The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 4, 1944, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLIL, NO. 9643. BUCHAREST RAIL YARDS _ AREBOMBED Repair Shops Are Set Afire -New Aerial Stab Represents Shift ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NAPLES, May 4. — Executing the war’s first night attack on Buchar- est, British Halifaxes, Lancaster and Wellingtons last night blasted ~“the Rumanian capital’s two-mile-long rail yards and German freight cars concentrated in the yards. Repair shops were set afire by a shower of bombs. Returning fliers said the aerial stab in' the Balkans represented a shift from a series of steady attacks during the past week against Ger- man communications in northern Ttaly. Medium bombers kept the air of- fensive going in Italy by bombing bridges and a number of other points beyond Rome. (Continued on Page Six) The Washingion Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON t. Col. now_on active - Army.) Robert 5. Allen service with the WASHINGTON — Miracles don't often happen in labor relations, but peace and love now reign between the tough maritime workers and the ship lines. Though the main factor is a common desire to pull together for the war, one factor has been reg- ular meetings between all union chiefs and all ship-line executives| . in the - Maritime Commission in Washington. There, both sides lay their cards on the table and tell what they think of each other. Last week, husky, hard-boiled Joe Curran, head of National Mari- time Union, actually went so far as to invite the ship-operator rep- resentatives into his union hiring halls to assist in the shipping as- signments of seamen. Ship oper- | ators almost fell off their chairs JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT RICHARDSON, ALASKA—A soldier of the Alaskan Department Provisional Training Unit is inter- viewed by Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr, Alaskan Department Commander, at a full field inspection just prior to departure of the troops for Arctic maneuvers north of Talkeetna. Between Gencral Buckner and the soldier are Lieutenant Colinel William Walther of Juneau, Alaska, Commander of the maneuver troops, and Captain George B. Curry of Bellingham, Wash., head of the Alaskan Depart- ment Experimental Board. The shoulder-lines held by the scldicrs are attached to combination sled-tobog- gans to be used during’the maneuvers. CAPTURED ATKOHIMA Move Lessens Jap Pressure Stilwell's Troops Advance BULLETIN — LONDON, May 4. — The German radio this afterncon quotes a dispatch from Tokyo declaring the Brit- ish troops have evacuated Im- phal and taken up positions out- side the town and there are “about 30,000 Allied troops in the area.” when Curran made this astounding suggestion. “PFor seven years,” he admitted, “I have fought to keep the com- panies out of the hiring halls. But now I'm inviting them in so we can work together for the war. “That,” he chuckled, “is what a war will do.” However, Curran coupled his olive branch with an attack on one op- erator—Standard Ofl—for hoarding manpower. He charged that Stand- ard Oil operated a “private pool” of seamen for its own tankers. These extra seamen, he said, were being kept ashore and used in other jobs, even though they had been given draft deferments as essential sea- men supposed to be at sea. By this process, Curran claimed, Standard} attempts to build up a backlog of non-union seamen and thus have enough in reserve to escape using| union men. GOVERNMENT ACTION DEMANDED “My union won’t put up with idle workers,” the NMU leader declared. “My union prohibits members from staying on shore longer than two days for each week at sea, or a maximum of 30 days at any one time. The Government should en- force the same rule throughout the industry.” “Manpower policies should be ad- ministered without discrimination,” spoke up E. A. Jimison, an official of the Lykes Bros. Steamship Co. of New Orleans and New York. “Everybody should be treated alike in wartime and made to toe the mark.” War Shipping Administration of- ficials replied that they had inves- tigated Standard Oil's “beaching” of workers, presumably done to build up a backlog of non-union ‘employes, but said they doubted that WSA had authority to dictate (Continued on Page Four) There is no confirmation to this Tokyo report. SOUTHEAST ASIA HEAD- QUARTERS AT KANDY, Ceylon, May 4.