The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 20, 1944, Page 1

" THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLIL, NO. 9657. JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENIS —= —— | — HITLER LINE FORTIFICATIONS ARE SEIZED American Invaders Capture Wa VETERANS BREAK UP NIP GRIP Yanks Take Strip Which‘ Will Soon Be Used by Allied Planes ADVANCE ALLIED HEADQUAR- TERS IN NEW GUINEA, May 20. — American invasion veterans smashed the Japanese grip on stra- tegic Wakde Airfield five hours af- ter they had stormed the shores on Thursday, Gen. Douglas MacArth- ur’s spokesman said today. The coral runway will be ready for Allied planes ‘“very shortly.” The Yanks swarmed across the| 4700 foot airstrip after supporting bombers, strafing planes and naval destroyers silenced the enemy mor-/ tar positions which checked the in-| vading Sixth Army troops halfway across the runway. The drive car- ried the Americans all the way up the west side of the island before] the defenders could rally. (Continued on Page Two) The Washingion Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Lt. Col. Robert B. Allen now on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON—The Republican National Committee really is mak- ing hay out of the Montgomery ward incident. Latest and most potent of GOP campaign literature | is a picture of Sewell Avery being | carried out of his plant by soldiers, | and beside it a picture of a push-| cart peddler being seized by storm | troopers on the streets of Berlin. Caption for the two photos is “It | Can’t Happen Here,” with the word | “Can’t” crossed off and the word| “Did” substituted, making the cor-! rected caption read: “It Did Hap-! pen Here.” Under the two pictures is a quo-| HALIBUT FISHING STARTED First Vessels Leave Seattle ~Others to Follow Next Week New Income i Tax Bill Is | | Given Okay | Senate Pas;; House Ap- proved Streamlining Measure on Returns AIRDROMES IN FRANCE ATTACKED Rail Centers Are Smashed “at Night-Big Raid Is On Today Small Business TRAGEDY OFF New Champion; Maury Maverick Is the Man {Jap Air Base Offers Only ALASKA COAST SEATTLE, May 20. — The first) WASHINGTON, May 20. — The Seattle halibut vessels to go to the Senate has passed the House ap- banks this season put to sea yes- proved bill for streamlining the in- terday following a joint meeting come tax to relieve some 30,000,000 between the Deepsea Fishermens’ citizens of the necessity of comput- Union of the Pacific and the Fish- jng individual obligations and sim- ing Vessel Owners’ Association. plifying the returns of 20,000,000} H. E. Lokken, Manager of the gthers. The Treasury estimated it/ FVOA, said a final decision Was wi)) reduce the yield by $60,000,000. LONDON, May 20. — American | Finds BY JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, May 20—Small business has discovered it has a iew and vigorous champion. He is Maury Maverick, the one-time member of Congress and San An-| tonio mayor who now is head of | the Smaller War Plants corp. reached to abandon the tieup as a protest to the OPA price ceiling. The action by voice vote came swiftly after Senator Langer yield- heavy bombers, probably 250 strong, | blasted three enemy airdromes in Northern France angd rail yards at Reims in less than 12 hours after Royal Air Force formations smash- ed four French rail centers in night attacks. The Americans today hit the Orly and Villacoublay fields near Paris| and the Champagne field Reims. | Maury Maverick has been wrong before. He admits it. But he hasn't been wrong much since he came to Washington to take a wartime job. In developing prison industries to contribute to the war production |effort, he made a signal record. | Both in that job and as chairman| IS NOW TOLD Two Survivors of Liberty Ship Straub Relate DAMAGETO SOERABAJA (ONFIRMED Minor Resistance to Allied Atfack ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, May 20.