate vicinity” of the capital, in- |lodge, George Sheeper was named dicating that perhaps rail Tines to chairman of the committee, and‘ Bucharest were attacked from this Michael J. Haas was appointed theatre on April 4. crator. Mary J. Hoffman will pre- | — sent vocal selections. Officers of the Moose lodge and | AR MY GE“ERA[ | Women of the Moose will read part | of the service and the eulogy will | . be delivered by a minister. oF UKRAINE DIES A full attendance is expected to! ; ; {attend the services which will be- AHER opERA'I'ION {gin at 2 o'clock in the Moose head- quarters in the Seward Building. | | — .- LONDON, April 15—The Moscow redio announced Saturday thatipASSE"GERS ARE Gen. Nicolai Vatutin, commander | of the First Ukranian Army died at Kiev after an operation. SKAGWAY BouND He had been ill some time and | retired from his command on Fno M ju " EA u ! March 5. He was succeeded by Marshal Gregory Zhokov Vatutin,, Skagway bound boat passengers who is in his early 40's embarking from Juneau last night included E. i. Epperson, Devera i3, DE E Blakeney, J.' B ‘3. R. Shiel, w v BlASIS AT Joseph D. Romberg, Clifford Ben- zel, Henry Stragier, R. R. McCor- BUREAUCRACIB mick, Roman Sisowsky, J. M. ¥ |Steear, A. F. Arnold, Mrs. P. Glov- "Ew YORK I AlK‘er, George Hansen, Major C. S. |Svare, C. E. Risberg, Gilbert Davis, Joseph E. Hegland, M. S. Whittier, ALBANY, N. Y, April 15—Gov. M. Ray G. Day and Paul R. Ru- Thomas E. Dewey last night decried |0IPh “centralized bureaucarcies” and hit the type of personal government which is now talking in fine phrases of liberalism while “seeking to im- pose its wills 'nnd whims upon the people.” MISS NOSTRAND HERE Mis Maxine Nostrand, former well known resident of Juneau, arrived by steamer yesterday and will lo- fast on the Bishenpur-Silchar trail | and other routes southwest of; Imphal. | et sl s e | | In Cenfral China Are Rele_aled Now CHUNGKING, April 15.—Accord-| ing to reports received here the Japanese are constructing two air- fields of gigantic scales in Central China. One airfield is being built} at Anching in Anhwei Province. It| covers an area of forty milés, and after its completion, it will be used as a land air base in central China. The other airfield under construc- tion is located at Tinghai, an is- land off the coast of Chekiang Pro- vince. It will be used as a Japanese naval air base. It is reported that in the vicin- ity of Wuhu, Anhwei Province, the enemy has concentrated around | 10,000 troops and now are engaged in strengthening fortifications and air raid shelters. There are also re- ports of enemy troop movements in Shanghai-Hangchow area. e SEE NEW GRANDDAUGHTER Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Robertson| have returned to Juneau after a three weeks stay in Seattle with their son, daughter and grand-| children. They enjoyed visits with Dr. and Mrs. Duncan Robertson and their month old daughter, Carol Jeanette and with Mr. and Mrs. Fred Eastaugh and their small son, Robert Radstone. . TO SKAGWAY As examples he cited the recent attacls in Palau, Yap and Woleai Islands, once vaunted stronghold of the enemy, where further dam-. age was inflicted on the battered enemy fleet that consistantly avoids engagements. He added that we have reduced Japan’s merchant fleet to not more than two-thirds of what it was when we attacked. We have sunk well over two million tons of cargo and tonnage and have so seriously | damaged the fleet warships that| they can never hope to make up the losses by building new ships or by replacing those we damaged. “We have sunk, probably sunk or damaged .by sub action at least 600 not stand such a rate of loss any Jap merchant vessels and she can- length of time and keep an em- pire together.” Such dissolution of the empire was told a graduating class of FBI at the police academy. - B-29 FORTRES WILL BE BUILT, . BOEING PLANTS SEATTLE, April 15—Boeing today the big Seattle plgnt and 26 west- ern Washington branches from Fortress production to the building | of the new semi-secret B-29 Fort- resses. President Johnson said that con- version wiil be started immediately | A. H. Ziegler, of Ketchikan, well- known attorney and candidate for Delegate to Congress on the Democratic ticket subject to the April 25 Primary Election, who will speak tonight te the people of Juneau over radio station KINY at 7:30 o’clock. { LEWIS WANTS BACK PAY FOR (OAL MINERS UMW Chief Says Miners Getting Angry at Failure of Government to Pay WASHINGTON, April 15.