The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 9, 1945, Page 1

THE DAILY A VOL. LXV., NO. 10,008 “ALL THE NEWS ASKA EMPIRE ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, JULY 9, 1945 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS NEW RAID MADE ONJAPANESE HOMELAND Charter Hearing Starfs; Stetfinius Declares If TRUMAN IS NOW BOUND OVERSEAS President, ‘with Advisors, | Leaves Aboard Ship for Big Three Meeting WASHINGTON, July 9. — The White House early today declined to confirm or deny a radio broad- cast last night that President Tru- man has left for Berlin and his meeting this month with Premier Stalin and Prime Minister Church- ill at Potsdam. Drew Pearsun, radio news com- mentator, said that Mr. Truman is on his way and that he took with him about 100 advisers. The Ameri- can delegation, Pearson said, is the biggest to attend a “Big Three” meeting. Mr. Truman, following the Berlin meeting, will go to Italy and Lon- don, also inspect the American army in, Europe and will be out of the United States five to seven weeks, the commentator said. WASHINGTON, July 9. — Presi-| dent Truman is enroute today to Europe for the big Three meeting with Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin. The President left Newport News by ship Saturday. Accompunymg‘ him was a staff of advisers includ- ing Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. Soldier Named With Most Children WASHINGTON, July 9.—The war Department today named Corporal | Chester J. Barrett as the soldier with the most children. He has 12, in- cluding two sets of twins. The Barrett family draws $300 ' monthly in dependency benefits, in- cluding $50 for Mrs. Barrett, $30 for the first child and $20 for each additional child. Barrett is stationed at a prisoner of war branch camp at Spencer Lake, Maine. He was inducted into | the Army in April, 1944. The 33-year-old Mrs. Barrett lives | with her children—five boys and seven girls—at Concord, N. H. The Washingtion Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSCN Lt. Col. Robert S. Allen now on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON — The “secret document” situation is causing a lot of mirth inside the Office of Strategic Services. OSS is the out- fit, sometimes called “Oh So Ses cret;” organized by General “Wild Bill” Donovan, Assistant Attorney General under Coolidge and who has done some fine work in both wars, but who also has succeeded in cod- lecting one of the fanciest group of dilettante diplomats, Wall Street bankers, and amateur detectives ever sezn in Washington. While the youngsters in uniform recruited by Donovon have done some of the most heyoic work of the war, such as parachuting behind enemy lines; his “cloak and dagger” boys in Washington have had a marvelous time playing house detec- tives. Not long ago this column illus- trated the ultrassecret social opera- DEADLOCK ' UNBROKEN IN BERLIN {Supplying of of Food, Fuel Blocked by Russians as Big Meet Nears By DA‘IIFL DF LUCE (Associated Press Correspondent)’ BERLIN, July 9.—The Inter-Allied deadlocked over the govenment of Berlin continued unbroken today as high diplomats began arriving for the impending Big Three meeting. U. S. Ambassador Harriman to Moscow, is to land at the Tempelhop Airdrome this afternoon and take quarters near the “Litt!s White House" prepared for President Tru- man in the heavily guarded Potsdam area. ¢ A procession of American limous- ines started regular service from the airdrome to Potsdam, carrying dis- tinguished visitors. over the issue of supplying food and fuel for the districts occupied by the Americans and British still was unsettled and the possibility increas- ed that the Big Three migh have to resolve it. The question to be decided was whether the areas of Berlin taken over by the British and Americans shall receive food from the Russian- held outskirts, where British-Amer- ican experts say the German capital normally gets most of its edibles. These experts said it would be | impractical for the western Allies to truck in supplies from hundreds | of miles away. ——————————— Treatment of Prisoners by Japs Changes WASHINGTON, July 9—An Am- erican flier recently released after months of Japanese imprisonment said today he noticed improvement in the enemy's treatment of war prisoners beginning last February. Maj. Wesley, Werner, 10th Air Force Liberator pilot, said he be- lieved the apparent change in pris- oner treatment policy was due to { Japanese realization that they will lose the war and is a reaction io American reports in February on the Manila atrocities. at the Rangoon, Burma, prison where he was held, it appearsd that the order for a policy change came from high authorities in Japan. e VANCOUVER ISLAND FIRES AT TWO SPOTS VANCOUVER, 8. C, July 9. — Two major fires roared through tinder-dry forests on Vancouver Is- land today and continued warm weather raised fears of new large scale outbreaks. One of the major fires was burn- square mile area on the property of the