—Strong carrier-borne forces of the Nimitz, MacArthur and Mount- batten commands, united for the first time in the war, heavily dam- aged on Wednesday Japan's prin- cipal Dutch East Indies base at Soerabaja. General MacArthur, in a special Only a few vessels were prepared ed the floor, ending two days of Experiences Last night a great wave of RAF, of SWPC, he has warred on bu- reaucratic red tape. He has made some headway on to put to sea immediately. Boatg initialed M through Z are expected to leave port Monday or Tuesday and the second half of the fleet will move Friday. Vancouver fishermen left for the banks Thursday night. Lokken predicted the tieup will not curtail the supply, but it will be somewhat delayed. speechmaking protesting the hasty passage of that section of the bill which provides that on next Jan- uary 1 the present 20 percent with- holding system against wages and salaries be revised to deduct the full tax liability for persons earning | up to $5,000 a year. The bill now returns to the House for action on minor amendments.; night bombers followed up the pounding given Berlin and Bruns- wick. The raid on Brunswick flattened some of the largest works in the district and hundreds of buildings were destroyed according to a cor- respondent of a Stockholm news- paper. | SEATTLE, May 20. — Two Sur- that score but in the long run that |vivors of the Liberty ship Straub probably isn't nearly as important Itold for the first time the Story of as his recent crusade to see that {the tragedy off the coast of Alaska smal business gets a generous| | that cost 55 lives on April 19. share of priority on reconversion to | Ensign Bruce S. Spang, third ,.oquction of civilian products. mate, and Lieut. Donald Moore, zgunnery officer, said the Straub was| o theory is that killing off a carrying gasoline and other SUD- 50 of ittle businesses won't help {plies. The ship had smooth sailing g, (ne war, but will make it prac- :‘:Lf‘“e e, “’;"";:,‘r‘“;“’; x;‘" o“fl"“;’: tically impossible to win the peace. g | Naturally, both big and little bus- communique, said carrier planes attacked and damaged an import- ant oil dock and installations, and struck at 10 vessels aggregating 35,- 000 tons which were sheltered in| the great harbor. The attack was the first water- | borne assault on the important base | the Allies were forced out of two vears ago, and was on the heels of a strike by Liberators which flew in and bombed rail yards and other installations on a 2,500-mile round trip from a northwest Australian base. The Jap Air Force and ground JAPSSUFFER Tyo U-Boals. SETBACKSIN | sentDown INDIA FIGHT ot Norway Nippons R;p_oded Being Driven Ouf of Besieg- | Others Probably Sunk or ed City of Myitkyina Damaged by Convoy R e B Escort in North UARTERS AT KANDY, Ceylon, s 4 LONDON, May 20.—The British May 20.—The Japs are being driven out of besieged Myitkyina, the chief |naval force escorting a convoy both outward and homeward bound, sank Jap base north of the Burma Road, | and Chinese and Americans gre clos- | tWo German submarines, probably sank one or two more, and dam- ing in on three sides. aged others, the Admirefty an- {15 delegates to the GOP national | from his backers the cry, “He's be- midnight. Wayne Morse Widens His Lead Over Holman in Senatorial Race PORTLAND, May 20. Gov. Thomas E. Dewey captured Oregon's L e, { | Spang said: “I was blown into oil on the water was burning. The B |ship was sinking so rapidly thaf I 0 REGO “ Gop‘my waist, then I jumped and swam |to one of the overturned lifeboats.” members of the crew watched the ship sink while they gripped an Twenty men were saved by the rescue ship, picked up the next 2 _the alleyway. The xmg begars to B ) sink immediately. - +{b— whs- pitoh’ |dark. The lifeboats were gone and was standing in cold water up to Lieut. Moore said he and other overturned lifeboat. morning. { | . COAST GUARD AUX. TRIP PLANNED FOR TOMORROW MORNING Flotilla No. 2100 of the Coast, Guard Auxiliary will hold an outing i convention in a sweep which brought yond stopping now.” Late returns widened the margin of his triumph in yesterday's pre: ferential primary over Stassen and iness are fighting to see that their competitors in any field 'don't get the jumpr on.them in producing im- proved civilian goods. The fear of little businessmen is that if recon- version from war to peace output starts at the same time for big and little business, they will be swamped by the greater production of the big fellow. LY Maverick takes the position that to prevent small business from re- converting to production for civil- ian consumption until big business competition is ready to reconvert is to invite economic disaster. He makes it clear that he's no foe of big business but that in de- fending little