The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 8, 1945, Page 1

“ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXIV., NO. 9904 JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1945 . MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS RUSSIANS WITHIN 25 MILES OF BERLIN S ———— irst Army Makes Dash Across Rhine River AMERICANS ESTABLISH BRIDGEHEAD Cross River in Darkness- Germans Taken by Surprise BULLETIN—PARIS, March 8 —A stirprise announcement passed by the censors at 5:55 o'clock, after a 24-hour blackout, said the First Army has captured half of the Rhine university city of Bonn, half of the near- by Godesburg, where Hitler six years ago humbled the late Neville Chamberlain, and have captured perhaps 50,000 Nazis, caught on the west bank of the Rhine. News of the crossing of the Rhine has swept from di- vision to division and brought grins to men from privates to chief commanders. Crossing of the Bhine by Gen. Hodge's forces is one of the greatest achievements of the entire war and came just two days after the capture of Cologne. The Canadian First Army has also attacked with renewed vigor at Wesel. ; PARIS, March 8—The American First Army' crossed the Rhine River south of Cologne last night and secured a firm footing on the east bank of the great German barrier stream. Gen. Hodges poured more and more infantrymen across the river after the sudden sensational cross-, ing in the darkness. | The exact location of the bridge- | head, over a quarter of a mile wide, is shrouded in military censorship because the Germans obviously did not know the exact situation. The crossing started at 4:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon and in" the hours since then, a steady! stream of men and material has | been pouring onto the eastern bank | and moving forward to get the (Continued on Page Two) . i The Washington| Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Lt. Col. Robert 8 Allen now on sctive | service with the Army.’ WASHINGTON—Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace will make no changes around his new de- partment for 60 days, until he gets the feel of the place. After that he will do some repl organizing and | rebuild a new, streamlined Com- merce Department from the ground ! up. Wallace refused to make any| deals in advance:of his confirma- | tion and is now absolutely free to| wield the axe. back-stage deal was offered to Wwin the vote of | Admiral-Senator mmy Hart of | Connecticut. Miss rgaret Conners, ; who nearly def Clare Luce | last November, reported that the! Admiral was rea to vote for! Wallace if Wayne Chatfield Taylor | would be retained ‘as Under Sec-| retary. Wallace, however, refused | to promise and in the end, Admiral | Hart voted for Wallade anyway. Not many people knew it, but Democratic Chairman Bob Hanne- gan, the man who led the fight| against Henry Wallace for Vice-| President at Chicago, had a private ! dinner with Henry i the latter’s apartment shortly bdore the Sen- ate voted his confirmation. The dinner climaxed a new friendship between tMe two, which began at the start of the Wallace confirmation battle. ¢ At first, friends had a hard time getting the two men fogether. Wal- lacé still remembered how Hanne- gan fought him at Ci go, Hanne- gan also was aloof gbout butting in. ‘A pewspaperman who knew both men was largely’ instrumental in patching things up. “Did Wallace ask you whether you wanted help whep he pitched e it S i SRV (Continued on Page Four) HEROES OF Hanna Asks Congress Pay Indians, or Else Ickes Give Them Land | SEATTLE, March 8—Judge Rich- | lard Hanna has denied the claims’ of three Indian villages for exclu- (sive fishing and land rights to ap- | proximately 2,000 miles of South- east Alaska shoreline. In a decision received here yes Iterday he ruled that the natives failed to establish exclusive rights {which were abandoned by acquies- |cence in the use of the land and water by non-Indians. Hanna held, however, that ab- original rights were established and suggested Congress pass legislation |authorizing an investigation of these rights and providing payment {by the United States to the claim- |ants, In the event Congress fails Eto act, Hanna suggested that the Secretary of the Interior set aside |a “reasonable portion’ of the con- |tested lands for the tribes. At the same time, Hanna, who YANKS MAKE Riceby ADVANCEIN | MANILA AREA iPenetrafe fo South Coasi—: Planes Sink or Damage | Jap War Vessels | t heard the case at the request of the Interior Department, asserted | the Indian villages had proven their | aboriginal right to possession and‘ occupancy of some land they claimed. 