—Allied troops have captured several additional enemy strong- holds north of Kohima in assaults | designed to lessen the Jap pressure | on the Indian frontier base, Ad- miral Mountbatten’s headquarters | announced. { At the same time forces at the southern end of the Burma front | evacuated the village of Paletwa “readjusting” their positions. In northern Burma more enemy ground has been won by Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell's American and | Chinese troops who are still ad- vancing. —_———— FLAG DAY I§ PROCLAIMED WASHINGTON, May 4.—Presi- dent Roosevelt has proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day and asked that it be observed as a “day of earnest rededication to those high prin- ciples of humanity and civilization which constitutes the foundations of | this Republic.” STOCK QUOTATIONS | NEW YORK, May 4. — Closing | quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 5%, Anaconda 25%,| Bethlehem Steel 60, Curtiss-Wright | 42%, International Harvester 71, Kennecott 31%, North American ‘Aviation 8'%, New York Central 17%, | Northern Pacific 14%, United States Steel 51%. 3 Dow, Jones averages today are as " AMERICAN MOM" 15-HAMED-OR-1944 'MORE GAINS, HONAN PROV. { Two Columns Advance on , Chinese Held Gap in Strategic Railway CHUNGKING, May 4. — Jap ‘tl'oops. striking from the south and inorth, have narrowed the Chinese | held gap along the Peiping-Hankow ! railway in Honan Province to only " |75 miles, field dispatches disclosed tonight. The invader column, striking up | the trackless ralway, captured Min- kiang, 23 miles north of the big Jap base at Sinyang. /Minkiang is only some 70 miles below Yencheng, men- jaced by Jap .columns i I’southwsrd down the railway. Yen- MRS. JOHN W. PHILLIPS, of Pittsburgh, Pa., who has been selected “American Mother of 1944, is pictured in this Sound- photo _ transmitted via Néw York. EIGHT DEAD, 30 INJURED FROM FLOOD Swollen M-i;s}ssippi Re- cedes in Some Areas, Mounting in Others (By Asscciated Press) The flood swollen Mississippt riv-| er is receding as far south as Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but elsewhere in the midwest and southwest the threat of high water. is mounting. Central eastern Texas toll has risen to eight dead and thirty in- juréd from torrential rains, hail and heavy winds along the Naches River in east Texas, which is 3 miles wide in some places. The Red Cross at St. Louis an- nounced the damage is much smal- ler thaa last year because of the; willingness to comply with evacua- tion requests. Advanced warnings | cheng is 90 miles south of captured | Chenghsien. | . The Chinese forces at last reports still held out, however, at Hsuchang on the railway nearly midway be- tween Chenghsein and Yenchang. The Japs meanwhile have re- newed their air supported drive on Loyang, 65 miles west of Chengh- sien, pushing to within nine miles of Tengfeng and 30 miles southeast of Loyang, The communique indicated that the Chinese are fighting bitterly to halt.the Jap columns squeezing from the north and south along the Peiping-Hankow railway. —— .- — SENATE PASS BILL TO GIVE VETERANS AID WASHINGTON, May 4 — The Senate passed the “GI Bill of Rights” approved by the House | Veterans: Committee, with unem- ployment compensation allowances sharply reduced and government |guaranteed loans to veterans in- creased. The bill provides for unemploy- ment compensation on a flat basis of $20 weekly for a maximum of 26 weeks out of the first two years after discharge, and government loans of $1,500 to purchase homes, farms and small businesses, The Senate bill provided unem- ployment pay maximum for 52 weeks, ranging from $15 to $25, de- pending gn the family status of follows: Industrials, 137.85; rails,' moved many families, equipment,ithe veteran, and the Senate put a 38.88; utilities, 22.57. goods and livestock. $1,000 top to the loans. pushing | WILL PROBE SEIZURE OF Senate Unanimously Pass- es Resolution for Com. Investigation WASHINGTON, May 4. — The | Senate has approved unanimously the resolution of = Senator Harry Flood Byrd authorizing the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the seizure of the Montgomery, ‘Ward plants in Chicago. 