The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 7, 1944, Page 1

“ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLIL, NO 9723. HE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE —— JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS AMERICAN PATROLS BOUND FOR PARIS Cermans Strlke Most F urious Counter Blows EAST WALL OF REICH HAMMERED Eleven Russian Armies Make Advances in Stiff Opposition BULLETIN — LONDON, Aug. 9.—~The German stronghold of Sambor in the Carpathian slopes, 42 miles southwest of Lwow, has been captured by the Red Army, Premier Josef Stalin announces tonight in a Special Order of the Day. | { MOSCOW, Aug. 7—Eleven Rus- sian army eroups hammered with, (Continued on Page Three) The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Lt. Col. Robert S. Allen now on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON — War Depart- ment officials are much concerned over the way the Germans have been treating American prisoners. Reports from exchanged American prisoners. reveal conditions in Ger- man war camps unspeakably bad. One prisoner, recently returned from Oflag Camp No. 64 in oc- cupied Poland, reports that the diet given American prisoners is as; follows: Breakfast—Nothing water if you want it.) Lunch—A bowl of thin soup and one thin slice of black bread (oc- casionally mouldy and invariably stale.) Supper—Two potatoes. These renorts disclose that, if it were not for the food packages supplied every week ‘or ten days by the Red Cross, prisoners could not live. As it is, most are re- ported suffering from malnutrition, One American prisoner, trying to describe conditions through the Nazi censor, wrote on a post card: “Food is plentiful and good. They treat us fine. We have no com- plaints. Everybody is happy. Don't forget to tell this to Sweeney.” While American boys are living on potatoes and water, German war prisoners in the U.S.A. are ac-! corded the best of treatment, mini- mum of work, good clothing, food and shelter. They are even per- mitted their own camp newspapers, are generally accorded entertain- ment and almost luxurious treat- ment. NOTE—German relatives of Am- erican citizens used to evade cen- sorship by letters similiar to that of the U. S. war prisoner! One such letter said: “Everybody is very well over here now. Anna is well. Esther is well, and so is Josephe, but Grandmother is hap- piest of all” Grandmother had been dead for five years. (served with HEAVY ARTILLERY COMES BACK Uncersore¢ dispatches from the Russian front reveal that one big reason for the current Red Army success is the Russian ability to. mass all types of artillery in un- precedented quantity before every major offensive. The Red Army is a carefully tailored organization, never unduly! excited about new weapon: of wor. Each Red Army diviiio wel BIG ARMY, NAVY *| ment small standing forces. Their Sh CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Aug. 7.— The curtain has dropped for the last time on one of the most famous but one of the most terrible acts in the gaslit opera house days, when Effie Cherry, last of the fam- ous Cherry Sisters, died in a nursing home. She suffered a broken hip last spring and failed to rally. Effie was left a lonely old woman when her sister and stage partner, Addie, died October 25, 1942, at the age of 83. Nobody knows exactly how old Effie was. She always turned aside all queries as to her age to remark: “I ain’t a-sayin’.” Shortly after making their-stage debut at an amateur show in Mar- !ion, Towa, late in the last century, Sisters coined the money. Eflle, ol Famous (herry Sister Ad, Passes Away; ow Was Roten the Cherry Sisters were taken to | New York by Oscar Hammerstein | because he heard they were so ter- rible. They attracted huge crowds. He was right as to their show. It was what we would call now “rot- ten.” 4 Following their appearance in New York, they made a wide tour of | the Eastern and Central States. Their show was so rotten that a/ wire screen protected the stage to prevent missiles of various kinds from hitting the two chief perform- ers and their associates. It was considered quite the thing for the huge audiences to hurl anything at | the stage, but at that the Cherry, SUPPLY ROUTE OF JAPS CUTIN NEW GUINEA Allied Bombers Attack Nip Convoy-Sink 1,000- | Ton Freigher HEADQUARTERS IN SOUTH- WEST PACIFIC, Aug. 7—American troops in British New Guinea have cut the main supply route on the| Driniumor River front, having man- | euvered so that isolation of enemy forces is now threatened, espec-| ially in the inland area at Afua | village. 