7 Y By C. YATES McDANIEL Recommends Legislation (AP War Correspondent) He recommended the Secremry1 MANILA, March 8 — Ameriean of the Interior propose legislation ground forces on Luzon have pene- which would “authorize a thorough trated below Manila to the -south investigation to determine the ex-'for the first time, while pldnes in tent to which land and water attacks along the approaches to the rights were lost to Indians by Asiatic mainland have sunk or wrongful taking of the same; a damaged two enemy warships and survey of such lands and waters 16 freighters, some of which were and an appraisal thereof to de- used as transports. ¢ termine the amount of damages Gen. Douglas MacArthur an= resulting therefrom as well as the nounced the Eleventh Airborne present value of such lands and Division, and the Yanks 158th Ine water rights should Congress elect fantry Regiment, moving swiftly south, below Manila Bay, captured two towns in Balayan Bay Tuess (Continued 7;71 FPage “Two) Marines Hois! Flag T — i § i H i % 3 { day. Troops of the First Cavalry and Sixth Infantry Regiments “sealed off 19 enemy cave strong points,” in the stubbornly-held Marikina watershed area, MacArthur nounced, as heavy American fire noticeably reduced the enemy’s ar- tillery and rccket barrages. LA R i IWO-JIMA JAPS BEING (OMPRESSED Gemmill's Attorney May;S.ays Mrs. Wilkins Going fo| LeathernetF,Yank Tanks Force Nippons Info Pocket on Isle ABOARD ADMIRAL TURNER'S Lynn J. Gemmill of the First Di- g secretary, Mrs. Nila Hall: “If an- | Members of a Philippine civilian affairs unit dole out rice by the cupful to hungry Filipines in Manila. American troops found many persons virtually starving to death when they entered the Philippines capital. (AP Wirephoto from U. 8. Signal Corps). TROUBLE ~ WILKINS Seek Impeachment of Govt. Witness “FORMRS. - |- Testifies - upiu! for MgnilaAHungry | 1 Mrs. Hall L.J.GEMMILL Tell About Being Planted in Hotel, Hearing Conversations | | | Marry Minister-Harold Bafes on Stand SEATTLE, March 8—Defense At- | torney Will G. Beardslee, repre- senting United States Attorney { EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FLAG- o, of Alaska, with headquarters SHIP OFF IWO JIMA, BY NAVY . RADIO, March 8.—Marine Infantry- . men have compressed the Japs into £ a narrow crescent on northern Iwo Jima in the final stages of the long, blcody campaign to conquer this air- stepping-stone to Tokyo. Softened up by shattering artillery bombardment of the day before, ¥ enemy troops yielded all fronts yes- United States Marines of the 28th Regiment, Fifth Division, hoist the American flag atop Suribachi, Japs to top of the crater. photographer on assignment with Iwo Jima velcano, after battling Photo by Joe Rosenthal, Associated Press wartime picture pool and trans- mitted by Navy Radiophoto from Guam to San Francisco. (AP Wire- photo) 'Millions of Men , Also Women Will Complefe Education at End of War BATAANIN U. 5. NOW SAN FRANCISCO, March 8—A band of heroes of Bataan, number- ing more than 250 officers and men, | came home to the United States . after three years imprisonment | under Jap guards in the dreaded prison camp at Cabantuan. This is the first large group of By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, March 8.—Coin- terday in the Northern Central Sec- tor, as the Japs were forced to with- draw into caves at times as they |sought to throw back the oncomins | Third Division in hand to hand | combat. | The Kank Tank Battalion reported |the Japs made a suicidal charge against armored vehicles opertaing with the Third Division, attacking 'suddenly with explosive charges ! mounted on ends of long poles. The | Tankmen said it failed, and no tanks | were damaged. 5 ‘They reported “a considerable |number” of Japs killed in this at- | tack. | Three Leatherneck Divisions at Juneau, at his trial before Fed- eral Judge John G. Bowen on charges of soliciting $3,000 and ac- cepting $1,500 from Mrs. Cleo Pa-| tricia Wilkins, 24, announced he will seek impeachment of Mrs. Wil- kins as the result of her answers when called to the stand for cross examination. “Do you deny you have been con- victed as a prostitute in Seattle,” Beardslee asked the slender bru- nette. “I don’'t remember tions,” she replied. “Do you deny you were held in quarantine here for treatment of a venereal dise Beardslee con- tinued. ! “I have never been held in quar- antine here because I have never had a venereal disease,” angrily retorted Mrs. Wilkins, Queried about the reason for the line of questioning after Federal Attorney Charles Dennis objected, Beardsley said he was “laying the any convic- threatened to spit the remaining 