business, he's cham- pioning our overall economic sys- tem. That's an approach it tay be hard for big industry to argue against. Maverick contends that the more civilian goods produced as soon as possible, the less danger there will tation from: President Roosevelt inlerican Marauders crossed the Irra- 1936: “In thirty-four months we| have built up new instruments of public power. In the hands of the people’s Government, this power is wholesome - and proper. In the hands of an economic autocracy, such power would provide shackles for the liberties of the people.” LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Those who knew Martin Dies, Senior, were not at all surprised when his son, the ebullient Cons gressman from Texas, suddenly pulled out of the race for Congress. Dies’ father, who represented the same Texas district in Congress from 1909 to 1919, did almost the same thing. The elder Dies played to the galleries, was a fiery figure in Congress and rowed incessantly with Woodrow Wilson. Then sud- denly, he withdrew under fire and did not choose to run again. His son Martin, Junior, actually withdrew not because of a throat ailment, but because, as reported long ago in this column, he faced a tough re-election race. It was not merely the CIO-AFL combina- tion against him in his district and| the attacks of Walter Winchell, but also the fact that Judge J. M. Combs, his opponent, is a sort of Sam Rayburn type of fellow, neither radical nor conservative, who went barefoot until he was 21, knows Texas from the T down, and is an even better campaigner than Dies. Also word had percolated round that the Dies Committee maintain- ed more than one paid employee in Dies’ own district. This meant one of two things: (1) that Dies was using his committee for patron- age at home; or (2) that he thought the home folks needed investiga- tion for un-American activities. Neither went down well in Texas. NOTE — Martin Dies, charming and likable whether you agree with him or not, will always be remem- bered in the House of Represnta- tives for taking up a collection for . (Continued on Page Four) waddy River, four miles below the city ,and closed one of the chief Brigadier General Merril's Am-| nounces. The British destroyer Mahratta was torpedoed and sunk, but the' Bricker. Major Felker, one of his | backers, declared the outcome raised Dewey’s claimed delegate total to be of inflation later on. He argues, defenses put up only minor resisty ance, and nearly 100 carrier planes of the Jap Navy failed to offer slightest resistance to tb%u'l"’en't x eration deep into their territory. Three Allied planes were lost. One ship was seen to blow up in the! harbor and others were probably sunk. SAWMILL WORKERS WALKOUT SEATTLE, May 20.—At least 700 of Seattle’s 3000 sawmill workers walked off their jobs protesting the National War Labor Board's de- tomorrow at Youngs Bay, all ves- sels scheduled to leave the Small crew was rescued. | lines of communication. The attacks were made during On the Imphal and Kohima front | in eastern India, the British sud- denly turned the tables on the Japs, throwing a roadblock across the enemy’s lines of communication near Jessami, east of Kohima, In the past two days, 17 enemy aircraft have been destroyed and six others probably destroyed. The Allied loss was two planes. German Guess Poor On Date Of Bi [ Push ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NAPLES, May 20.—A captured or- der of the day indicated the Ger- mans were “prepared” to meet the Allied offensive in Italy at 11 p.m. on May 24, when the attack ac- tually came at 11 p.m. May 11. The order was addressed to the German 14 Armored Corps. REDS ANNOUNCE GERMAN HEIGHT CAPTURE TODAY LONDON, May 20.—The Soviet high command announced today the capture of a German fortified height southeast of Vitebsk. On the long quiet north central front, where Berlin broadcasts suggested several days off the northern tip of Norway. ———————— Lutheran Church - To Be Scene of Wedding Tonight With the Rev. G. H. Hillerman reading the vows at 8 o'clock, the marriage of Miss Katherine Tarkel- son to Corporal Joseph W. Alexan- der, USA, will take place this even- ing at Resurrection Lutheran ©hurch. The bride will be given in mar- riage by Mr. Emil Samuelson and her sister, Miss Ruth Torkelson, will be the only attendent. Mr. Ray- ‘mond Nevin will act as best man Ifor the bridegroom and ushers will include Messrs Bert McDowell and John Krugness. ‘Wedding music will be played by Miss Helen Johns and a quartet will sing “Oh Perfect Love,” hefore the ceremony. Following the service at- the church, there will be a reception at the Governor’s House and all friends of the couple are extended an invitation to attend both. PAA PLANE ON TRIP | Boat Harbor at 9 o'clock in the| | morning, traveling in formation. Everyone is reminded to take 339 and “is part of a nn}xonwide trend.” 