The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 21, 1945, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIR “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SERIAL RECORD 1945 PRG VOL. LXIV., NO. 9891 JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1945 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS ED FORCES NOW 34 MILES FRO Yank Losses Are Alrea Bongs Start Their Honeymoon | THIRD OF ISLE HELD BY MARINES MNippons Fifing Fiercely as Leathernecks Ad- vance Slowly U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD- QUARTERS, GUAM, Feb. 21—Ap- proximately 3,650 Marines have been killed or wounded in the first 48 hours of the battle for Iw Jima, Admiral Chester L. Nimitz announced. ! As reported, the Leathernecks| maue general advances ranging up to 1,000 yards on the island’s cen- tral airfield. Admiral Nimitz listed approximately 3,500 enlisted men and 150 offjcers as casualties; killed, wounded or missing, and said | 3,063 wounded were evacuated, in-| dicating about 600 were killed or missing. There is no estimate of | Japanese losses. \ Tank-led Marines are holdingy firm control of more than a third| of the island and began an en-| veloping drive against the fighter plane field known as Motoyama | No. 2. i Flanking Move | The Fifth Marine Division byAE passed the southern tip of the| field in a flanking move prepara- | tory to striking at it from thel west, -while the “Fourth Division| pushed directly toward the center| of the airdrome. Every yard of ad- vance was made under a steady hail of Japanese machine-gun and | mortar fire over the wet, rocky! slopes, criss-crossed with revet- | ments, pillboxes, blockhouses, rein- forced sniper holes, mines, and tank i (Continued on Page Eight) The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Lt. Col. Robert S. Allen now ob active service with the Army." WASHINGTON—On the surface| the “Good Neighbors” meeting ini Mexico City, scheduled to open to- day, will be composed of imndly.y 100 per cent Allies of the United States against the Axis; But be- neath the surface. they will be ifritated at several things which| have lowered “ Nelghbor” pulsed. An _Allied communique said prestige . to about Jowest - ebb geg; w { i g dominant sifice lmm:'rhen V. 8. Marines|% e o &‘uo s onge. before held - the Jimied N aglua,l 2 in- | commanding 3500 foot peak, Monte o 10 )—Sv'“fr Bo% ox | B4 é.zl;ut the Nazis recaptured | dication that the D 8. A intends ;.5 0) Nlember and have held it/ to keep certain Latin-, rican sirice®hat tlme. bases after the war. There is noth- 4 | ing that riles Latin-America more than American armed forces on their soil. Irritant No. 2)—Is the peremp- tory way President Roosevelt re- cently demanded that six “Good Neighbors” come into the war. Some people wondered why Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Ecuador trooped up to the Allied table just as the Red Army neared Berlin and signed up. This was not because they wanted to, It was because they got a letter from no less than the Presi- dent’ of the United States telling them to join the Allles—or else. The “or else” was a warning that they could not sit at the United Nations’ conference, now scheduled for San Francisco, if “they did not declare war. What made the Latins doubly | sore was their belief that Roosevelt was acting at the instance of Stalin who had laid down the. law that no non-belligerent could sit in United Nations’' councils. Most of the Latin-American Govern- ments don't recognize Stalin and don’t like dictation from him— even if indirect. Also they remembered the oral word of the State Department that | all they had to do was to break| relations, with the Axis, not declare | wat. For instance, Chile, when it broke with the Axis, informed the State Department that it was also ready to declare war. But Under- Secretary of State Sumner Welles, after conferring with the White House, told them this would be un- necessary. All we wanted was a (Continued on Page Four) | L Maj. Richard I. Bong, American whose marriage to Marjorie Vattendahl was solemnized at Superior, Wis., took off from Wold Chamberlain Field at Minneapolis on an aerial honeymocn trip to California. Maj. and Mrs. Bong are being greeted by Stewardess Elna Kleven of Minneapolis. (AP Wirephoto) war ace of aces of Poplar, Wis., ITALIAN HEIGHTS (ABTIIRED, American Troops Scramble Up Steep Slopes-Take | Monte Belvedere | ROME, Feb. 21.—American troops,| striking over Italian mountain ter-| rain so forbidding at times that troops used ropes to scramble up steep slopes, captured Monte Belve- dere, and seyeral villages and peaks west_of Pistpia Bologna Highway. The Germans fought back vicious- | ly but all counter attacks were re- Patrol action continued on the rest | of the Italian front, with no changes in positions reported. | ARGENTINE CASE NOW | POSTPONED CHAPULTEPEC, CASTLE, MEXICO CITY, Feb. 21—Despite the protest of Paraguay, the Ar-{ gentine issue was relegated to the! end of “the Inter-American Con- ference, opening here today. Paraguay demanded the issue be| given immediate consideration. It would have meant that the ex-} plosive- Argentine case would havel taken precedence over security,! economic and political issues. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Feb. 21. — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau ming stock today is 7%, American Can| |94%, Anaconda 33%, Beech Aircraft 12%, Bethlehem Steel 72%, Curtiss- 81, Kennecott 39%, North American | Aviation 10%, New York Central! 243, Northern Pacific 21%, U, S.| Steel 627, Pound $4.04. Isevcrc damage was done ye! 1200 PLANES STRIKE AT NUERNBERG Sixteen Bombers, Carrying 144 Men, Lost in Raid LONDON, Feb. 21.—More than 1200 American bombers, escorted by 650 fighters, today attacked rail and industrial targets at Nuernberg for, the second consecutive day. More than 900 U. 8. Fortresses blasted the Nuernberg:yards yester- day. trains, possibly loaded with the ef- feets and ' records of < government ministries moving out of Berlin. Nazo broadcasts reported spear- heads of two American formations over Thuringia which indicated another deep pene- tration of the Reich, possibly to support the Russian armies, The 1200 bomber strike against Nuernberg today is the biggest con- centration against a single target since 1300 planes hit Cologne last.l October. An American communique said rday. ‘wenty-five hundred rail cars were packed in the Nuerberg yards. Sixteen bombers, carrying 144 men, and 23 escorting fighters, were lost in yesterday's raid on Nuern- berg. Today’s assault followed the 1200 plane strike of the RAF against Dortmund, Berlin and Mannheim. The RAF lost 21 planes in night op- erations. Violator, Seledive Service from North, Is Arrested, Tacoma TACOMA, Wash., Feb. 21—Robert oOrr Freeman has been arrested for Selective Service violation, accord- ing to an announcement made by the FBI Freeman, 26, registered for the draft at Anchorage, Alaska, and failed to keep the local board ad- vised ;as to his whereabouts. The FBI said Freeman was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in An- | Wright 6%, International Harvester chorage last April. He will be re’-) turned to Alaska for prosecution. B il - FROM SKAGWAY Mrs. Chris Larsen and Mrs. C. E. | | These yards are: filled with' and ' Franconia | 92,000 JAPS AREKILLEDIN nounced Showing Se- verity of Battle By C. YATES McDANIEL (AP War Correspendent) MANILA, Feb. 21—Japanese cas- ualties are more than 92,000 in six | according to a reporte made today |by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who also said the compressed enemy |garrison in South Manila is treat- ling the non-combatants “with the greatest savagery.” Gen. MacArthur listed American casualties during the six weeks at 12,929—2,676 killed, 245 missing and 10,008 wounded. The figures showed the severity of the Manila fighting which, Mac- Arthur said, is still bitter. | The Japanese today are cornered in Intramuros, which American howitzers are pounding from close |range, its environs being com- |pressed - into an area measuring 200 by 800 yards. Gen. MacArthur said he has re- ceived no reply from the Japanese commander to surrender and lib- erate 7,000 civilians inside Intra- muros, and consequently, howitzers were wheeled across pontoon bridges spanning the Pasig River and they began shelling the thick outer walls as close as 500 yards, {making a path for tanks and in- fantrymen by cutting an entrance through the medieval wall. The Jjob, however, is a big one; the | walls are 50 feet thick at thé:bage South of Intramuros, the Amert- cans yesterday cleared enemy pockets from the University of the Philippines campus in bitter close !quarter fighting. EXPANDED PROGRAM FOR HAAS WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.—The co- ordination of all activities of the U. 8. Department of Labor in Alaska has been provided for in an order issued by Secretary of Labor Per- kins. Alaska Delegate E. L. Bartlett said | the order is identical with one re- ;cemly issued for Hawail and will ;permlt the more orderly handling | of department matters in the Terri- tory. Michael J. Haas, Department Rep- resentative in Alaska for the Wage, | Hour and Public Contracts Division, | has been designated as Territorial representative for all department ac- | tivities. While his primary re- sponsibility will remain in connec- tion with the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Walsh-Healy Act, he will act generally as the depart- ment’s coordinating agent. Delegate Bartlett described the order as a “significant forward step” in the Department of Labor’s ad- ministration in the Territory. RATIONS CUT FOR GERMANS | LONDON, Feb. 21. — The Berlin radio tonight announced a 12% per- cent cut in food rations for all Ger- mans. ; The