8round work to impeach the wit- enemy force of several thousand ness and that he would have the men by a coordinated drive in an ef- record of Mrs. Wilkins’ convictions fort to bring the eighteen day old in Seattle in the court shortly, operation to a conclusion. | “I will not say anything,” Mrs |Wilkins said, who had previously |admitted working in a house of | |prostitution at Sitka from which |a trunk was stolen containing more than $10,000 in cash. | STOCK QUOTATIONS cidence: A number of leading edu-| Npw YORK, March 8 — Closing cators came out with the complaint|q,otation of Alaska-Juneau Mine ! that many colleges will be bankdupt,smck today is 7, American Can 93, The defense contended Gemmill accepted $1,500 from Mrs. Wilkins liberated army men to be returned from the Philippines. They received a tumultous wel- come in San Francisco as the trans- ipm‘t slipped in through Golden Gate. unless the government helps them out in the few years ahead. The very same day the Veterans Admin- istration issued a report that there now are nearly 13,000 men attend- ing school under the GI Bill of Rights and that approximately 10,000 of these are in colleges and univer- sities. The rest are in trade schools, junior colleges and high schoold! It’s true that this is a poor figure compared to the number of young men and women who have been tak- en out of higher education by the war, but Washington officially isn’t “yiewing with alarm.” VA officials think the number of collegiate veterans would be doubled, tripled or more if it weren't for the high wages paid in war plants. Many (Continued on Page Seven) Anaconda 33, Beech Aircraft 11%, to use it in making partial resti- §Bethlehem Steel 174%, Curtiss- tution to the rightful owner, Mrs. | Wright 7%, International Harvester Ruby Hazelwood, as the basis for a 1, Kennecott 38, North American Suspended sentence which he prom- Aviation 10%, New York Central ised to recommend. 1 23%, Northern Pacific 20%, U. S,| Mrs. Wilkins is one of the four| Steel 64. charged with the theft of the Dow, Jones averages today are as trynk. ! follows: Industrials, 158.83; rails,| Five depositions, testifying to| 50.96; utilities, 28. Gemmill's “good character,” were read into the record yesterday, in-1 LEAVE FOR SEATTLE ! one from Gov. Ernest Gruening. | The Government rested its case yesterday afternoon and the de-! After visiting in Juneau for the past two weeks, Mr. and Mrs.| Joseph Storms and small son, John, left for Seattle today, RPN VS FROM BELLINGHAM A. C. Ames, Bellingham, Wash- ington, is a guest at the Baranof Hotel, cluding |fense was to start presentation of jsure whether or not the economy- its case this' morning, —— e W. G. PEGE HERE W. G. Pege, Pelican City, is stay-| ing at the Gastineau, l | | SEATTLE, March 8.—One Feder-| al Bureau of Investigation man, with his ear to the wall, and another | FBI man with a “technical instru- ment,” which amplified sounds’ through the walls on November 4, heard Lynn J, Gemmill's conversa- | tions in an adjoining hotel room. SEATTLE, March 8—Mrs. Cleo| Patricia Wilkins, 24, key govern- ment witness in the bribery trial of Lynn James Gemmill, told Gem- I ever get out of this mess I'm going to marry a preacher,” Mrs. Hall testified, | The statement was made last! This was revealed in the Gemmill| the trial Wednesday when seven pres- | October, Mrs. Hall said, about time Mrs. Wilkins appeared before|€nt or former Seattle agents testi- fied for the Government. an Alaska Grgnd Jury as a witness in the grand larceny case involving | The agenst were at Mrs. Cleo Pat- the theft of & trunk from a Sitka | ricia Wilkins' apartment that af- house of ill-fame, where Mrs. Wil- ' ternoon and testified she addressed | kins admitted she was employed, 2 party on the telephone as Mr.| Mrs, Hall is & defense witness, | Gemmill and said she was “unable| Mrs. Wilking also asked Mrs. Hall to raise all of that, just fifteen if she thought Gemmill's recom- hundred — I don't think a third par- mendation for a suspended sentence ¥ should be brought into it.” would go through. Mrs. Hall said Agents Planted she answered “Mr. Gemmill hopes ~ Former FBI Agent Martin Stroble! it will” testified he counted and listed $1500 Harold Bates, Juneau Attorney in currency belenging to Mrs, Wil- and former City Magistrate in kins, then FBI agents followed Mrs.