1 Wayne Morse, lawyer and former | gl TO FAIRBANKS TODAY A PAA plane enroute to Fair- /banks this morning carried Ole’J. Johansen to that eity and David L. ! Cassidy, Willis G. Jenkins and Wil- liam Tate, Jr., to Whitehorse. public members of the War Labor Board, stretched his lead for the Republican senatorial nomination over Senator Holman, who is seeking a second term. ARRIVE FROM SOUTH A vessel coming into Juneau yes- terday afternoon brought the fol- lowing persons from the south: Margaret E. Brown, Corrine Green- how, Résanne Schneider, Maxine Wallender, Frank R. Clayton, Charles R. Wallace, and Edward J. Fortier. g Boarding the ship here were F. H. Molitor, R. C. White, J. D. Scott, Frank Brown, Mrs. Louise Glockie, Julius K. Peterson, Sherman L. Ed- wards, Alice Baker, Dolores Lee, A. J. St. Claire, Earl Payton, Theo- dore Domke, Ernest Giovanetti and S. O. Whitman. ALASKA COASTAL ON TRIP TO KETCHIKAN An Alaska Coastal plane leaving here for Ketchikan yesterday car- ried Handin Davis, Mrs, Betty Jones, M. Hillicker and Stan Grummett as passengers. Mr. Grummett disem- barked at Petersburg. A flight was made to Sitka this morning with Mrs. Torgenson, Art Hedges, C. T. Batten and G. H. Simpson. Helen Hill and H. J. Flortsic were passengers for T»n-i akee, —eve . . L] 4 . . WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. Bureau) lunch and to report| |aboard Commander J. B. Burford’s | boat between 8 and 8:45 o'clock for | last-minute instructions. It will not | be necessary to call at the Control | Tower for papers, according to an- nouncement. ¢ Lt. Earle Watterworth, District Director of the Coast Guard Aux-| | | | | |iliary, will be on the official boat along with an official U. 8. C. G.| photographer, who is making the itrip with him. HOWARD SIMMONS JOINS STAFF OF FISH AND WILDLIFE HERE According to announcement from ithe office of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Howard Simmons has join- ed the staff as fisheries manage- ment agent for the Alaska Penin- sula and Aleutian Island districts. Simmons has been assistant manager of the Juneau Cold Stor- age Co, for the past several years. With headquarters at False Pass,| Simmons will leave for his district | about May 23, using the PFisheries vessel Crane for patrol purposes; durtng the season. He will carry| jon the combined work of the Fish- jeries and Game Commission, re- turning to Juneau for duty during the winter months. CLAREMORE, Oklahoma, May 20. ~—The body of Will Rogers is com- ing home to a new resting place on the sofl of his native state. The remains of the famous Oklahoma o humorist will be interred in the na-| an impending Red offensive would Fred Alfred Gepner, salmon can- take place. women snipers aided the nery superintendent, was an in- Russian infantrymen by taking po- coming passenger yesterday from sitions in the two hour battle. Seattle. Temp for Friday May 19 e|tive stone crypt beside the Will| too, that if a percentage of small firms are allowed to reconvert now, the problems of unemployment, prices, and the hiatus between war (Continued on Page Five) Bl P @R, BROWN BEAR ON TRAILS, FOREST SERVICE WARNS Recent examinations of the For- est Service trails in the Eagle and Herbert River valleys by Forest Service trail men indicate the pres- ence of brown bear, One item of evidence is their usual depredations of tearing down the carved wooden direction signs and making kindling of them. This happens two and three times each year and would probably happen more often if the signs were re- newed every time they are torn| down. As it is impossible for the trail maintenance men to patrol| these trails more than two or three | times a year, the Forest Service of-| ficials hope that the people who use these trails will understand why the signs are