German broadcast said the reduction is due as an “emergency measure to help create reserves and | provide a better basis on which ra- | tions can be worked out for a new period beginning in April.” .o MRS. PHILLIPS HERE Mrs. Vance W. Phillips and child are registered at Hotel Juneau. UZON FIGHT American Casualfies An-| 5 'weeks during the Luzon campaigny +Dow, Jones averages today are Feight, both of Skagway, are visit- They arrived in town this morning as follows: industrials 159.66; rails, ing in Juneau. While here they are on the Princess Norah from Skag- 51,96; utilities, 28.28, guests at the Gastineau Hotel. way, e — PRICE TEN CENTS M BERLIN dy High on lwo Jima s e e Headon Collision Injure collision near Redlands, California. s91 Ninety-one persons were injured, none seriously, when a passenger and a freight train met in a head-on Marihuana Trafficls OnIncrease; Heroinls Also CIRCUS MEN * SENTENCED, FIRECHARGE ‘Six Sent fo Jail or Prison for Blaze that Cost 16Lljy§§ 4 A HARTFORD, Feb. 21—Judge Will- iam Shea has imposed heavy prison sentences on three officials of the Ringling Brothers Barnum Circus and sent three other circus' men to | jail, all on conviction of involuntary | manslaughter the circus fire last July which claim- jed 168 lives. Those sentenced were George W. | Smith, 51, of Sarasota, Florida, Gen- {eral Manager; Leonard S. Ayles- worth, 52, chief tent man, both to 2 to 7 years in the state prison; James Haley, 46, Vice-President, 1 to 5 | years in the state prison; Edward R. | Versteeg, 44, chief electrician, and William Caley, 35, chief seatman, to one year in thescounty jail. HOUSE COM. MAY VISI NORTHLAND WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — The House Territories Committee is con- sidering visiting territorial posges- sions after a request from Alaskan and Hawaiian delegates. Delegate Farrington of Hawaii said he and Delegate Bartlett of Alaska made the requests at the i | ! | | ‘Chairman Representative Peterson, Democrat, Georgia. PR AR, TERRITORIAL GUARDS TO MEET TOMORROW Tomorrow night at 8 o'clock the Juneau units, Alaska Territorial Guard will gather in the “AB Hall | for their regular weekly drill. Mem- bers have been requested to appear in full uniform, first meeting this year under new Reapparing By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Feb, 21.—Tucked away in the reports of the Treas- ury Department, is"something thab is causing new creases in the brow of Treasury Enforcement Chief El- mer L. Irey: the traffic in marih- uana is increasing. Irey admitted that in 1944 it be- *came one of the serious problems of his departments. Seizures were greater than in previous years and there were positive indications that |the marihuana business now is big| time, with well-financed national] {and even international gangs oper- |ating. [ ,New York City, says Irey, is the fogal point of the illicit' traffic now and four major gangs peddling marihuana haye been broken up there in the last year. Where pre- ‘viously Treasury agents took over ounces of the smoke weed, they seiz- led pounds last year. {" Traffic in' opium and its deriva- in ‘gonnection with tives apparently has declined some,: says Irey, but heroin—one of the |most: vicious of all drugs—has made its appearance again in the United States for:the first time in several years. Treasury Enforcement officials are particularly perturbed about the spread of marihuana because it s0 cften leads to violence. | Drugs, however, haven't been the {only héadache that Treasury De- |partment enforcement agents have lhad in the last year. Secret Ser- \vice has embarked on an entirely |new sea in the last year or so— |black market dealers. More than 11,000 persons actually were arrest- ied and charged. | Treasury claims the black market iln liquor has virtually been smash- ed, but other major activities in this field included arrests for the count- | erfeiting of ration stamps, illegal di- | version of sugar and attempts to ex- |port or import contrelled commod- ! ities. One-fifth of the thousand arrests for black marget operations were for the counterfeiting of ration |stamps, principally gasoline and su- gar stamps. In some cases printing plants and thousands of ou\mwrteit‘mue assault front. The Third Army| stamps were taken by the opera- tives. | * The number three headache of |the department last year was the forgery of government checks. In ’lhls comparatively new field, the | department made 1,800 arrests. Often these cases are so local in | nature that they never make hnd-] {lines. Measured in toto, they are almost new fields of crime that have spread throughout the country. | ‘There are dozens of minor rack-| ‘eu resulting from the war that (Continued on Page Seven) PATTON'S ARMOR IN . NEWGAINS Gouges Hole in German Defense Positions in Moselle-Saar Setcor BULLETIN — LONDON, Feb. | 21—Patten’s Third Army, ad- vancing three miles at some