1 AFL SUPPORTS WLB PHILADELPHIA, Pa., May 4—| e Executive Council of the Am- | ferican Federation of Labor jumped dnto the Montgomery, Ward con- ftroversy with the declaration of upport to the War Labor Board, | “‘regardless of particular circym-' stances or type of union involved in the controversy and we are primarily concerned with upholding the authority of the WLB.” The statement said labor has ac- cepted some WLB decisions “most; reluctantly” and has been mquh'edl Pin-up Quee to exercise self-discipline. BRIEF IS FILED CHICAGO, May 4—The Mont- omary, Ward brief has been filed that “totalitarian government in the United States is a logical conse- quence ‘to the government’s claim | for unrestricted power.” . | MANAGER SEIZED CHICAGO, May 4.—Paul Sowell, | Assistant Operating Manager of Montgomery Ward, was seized today | by FBI agents at the government- controlled mail order plant and charged with “stealing or injuring” United States government prop- erty. First Assistant U. S. Attorney O’Connor told U. S. Commissioner | Walker that Sowell was seized as | he was “taking down” a government poster. O'Connor said the poster in- formed employees that any dis- charges since April 26, the day the government tpok control of the plant are inyalid, and that the cases ‘would be heard by John Goodloe; | government named grievance officer | dealing with the CTO United Mail | Order Warehouse Retail Employees. The poster also said there would be no further dismissals without a hearing before Goodloe. Sowell was released on $250 bond pending a hearing on May 11 and pleaded innocent. . Sowell told reporters that when he saw the poster this morning he noticed it had to do with reiations | between the employees and the management, “and rather than stand in the hall reading it, I re- | moved the thumb tacks in order to | take the poster to my office to, read it in its entirety, and to abide | by it, of course.” | Except for this incident calm pre- | vailed in the Montgomery Ward situation, as Federal Judge Holly studied briefs and evidence offered by the company and the govern- ment in the legal fight over the government seizure. NAZIS ARE SEEING THINGS ON COMING INVASION, EUROPE Reconnaissance Pilots Re- port Troops Loaded Aboard Vessels STOCKHOLM, May 4. — London | newspaper today quoted Stockholm’s Aftonbladt as saying German re- connaissance pilots observed “Allied ' invasion troops embarking on in- vasion vessels from British ports ready for action but the troops later | were landed again.” ‘The Berlin correspondent of the Aftonbladt added that “embarka- tion 15 not intended yet but is be- lieved to be just @ feint to lure the | n Wins Film Debut o) CHILI WILLIAMS, incluctabie blonde ex-model, a recent arrival in Hollywood, will begin a screen career shortly because she has in- disputable possession of the title of the global warld’s prime pin-up requests for her photograph—principally from members of American and Allied armed forces abroad, who see the original in their regi- mental publications. marriage. The 40,123 requests included 210 proposals of New Postal Rafe Boon For Banks;Money Orders May Now COL. CANELLA | IS INDICTED, GRAND JURY Civilians and Corporations ' Also Involved in Money | Solicifation, South LOS ANGELES, Calif, May 4— Col. Joseph James Canella, Post Quartermaster at the Santa Ana Army Air Base, has been indicted by & Federal Grand Jury, with three civilians and two corporations, on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Government. The indictment charges Col. Can- ella, solicited money from persons having matters pending before the quartermaster and accepted money from such persons. THREE KILLED AN THREE MISSING IN NAVAL COLLISI0 WASHINGTON, May 4., — The Navy Department announced today that three enlisted men were killed Take Ng;_e Dive By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, May 4-—Some- times Congress can't see beyond the end of its nose. The example at hand is the increase in the cost (of post office money orders (as | high as 66 per cent in some cases) ! voted in the recent revenue bill. | If the bankers’ lobby had worked night and day for months, it couldn’t have hoped for as- great a benefit as Congress may have handed them in this seemingly minor item of in- creased public charge for services rendered. ‘The House Ways and Means Com- mittee glibly estimated that in- creases in the cost of local postage, airmail ‘stamps and money orders, would bring an additional revenue of $96,000,000 a year. The govern- ment has a monopoly