sometimes found in pieces on the ground instead of in their proper place on the post. The Forest Service wishes to warn the public that a standard bear rifle should be carried when travel- ling the trails in this particular area at this time of the year. SIDES ON INSPECTION | TRIP, SOUTHEAST PORTS ' Deputy Collector of Customs M. H. Sides, left an an inspection mp“ to Customs ports in Southeast Al- aska, including, Prince Rupert. He o Rogers Memorial museum here. The eibody will be taken from the Glen- o o dale, Calif, cemetery tomorrow. Maximum 53; Minimum 44 Rain .18 is expected to return within the lnext ten days. nial of wage increases to 130,000 employes of the Pacific northwest pine and Douglas fir industries, it} was announced by John Christen- | sen, President of the Northwest Council of Lumber and Sawmill | Workers. Four mills closed owing to the‘ walkout. Christensen said he pleaded in vain at a mass meeting for the men | to remain on the job, as the indus- try was classified as a critical war| production, and he added: “They| Jjust told me to go places and said that was just the same old mullar- key I've been giving them for the past 16 months.” e TURKISH ENTRY INWAR FEARED BY NAZI PARTY SIMFEROPOL, U. 8. 8. R, May 20.—One of 246 enemy officers that the Russians announced were cap- tured in the Crimean campaign said that Adolf Hitler had ordered the peninsula held because of fear that its fall might help plunge neutral | Turkey into the war on the Allied | side. | Hans Messinger, 47, a colonel in | the artillery, said that a special order was forwarded early in May | shortly before Sevastopol fell to hold | the peninsula. - —— STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, May 20. — Closing quotation of Anaconda today is 25%, Bethlehem Steel 58%, Curtiss| Wright 5%, Kennecott 31'%, Norti American Aviation 8, New York Central 18'%, Northern Pacific 16%, dke Airfield ALLIES IN VIGOROUS ADVANCES Nazis Being Driven Back Along Entire Lower Half of Front ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NAPLES, May 20.—Allied troops have seized a string of the strong- est fortifications of the Hitler line and their vigorous advances are driving the Nazis back along the entire lower half of the Italian front to yet a third wall. Headquarters declared the . Ger- mans are now “being forced back upon a switch line” running south- west from Pico to Terracina on the coast, and the German High Com- mand has announced the loss of Campodimele near the center of the line,” four and one-half miles south and slightly west of Pico, and within a few miles of the “switch 1line” itself. Assaulting the sagging Hitler line, the Americans on the south won to the road junction at Itri and the seaport of Gaetz, and the French punched deeper into the jmiddle, while the Eighth Army on the northern flank shook the Hit- ler line. Even the Lirt Valley 18 t & the mountain stronghold of Ponte- corvo is already outflanked by the French. Huge stores of booty have been enveloped and more than 5,500 Nazis have been captured. IOWA STRUCK BY ELEMENTS PAST 2 DAYS {Five Persol;filled, 20 In- jured by Tornadoes, Flood, Rain DESMOINES, Iowa, May 20—At least five persons have been killed and more than 20 injured with property damage running over a million dollars as the result of tor- nadoes, floods and toyrential rains in Towa during the past two days. Thousands of acres of farm land are inundated. FILIBUSTER BY SENATOR WASHINGTON, May 20.—Senator William Langer of North Dakota ' threatened to delay Senate action of the House approved tax simplifi~ cation bill because leaders declined to postpone consideration of the measure until Monday at his re- quest, asserting he had no time to study the bill because of stress of committee work. Langer gained the floor and com- menced reading the 56 page printed measure, a device sometimes em- ployed in Senate filibusters. DROPS BABY INTO COLORADO RIVER; WATCHES HER DIE EL CENTRO, Calif, May 20—A woman, giving the name of Mildred Mell, 18, was booked on an investi- gation of murder after being brought here from Yuma, Arizona, United States Steel 51%. where she told authorities she Dow, Jones averages today are |dropped her ten months old daugh- as follows: industrials 139.37, rails ter into the Colorado river from a )y 39.54, utilities 2292, bridge and watched her drown.