| Sitka, described a conversation with Wilkins to the Gowman hotel. FBI, Gemmill last October about Mrs. men were planted in the hotel and. Wilking' testimony before the | they agreed in testimony, they heard Grand Jury. Gemmill during a telephone con-[ “Gemmill stated he hoped to ob- | versation say: “You know what I tain testimony from Mrs. Wilkins,|#m talking about. Do you have al and if these girls (another girl in- | Pencil and paper? Write this down —C. L. Marler — he's a public ac-| volved) will cooperate with the| government, they will receive a sus- | countant in the Securities Build- pended sentence, Bates testified,| Ing—leave it with him. I have made adding that Gemmiil said he ex-' arrangements , .. (pause) ... if thml | 18 the situation I better see you .. .| pected them to make restitution as (pause) . . . put it in an envelope far as they could. and you éan leave it here .. . OFFENSIV OF ZHUKOV IS BEGUN Terrific Fighting Reported in One Area-Long Front Is Af!ame LONDON, March 8-—The Rus- | sians have driven to within 26 miles of the Berlin city limigs, outflanking the fortress at Kuestrin and reach- ing Seelow on the west side of the Oder River, the Trafjsocean News Agency broadcast from Berlin an- nounces. - Seelow is directly east of Berlin, 12 miles west of the Oder and is on the main railway skirting the Oder which connects Stettin with Frankfurt. Marshal Zhukov's massive new of- fensive is timed with the Allied drive on the Rhine which has reached a point 321 miles west. ‘The Transocean bulletin said See- low was reached from a Russian bridgehead at Goerlitz Tbetween Kuestrin and Frankfurt and further declared terrific fighting is taking place in the area, objectives chang- ing hands at many places during the battling. Near the Baltic coast the Russians have captured thie railway center at Schlawe, a town of 8,000 population. s northeast of Fighting is reported flaming along the 125-mile front on the Oder River from Stettin Bay to Crossen after 2 terrific artillery barrage which began 48 hours ago. The Russians are battering around the old fortress and the German report states the Red Army units have invaded the old Danzig Free State and smashed within 18 miles of the city of Danzig. Moscow has not officialy confirm- ed the launching of the second threat but Moscow correspondents were permitted to hint the German broadacst are true. WAGE POLICY DISPUTE WILL BE TAKEN UP "Fringe D;n;;nds" fo Be Settled Immediately Declares Davis WASHINGTON, March 8—Will- jam H. Davis, newly named Econ- omic Stabilizer said the months' old wage policy dispute on “fringe de- mands” would be settled immediate- ly. Davis told a news conference the terms of the settlement would come from Fred Vinson, his prede- cessor as Economic Stabilizer. As Chairman of the War Labor Board, Davis voted for such fringe demands, which involve such wage issues as vacations, shift differen- tials, ete. In the Senate the new appoint- > (pause) . ..come on down.” House Plans Ball at Elks Hail s had decided on Representatives the usual Legislative Ball, near -the end of the session, but the august solons of the Upper House did not concur—so the ball this year will Woman Enters Room ! The ¥BI agents testified hearing| a women enter Gemmill's rcom and | say: “I brought it with me.” { Later they heard the arresting {agents identify themselves, and' | Gemmell say, “the money is in the | drawer.” | | Notes Produced | Chester Lee Marler, Government; o s ' | Witness, produced a note from Gem- g‘:]lk','mw“ as the “Representative's| ;) - contents of personal greetings| v | plus a request to keep safe, mater-| On the House Committee for the |y, ymportant in Alaska trial, in prt ball are Representatives Bess Cross, | yojone wilkins would bring " Almer Peterson, A. B. Cain and| warjer testified that Gemmill's character and reputation were ex- cellent. Frank Peratrovich. | The ball will be held in tne Elks Hall, March 17. Nobody in the House is quite | Gemmill Arrested | Gerald Hile, former Chief Assistant| ‘Umtcd States Attorney, two report- |ers and Federal agents, were pres- i ARG ent in Hile's office immediately af- Mrs. Florence Lines, registering|ter Gemmill's arrest. Hile testified from Seattle, is staying at the| — — — . Baranof, | (Continued on Page Seven) minded Senators will be invited. | ment was viewed by labor circles as encouraging. Vinson had held that no wage in- creases should be cleared before the |Office of Price Administration cer- | tifies they would not increase prices. VE LEAVE (ITY VIA PAN AMERICAN A Pan American Airways plane took the following passengers to Seattle today: Mrs. Victoria Edwards, Joseph Storms, Mrs. Ruth Storms, John Storms and George Angel. Juneau to Fairbanks—Mrs. Hazel MacKinnon, Mrs. LaDessa Nordale, James Dodson and Roy Snyder. Juneau to Whitehorse—Sgt. Lorne Lincoln, Wayne Keagle and Elmer TWEL | Clingenpeel. ———————— Roy F. Snyder, registering from Kodiak, is staying at the Baranof.