points, on a 50-mile front, has captured 16 towns and entered four more, including the im- portant one of Saarburg, which straddles the Saar River and guards the city of Trier on the Mosells, on the historic route of Moselle Gap. | PARIS, Feh. 21—Gen. George S. |Patton hurled his armored division |through a hole gouged in the cen- |tral German front, in the Moselle- Saar triangle. His tanks smashed five and a half miles forward tow- |ard the Thier, thorough disorganiz- ed resistance. | Gotch, the strongly-fortified road |center, between the Rhine and |Meuse rivers, and to the north, was ‘lmmlly captured by the Scots of the Canadian First Army, which gather- ed momentum in its offensive toward | the Ruhr Valley, 16 miles away, | The United States Seventh Army ;advanced within plain sight of Saarbruecken. Less than three miles lawny General Patch's shock troops, invading the Saar, captured half a dozen border towns and broke into almost a suburb of devastated Saar- bruecken. The Americans seized | heights overlooking historic Spicher- en and the Siegfried Line fortifica- tions. General Patton swiftly capitalizing {on the bregch in the German de- |fenses charged ahead laboriously. |Maj. Gen. Harry Maloney's Ninety- |Fourth Division sent his tanks clanking within sevén miles of Trier and within two of Saarburg, both | keystones of the German defense |system in the Moselle Valley, and |leading to Coblenz and Mainz, on {the Rhine. | Dispirited Germans by the hundreds all al surrendered ong the 55- is slamming the Germans back on their heels. 0 P GARDEN SCHOOL MEETING TONIGHT The Garden School, in charge of Ted Carter, will meet tonight at 8 o'clock in the Grade School audi- |torium, and the public is invited. There will be a round-robin dis- |cussion of all subjects taken up at previous Garden School sessions, | | R the Capital Forback, large French rail cenur,‘ /FRANKFURT HAMMERED BY SOVIETS Fortress Citfider Terrific Siege-Russians Keep Advancing /s BULLETIN — LONDON, Feb. 21—The Red Army has cap- tured the Polish town of Czersk, 17 miles northwest of Chotnice, 45 miles from Dan- zig, Stalin announced tonight. The city is on the main Dan- zig-Stettin railroad. | LONDON, Feb. 21 — Marshal Zhukov's troops, fighting to en- gircle Frankfurt on the Oder River, 38 miles east of Berlin, “tempor- ‘arily slashed the city’s lifeline to City,” the German commentator said in this morning's broadcast. The commentator further said the fortress town on the west bank of the Oder River has been under siege and constant hammering by Russian artillery and bombers for 36 hours. He said this report from inside the city, by Trans-Ocean War Reporter Hans Arntz3, coin- cided with the military review. 34 Miles From Berlin In Moscow, the newspaper Pravda sald the Red Army is 34 miles from Berlin. This report is the ¢closest the Russian newspapers have placed the Soviet forces. Berlin did not give the point of penetration, but indicated it is in Zhukov's sector, possibly west oi the Oder. e ‘ The German proadcast said the bulk of Frankfuri’s 76,000 popula- tlon has fled, and the city is stripped for & death stand in de- |fense of the bastion and defense {of Berlin, First Army Drives On The Russian First Ukranian Army drove steadily on westward toward the Neisse River stronghold of Gubefi, the southern end of Berlin's emstern defense wall along the Oder, advancing as much as 10 miles through a heavily-fortified region and in the face of persistent German counter-attacks. Marshal Konev's Army captured the hamilet of Schegeln, eight miles east of Guhen, and last 'night's: | communiq sald northern and |southern flanks are converging. SUBS SINK ' MORE SHIPS OF JAPANESE WASHINGTON, Feb. 21—Twentye five more Japanede vessels, includ- ing three combatant ships, have been sunk in Far Eastern waters by United States submarines, a Navy announcement said. The fighting ships included ‘an escort aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and a large converted cruiser. Non- combatant vessels included a me- dium transport, 14 medium cargo Ivessels, three small cargo vessels, a large cargo transport, two me- |dium cargo vessels and a small transport. | This announcement raised to 1,045 the total of Japanese ships sunk by American submarines since the start of the war. This figure includes 110 combatant craft and 935 noncombatant. vessels. | While not confirmed by the Navy, Ithe converted cruiser listed is be- lieved to be one of the Japs' pre- war 18,000 ton luxury merchant vessels. — o ANGOON DEATH —_— % el Certificate of death has been filed here in the office of the U. S. Commissioner setting forth the death, at Angoon, on February 8, of Miss Harriet Jackson, 16, school girl. The girl's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Jackson, formerly resided at Douglas. — e — FROM ANCHORAGE Mr. and Mrs. A. Barton, of An- chdrage, are staying at the Bar- anof Hotel,