1 An additional 526 enemy dead has been counted on the Driniumor battlefront. bringing to a total Jap dead since renewal of activities July 12 in the Wewak and Aitape sector to 5,935. Allied bombers attacked a Jap- anese convoy near Amboina,! Netherlands East Indies on Satur- day, sinking a 1,000-ton freighter, and damaging two others. ———————— FOR PEACETIME WILL BE URGED BULLETIN—ALBAN Aug. 7.—The Regular Association has reelected Wil- liam M. Floyd, of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, veteran of the First World War, as National Com- mander at the closing session of the eighth annual convention. ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 7—Required military training during peacetime backed by sufficient funds to main- tain a “properly equipped” standing army and navy is being urged by the National Commander of the Regular Veterans Association in the United States, William McKinley Floyd. He recommended resolutions; along those lines at the association’s | eighth annual convention here. He will recommended that there should | be a law enacted to make it neces- | sary to provide Army, Navy and auxiliaries with reserves to supple- { Ployd said: “For the past 25 years equipped with a balanced number of tanks, planes and hes g Never, throughout the entic course of the war, has production type of weapon been cut dow favor of others, as we sou have stopped tanks and artilie:y favor of airplanes. In the early days of the v when “victory throug hair powe was so popular, the Russians cc tinued building planes, but a.: continued strong emphasis on ar- tillery. Meanwhile, the British and Am- (Continued on Page Four) or more we have been practically | defenseless and unprepared.” e ' SERVICE MEN TO BE GUESTS, AMER. LEGION ight the American Legion will | )¢ liost to service men at the Le- " “Dugout.” All service men invited to attend and are re- « o be in attendance. A short mess meeting will be held at ! vnich will be followed by a s scheon starting about 9 l JUNEAU GUARD | UNIT IS WINNER OF RIFLE MATCH, Steele of Signal Corps Is| High Scorer-Tisdale Shoots Second At the match on Sunday at Men- | denhall Rifle Range, the Juneau| ‘nit of the Alaska Territorial Guard | rifle team won the match between the Army Signal Corps, the Juneau Subport and the Douglas Alaska Territorial Guard Unit. Total team scores are as follows: Alaska Territorial Guard, Juneau Team No. 1 . 916 Signal Corps 870 Subport 5 ——— Douglas Alaska 'Derrxtorinl Guard 166 Juneau Alaska Territorial Guard Team No. 2 ... The first five high men included Steel of the ACS with a score of 192, Tisdale of the ACS, 188; Boddy | | of the Juneau Unit Alaska Territor- | | ial Guard, 187; Hermle of the Ju- neau Unit, ATG, 184, and Lemieux, also of the Juneau ATG, 183. Lieut. Col. J. P. Willlams, ANG, was Executive Officer; Capt. John G. Oshorn, ATG, was Range Officer and Mrs. Worqum was scorer. POST WAR PEACE TALKS TO BEGIN IN WASHINGTON BULLETIN — WASHINGTON, Aug. .—Acting Secretary of State Stettinius announced late this afternoon that postwar security talks have been post- poned to August 21, at the re- quest of Russia to give the * Soviet officials more time for preparation of their position. 55 | WASHINGTON, Aug. 7. — The United States will open post-war' peace planning talks here with rep- resentatives from Britain and the Soviet Union on August 14. Follow- ink these talks, Britain and the United States will hold similar dis- cussions with China, Acting Secre- tary of State Stettinius announced. He said that he heard Maxim Litvinoff, the Soviet Vice Commisar for Foreign Affairs, would represent Russia, a'though neither Russia or China haye diseln 2d the make up of their delegations, Sir Alexander Cadogan, permanent Undersec ©. Foreign Affairs, will heac (he ¥ritish delegation and | ROW IS ORDERED VACATED ineer Hugh E. Antrim #rved notice on resi- +1s Row, 492 South L. to immediately va- previses, Issuance of the ajied o the owners and oty Stettiniu ROBE::’ A LB ] Frankln cate tb notice agent cf t} i transit strike. ARMY ENDS BIG STRIKE; LEADERS OUT TransporiafiService Re- sumed in Philadelphia— Soldiers Stand Guard PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 7. — The/| Army has restored normal trans- portation service in Philadelphia and fired four leaders: of the un-/| authorized walkout which gave the {Nation’s second largest city a “nightmare