on the sale of stamps and, for the most part, for services rendered thereunder. It doesn’t have any monopoly on money orders. Its principal hold on this most lucrative source of post office profits was that it could safely transmit money in certain amounts as economically as any private agency. i In those certain amounts, that !may no longer be true. When the | public realizes banks can supply the same service for less cost, the money | order profits may nose dive. | The first reports on the new reve- |nue bill ‘won’t come in until the middle of this month and then only from the larger cities, but so posi- tive are post office officials that | their highly profitable money order business has been dealt a serious blow, they already are revamping the whole system. What is proposed is the issuance {and three others are missing after 'of “postal notes”—similar to travel- a collision between the destroyer ers' checks. By buying these blanks Parrott and the merchant ship John “en ploc,” the cost would be re- Morton at Hampton Roads, near duced to compete with those banks the naval operating base, last Tues- day. A large hole was torn in the de- stroyer’s starboard side and it was several hours after the collision before she was towed to the Norfolk Navy Yard. She was observed list- Germans taking premature counter measures.” ing badly in her berth at the naval base. \Which now perform the same serv- llce for about half the charge. Advocates of the new system don't figure the profits would come so much from increased sales as in the reduction of manpower. It's (Contmuedkon‘lz'ag: Two) PRICE TEN CENTS — GERMANY ATTACKED FOR 20TH DAY Night Attack Made on Rumanian Capital lkgn Chief Talks fo Men of Talkeeina ——— AIRPOWER OF HITLER IS BLASTED Day and Ning‘tS\mps Are Made by American, Brilisl!_f!gavies LONDON, May 4--American Fly- ing Fortresses blasting Hitler’s wan- ing air power for the twentieth consecutive day of pre-invasion aer- ial assaults, bombed German air- fields in Holland, The new blows by the American heavies coincided with early morn- ing attacks by both American and British bombers on German anti- invasion installations in northern France and fell only a few hours after two great Allled armadas hit in night flying. The bombers hit tar- gets in Rumania and bases in Italy and the big military depot at Malilly, southwest of Rheims. Possibly 750 Royal Air Force bombers made the trip from British bases. A preliminary announcement by the United States headquarters in- dicated the Fortress formations slammed explosives on alrfields in dolland, probably 250 planes in the raid. No mention is made of fighter escorts, neverthless the combined issault of this streamlined force brought about 6,000 tons in weight of bombs loosed on o e a bright moonlight night and met fierce German fighter opposition. Forty-nine planes failed to re- turn from the operations, which included an attack on the western Germany chemical center at Kudiwgshafen, For once the German radio made claims of lower losses, announcing that 40 British’ bombers were shot down. HERE'S LATE RETURNS IN FOURTH DIV. FAIRBANKS, Alaska, May 4.— With 49 precincts heard from, Democratic candidates leading the House race are Jesse Lander, Mrs. Alaska 8. Linck, Robert Hoopes, Harry Badger and Thomas Jones. Republican nominees for the Sen- ate on the four-year side apparently will be John Butrovich, Jr., and George E. King, with Andrew Ner- land for the two-year Senate term. Republican candidates leading for the House are Louis D, Colbert, Albert Dorsh, Maurice Johnson, Henry Karstens and Patrick Savage, GIVE MORE FOR THIRD DIVISION ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 4.— On the basis of returns from 35 out of 57 precincts it appears that Don Carlos Brownell and Ed Coffey will win the Third Division Democratic nominations for the four-year terms in the Senate. Democratic candidates leading for the House are Diamond, Taylor, Pollard, Stanley McCutcheon, Wad- man and Huntley. Republican candidates for the House probably will be Peterson, Gill, Andresen, Martin, Chadwick, Bugge and McVicker. Joe Diamond, oldtime grocer, is leading all in the election with 1138 votes so far, and the theory is that his name is similar to that of the Delegate to Congress. ————a—— FROM FAIRBANKS A recent arrival from Fairbanks is Mrs. K. R.'Howard. She is reg- istered at the Baranof.