—John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers, demanded prompt paeyment of $18,000,000 retroactive in the portal to portal pay to soft coal miners. He asserted that a conspiracy to defraud , them .exists and . warned that they are becoming “increasing- ly angry at the failure of the Gov-| ernment to redeem its promise.” The UMAW chief addressed his complaint to Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes. — e — ASK PROTECTION FOR FISHERIES, PACIFIC COAST, TACOMA, Wash, April 15-—Im- mediate action by the United States ACE FLIER MAY HAVEFLOWNON | LAST MISSION U. 8. FIGHTER BASE, England, April 15—~Capt. Don 8. Gentile, America's top European fighter age, may have trained his deadly Mus- |tang guns on Swastika marked |fighters miles over Europe for the! last time. Capt. Gentile has been released rom a hospital, where he was treated for crash landing shock,! but Capt. Gentile told friends be- | 'fore he took off for the flight in which he was injured, that it would be his last fighter mission, He long since passed the second quota of missions one of his col- |leagues said, and he is retiring at the top. | His efficlency friend explained, “Gentile figures hé will be satis- fied with breaking Rickenbacker’s {record. Others arg now crowding /the mark and inevitably his own ‘mark will be broken. He would just! be crowding the percentages to continue.” > 'Last Year Banner | One for Fishermen WASHINGTON, April 15. States fishermen last year received | more than their catch of fish, shell- | fish, and crustaceans than ever be- United | {and Canadian Governments to pro- fore in the long history of their!charges announced plans for conversion o(itcct the Pacific Coast {isheries from industry. Although there were fewer ! chief proseqution witness, told him )flshermen of other nations, is asked fishermen at work because of the|that in public interest, the prosecu- —— 3 ISLANDS, NO. PACIFIC ARE RAIDED \Paramushiro Struck Fourth Straight Day-Make 14 i\fli_ucks PEARL HARBOR, April 15—The spring aerfal offensive was carried out for the fourth straight day on Thursday when strikes were made on Paramushiro, Shasukotan and Matsuma Islands, Jap bases in the North Pacific Kuriles according to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. There were four attacks making 14 raids on Kurile objectives in four days. Paramushiro was hit twice by. Aleutian based Eleventh Army Alr Force Liberators. The first attack {was at pre-dawn and the planes encountered no opposition. Later Navy planes ran into intense anti- aircraft fire at the same base. The newspapers release by Adm. {Nimitz also said Navy search planes bombed Ulul, norwest of Truk in the Carolines, | Pakin and Ponape were also bat- tered by AAF Mitchells and fires jWere started in bufldings on Ponape. {One fighter made a forced landing AXIS "THREE POWER" MEET IS REPORTED |Japan Says_lr Will Smash Any Invasion Atfempt, So-Take That LONDON, April 15. — An Axis “three power” parley was held in Tokyo on the eve of the Allied Invasion of Western Europe a Ber- ' lin radio today disclosed. ' The report sald that a. technical committee representing Germany, Japan and the Italian puppet fas- cist regime reached complete agree- ment on war plans. The Japanese Premier Tojo was quoted as telling the delegates that the Nazis would smash any inva- sion attempt and added Tojo de- clared Japan “absolutely confident” of remaining supreme in East Asia coprosterity ephere, where the em- pire’s position is growing stronger every day through utilization of rich raw materials and resources. FREEDOM OF PRESS AGAIN UPHELD IN CRIMINAL LIBEL PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland, April 15—~The criminal libel in- dictment against Editor Rives Matthews. of the Somerset News, Maryland weekly, based on criticism of the use of rationed gas by State Comptroller Tawes, has been aor- dered nolle prossed by States At- torney Dashiell. The case was set for trial next week. Dashiell said he ordered the dropped because Tawes, by ‘the Pacific Northwest Trade war and production was below the!tion should end the case as it had Conference in a resolution. The resolution said the Fisheries in the past have “been subjected to serious threats by foreign fisher- men coming to these shores in for- | peacetime normal, the fishermen | received an estimated $18,000,000, acdcording to a report to Coordina- tor of Fisheries Harold L. Ickes. | In 1939 the production of U. 8 M. 8. Whittier sailed yesterday for Skagway on official business cate here permanently. for the U. 8. Customs Service. two years. and will be extended over several eign boats.” and Alaska fisheries amounted to months. ——————— 4,443,328,000 pounds for which the Production of Flying Fortresses|® o o o o o e o ol!fishermen received $96532,000. In will be continued in California at|e WEATHER REPORT O!IMI, when production reached 5,- the Douglas and Lockheed plants|e (U. 8. Bureau) ® | 000,000,000—a record for U. S. fish- which have been building them for|e Temp. Friday, April 14 e eries—the fishermen got 6134,000.000' l'.he Boeing corporation for almost'e Maximum $4; Minimum 37 e [in return’ Last year production was ® e o9 0 0 5 o o o o about4000000000 pounds. ) gone far enough. Matthews asserted that dropping of the charge is just another “com- plete vindication of the right of a free press.” ‘ e S e BASKETBALL TONIGHT There will be a doubleheader basketball , game tonight in the High School gym starting at 7 o'clock between service teams in- cluding cagers from Skagway.