week,” cut war produc- tion and caused racial violence. An Army spokesman that the 10:30 a.m. service was 1100 percent normal, with every | vehicle moving on soldlers guarding every vehicle.” Strike leaders discharged, as they reported for work, were James McMenamin, Frank Carney, Wil- liam Dixey, and Frank Thompson. They are free under a $2500 bond, pending a hearing on August 14, and are charged with violating the | Smith-Connally Act. Only thirteen employees failed to report at the scheduled time, the |Army spokesman said, adding that ‘it is not yet known how many of them will be able to present 'okyo. medical cértificates for illness mgm:;s naval surface units attacked excuse thefr absence.” Major General Philip Hayes, who took over the PTC for the Army, warned employees that “any man! {who isn't back on the job at the scheduled time will get no job for the duration, and the duration may| be a long time.” | ORDERS GRAND JURY ! WASHINGTON, Aug. 7.—Attor- ney General Biddle last Saturday requested Gerald Gleeson, United | States Attorney at Philadelphia, to arrange an immediate grand jury investigation of the Philadelphia The announcement said the' grand jury will inquire whether| there is a criminal conspiracy as to cause the strike, whether there is any violation of the Smith-Con- nally or War Despites Acts, Lhe‘ |iatter which makes it an offense w encourage a strike that interrupts a Government operated plant. Biddle cancelled his planned mp to the west coast temporarily to| be in readiness for developments. U. 5. PLANES HIT GERMAN AIRCRAFT FACTORY, RAHMEL MOSCOW, Aug. 7. — American heavy bombers and Mustang escorts attacked the German aircraft fac- tory yesterday at Rahmel, ten miles northwest of the Polish port of Gdynia and landed on Russian bases without loss. Crews of the Eighth Air Force flight reported excellent bombmg. i results and said that the objectives | were covered by bursts. The attack was the twentieth operation by American planes which used Russian bases in the eastern | command ALLIED PLANES DROP BOMBS ON PHILIPPINE ISLE reported | schedule and | 'the Marshall (andy, Walera JAP CONVOY 1S WIPED OUT NEAR TOKYO 'Boldest of Strikes Report- ed Made 600 Miles i from Jap Capital UNITED STATES PACIFIC ‘FLEET HEADQUARTERS IN KT"EARL HAPBOR, Agu. 7. — Am- {erican warships and planes wiped out one Japanese town, sunk 11 ships and hit 30 other surface| craft in the beldest strike on ene-| {my islands guarding the southern| approaches to Tokyo, Admiral| Chester W. Nimitz announces. Warships shelled Chici Islands in the Bonin group, 600 miles from Never before have United| ground installations’ so close * to |Japan’s capital city. Four other islands in the Bonin voleano groups were also attacked | and 13 Jap planes destroyed. The biggest bag of the two-day raid — Thursday and Friday — was |when a Japanese convoy was vir- tually wiped out, eleven ships being | sunk, including five destroyers or destroyer escorts, five cargo ships and one oilér. Two smaller craft and several barges were also sunk, and a light| cruiser and five smaller craft were left in flames and probably sunk. |The attack cost the carrier forces 16 planes and 19 airmen. Admiral Nimitz also announces Army and Navy aerial strikes on Islands, Wake and| Ponape. ALLIES HOLD SOUTHPARTS OF FLORENCE Germans Are Still Shelling Portion of City Taken | by Fifth Army ' ROME, Aug 7. — Big German shells continued to land on the southern portions of Florence which are in Allied hands, but Alexander's headquarters said that ‘“there will be no need of the city itself be- lcoming a battlefield.” The Allied communique said that |South African troops made contact | with the enemy on the north banks of the Arno River within Florence.© The Allied spokesman | explained, however, that “we have not yet had more than reconnais-1 sance patrols over the river and these have returned.” Sharpshooting American artillery- men and mortar crews enlivened| the relatively quiet Fifth Army front by knocking out a number of NEW YORK, Aug. 7.—Two Allied|€nemy mortar positions across the ' planes appeared over Davao Island‘ of the Mindanao group at the| south end of the Philippines, a; Tokyo radio said, and dropped “three small bombs which dropped harmlessly in the sea with abso-| lutely no damage caused.” No Allied report has been made of such an expedition. —— .- — DEXTERS IN TOWN Mr. and Mrs. Herbert M. Dex- ter, of Fairbanks, are in town and guests at the Gastineau Hotel. lower Arno. ‘The Allied command said that more than 50,000 prisoners have been taken by the Fifth and Eighth Armies in the offensive from Cas- sino to Florence. The total might have been higher but for Kessel- | ring’s decision to blow uy Flor- ence’s bridges. ——ee HERE FROM KETCHI' 1} C. W. Rising has arriv« from Ketchikan and is ste o ot the Gastineau, Barrage Sufficient fo Get Krauts fo Give Up 'forty Germans following us, so we 'decided to go back. The Germans larourid “to Tisten,” concluded “Mes- samore. “We gave them candy and| |water,” said Erickson. “They had 'rage and everybody hit the trench, 'back to the American lines.” “We stopped our fire '‘and went back and picked up fifteen prisoners. |cluded the Sergeant. "Former Confinder West- |from critical areas. | | Aviation 8%, New York Central 19, nd Sfiff By WES GALLAGHER SEVER CALVADOS, France, best preseription for catching Nazis is this: Liberal doses | of candy, plus water, backed with a stiff barrage of mortar fire. | That formuia was used by two unarmed medical men to bring in fifteen pnmners including an of- ficer. Segt. Dale Messamore of Bloom- ington, Ill, and Corp. Wayne Erickson of Cumberland, Wis., were | the men who turned the trick. ' | “We just went a little too far St. Aug. 7—The When we | ing for our own men. looked around there were about had other ideas so we went with | them to their command post, Messamore said. . The German medical officer at| |the command post spoke Engltshw land the latter wanted to let Mas- | |samore go, but the commanding lofficer said no, and for them to |wait nearby. “We kept telling the medical officer,” ' said Mesamore, “how great many things were in| store for prisoners in our lines, and a lot of other krauts Bnthered\ had no water for three days, and we kept talking. Pretty soon our side let loose with a mortar bar- |That was the final convincer. The | commanding officer left the med- ical officer and said his men would surrender when the Americans stopped the mortars.” Messamore and Erickson started Our jeep came back to our lines with them, but the rest of the Germans had disappeared,” con- DEWITTIS GOING T0 NEW POST ern Defence Trans- ferred to Europe WASHINGTON, Aug. 7.—Assign- ment of Lt. Gen. John L. DeWiut NAZIS HIT BACK HARD - INFRANCE Thrust Against Amer- [ ican Forces Today SUPREME HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, Aug. 7. — The Germans late today struck the most furious | counter blows at the Americans since D-Day, shooting four armored divisions to a depth of three miles into the thinnest Allied coastal strip east of Avranches. ‘The counterattack is described in linto the forest at St. Sever look- |frontline dispatches as the most concentrated the Germans have yet made in France and is apparently aimed at outflnnkfng four American spearheads pointing dangerous near Paris, and at separating Bradley's | American forces in Brittany and the British forces north of Normandy.| The Germans in the first rush re- captured Mortain, cutting the road behind the most advanced Bradley Americans still hold the high ground around Mortain, ! German thrust met a hurricane fire from hundreds of guns of the Allied air forces that had a “late afternoon field day.” “The ‘Gérman- on a one-mile front from Mortain to Sour de Val to the north in an area of about 20 miles from the sea. GERMAN OIL PLANTS HIT Planes Smgt; Vital Fac- tories in Reich During Widespread Atfacks LONDON, Aug. 7.—More than 500 United States heavy bombers today in the Reich, and from 500 to 750 Liberators and Fortresses struck at vital targets over a wide area in France. The Fifteenth Air Force sent its heavyweights from Mediterranean bases to Blechhamer, 75 miles south- east of Breslau, where they scored hits on two plants that produce ! much of the German Army’s high grade motor fuel. The Germans threw up smoke screens, intercept- ors, and afr guards at the planes, but the bombers fought through and dropped their loads visually or by instrument. Another force of Liberators,| to succeed Lt Gen. Lesley J. Mc-| Nair to an undisclosed command of great importance in Europe, ls} announced by the War Department. | DeWitt, former Commanding| Gencral of the Fourth Army, West- ern Defense Command with head- quarters at San Francisco, has been | Commandant of the Joint Army iand Navy Staff College in Wash- lington for the past 13 months. When in the west command, he| headed mobilization of defenses on | {the coast, including Alaska, after | Pearl Harbor, and carried out evacuation of Japanese nationals STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Aug. 7. — Closing’ quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 6%, American Can 90%, Anaconda 26, Beech Aircraft | 9%, Bethlehem Steel 607%, Curttss-‘ Wright 5, International Harvester | 71, Kennecott 32, North American “orthern Pacific 16, United States jeel 58% roaring over the Balkans, pounded | the enemy airfield at Alibunaer, 21 | {miles northeast of the Belgrade oil installations on the Danube. At Nova Sad, northwest of Bel- grade, a big force of heavy Amer- ican bombers from British bases bombed fuel tanks, depots, bridges, and railway junctions. In France, an equal number of Lightnings, Thunderbolts and Mus- | ltangs guarded bombers striking at targets in areas east and northeast | of Paris, southeast of Bordeaux, and ' in the Amiens region. Today’s assaults followed a Royal | Air Force heavy bomber raid last night on the rail junction at Haze- hrouck, south of Dunkeque. The | Berlin radio said that planes from the south are also hitting German targets. —e——— ALICE COUGHLIN RETURNS Alice Coughlin returned yester- day by PAA plane from Seattle, |where she has been vacationing for several weeks. USSR, BERNHOFT HERE Dow, Jones averages today are as dlows: Industrials, 145.31; rails, 40.,88; utilities, 24.07. wer the| ud has Hotel O. Bernhoft arrived he week-end frem Ketchiko registered at the Gasti [Four Armored Divisions spearhead at Dimfront where it is | aimed at Paris, 140 miles away. The | however, as the | IN BIG RAID blasted at two synthetic oil plants | [FORCES OF BRADLEY IN FAST MOVE |Battering Ram s Aimed at French Capital-Vire Is Captured SUPREME HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY | FORCES, Aug. 7-—American patrols | have reached Domfront, broadening to 50 miles the front for Bradley’s new battering ram that is aimed at Paris, 140 miles away, which the Geramns are reported evacuating. The British troops, on a two-mile front, have cut the wedge across the Orne River in a new threat from the northeast against Paris, driving into the western fringes of the Cinglais Forest. The British threatened to outflank the German defenses on the vital Caen “hinge.” The cut is deep be- hind the enemy’s gun bristling de- fense arc facing the Caen line from May sur Orne eastward through Rocouan Court, Tilla la Campagne, LaHouge and Vimony. Other Allied troops took Vire, the German’s last real anchor in west- |ern Normandy. The fall of this | major communication center, which has been seriously defended for weeks by the Germans, has opened e R eastward from Brittany. American troops are now closer to Paris than they were a week ago to Brest at the top of Berton Pen- insula. Advanced spearheads of the Am- erican forces are now tightening a stranglehold on the doomed Nazi gar- rison at Brest, one of the five great ports on the peninsula. Headquarters confirmed reports the German garrison at the naval submarine port at Lorient has asked to surrender to.the onrushing Am- ericans but gave no additional in- formation regarding the ports of St. | Nazaire and Nantes, other potential | gateways for Allied reinforcements and supplies, now almost within grasp of the steam-rolling American |armor and infantry teams, if they have not already been entered. - American troops are on the ap- proaches to St. Malo, fifth port oa the north Breton coast. E.R. TARWATER, ALASKA BANKER, ~ DIES IN SOUTH SEATTLE, Aug. .7. — Edgar R. | Tarwater, 63, Vice President of the |Bank of Alaska at Anchorage, died Saturday at the Swedish Hospital. The remains will be sent to his sister, Mrs. 8. A. Neubert, at Neu- bert, Tenn., after services at Knox- ville. Another sister, Mrs. C. B, Wlllhu'u of Pendleton, Oregon, |also survives. Tarwater for years was connect- led with the Alaska Railroad dur- |ing construction’ days, making ‘his |headquarters at Seward. Later he Iresigned and entered the banking business. Tarwater also served one {term as Representative in the |Alaska Territorial Legislature from the Third Division. THREE-FOURTHS OF GUAM ISLE IN YANK HANDS UNITED STATES PACIFIC |FLEET HEADQUARTERS IN PEARL HARBOR, Aug. 7.—Ameri- wnn forces on Guam continue 'steady progress northward and have destroyed several Japanese |strong defensive positions and cap- |tured two towns. The Yanks now control three- fourths of the island. Fighters of the Marine aireraft |wing, operating against rote air- drcme. resulted in the capture of Imss airfield by the Yanks.