Lake Logging Company and the women and children of Rounds —about 18 families had been re- moved from the area. The blaze is about 1 % miles from the town. Rounds'is midway across Vancouyv- er Island and about 60, airline miles from the southern tip. tions of the OSS by publishing a “secret” telegram which merely re- ported on the social doings of a Donoyan representative at the San Francisco Conference—with whom he dined, his efforts to rent an apartment, and his plans for visit- ing other cities on the West Coast. Sinee then, there has been a large- scale man hunt in the OSS looking for leaks. An extra person has been detailed to stand beside the mimeograph machine and tear up all extra, spoil- ed copies of messages. Copies of messages have been reduced to three, and are sent around with armed guards. Any extra copies above this are chopped up in a shredding machine into inch squares. Meanwhile, security officers swarm (Continued on Page Four) The other large fire is raging on Comox Logging Company property on the side of a mountain. The flames ranged from the 2,000 to 4,000 foot level and 10 to 12 miles southwest of Ladysmith. Ladysmith is on the eastern coast of Van- couver Island and about 80 miles from the southern tip of the island. e DISCHARGED SERVICEMEN JOIN ANCHORAGE POLICE Bertram Eckert, who has been stationed in Alaska with the military police for the last three years and Patrick Quigley, who were recently released from the Army have joined the Anchorage police force. Mr. Eckert’s wife plans to join him in Alaska and they will make their permanent home in the Territory. The Berlin governmental impasse | He told a news conference that SCENE OF FOREST| ing uncontrolled over a 10 to 20! AN IS DEADLOCK WAGE CUTS FOR ALL U. S. GOVT. AGENCIES SEEN Wage Differenfial Limited in All Services fo Those Hired in States An executive order wage differentials for all Alaskans hired to graded positions in the Federal government service is pend- ing in Washington, D. C, it was disclosed here today. The order would put all Federal |agencies in the Territory on the same basis as that recently decreed for the Army and Navy depart- ments. & Alva W. Blackerby, President of the National Federation of Federal Employees local organization, has the nature of the pending Presi- dential order, from Gertrude M. Mc- Nally, Secretary-Treasurer of the nation organization of the NFFE. Blackerby and department heads here have dispatched wires of pro- test to the National Capital, point- ing out that such an order would make it virtually impossible to main- tain agencies on an efficient basis. | Differing rates of pay for similar work performed will inevitably lead to intra-department dissatisfaction, it is claimed. Appeals havz also been made to| Alaska’s Delegate E. L. Bartlett, to | muster his influence against the | proposed order. Blackerby stressed | that wage differentials for govern- ment employees in this Terrnury' are not just a wartime innovation | as they seem to be considered in. the National Capital. Most depart- | meonts here have had wage adjust- ments of various sorts for many | years, he said — the Forest Service, | |for example, instituted a policy of | | paying higher wages to Alaska em- | ployees as long ago as July 1, 1924,/ | The policy has continued for 21| years. The Army and Navy have char- | acterized the wage differentials as| a war measure to stimulate recruit- | ing for posts outside the Contin-! ental United States. They claim the | differentials are intended only for | | proper, to enable them to maintain‘| their homes in the States, while serving elsewhere, The differentials do not result from differences in cost of living, say Army and Navy‘ chieftains. | Other departments have also ex- pressed themselves as not being sym- | pathetic to “cost of living” argu- ments. Under the pending executive order, the differentials, now 25 percent in Alaska, would be continued to be| paid to persons hired in the 48| States and Distict of Columbia for service outside the States. No term- ination date is set, although it had previously been intended that nhey‘ expire six months after the end orl hostilities. Differentials would be continued for residents of areas outside the | States at present in Federal service, | but would be gradually decreased with grade promotions. A strong protest has been lodged | against the already effective Army- Navy order by the large group of Coast Guard employees at Ketchi- | kan, who are stated to be “up in arms” over the issue. Mr. Blackerby {today said here that, should the pending order be put into effect, a payroll loss amoun to approxi- mately $36,000 yearly would be felt | in Juneau alone. Counterfeiting Ring Smashed in italyby U.S. Army ROME, July 9.—A three million dollar counterfeiting ring — one of the largest ever disovered in Italy —has been smashed by U. S. Fifth Army agents, it was announced to- day. ‘Seven pf its operators were arrested at Milan, The ringleader waé described as a well-dressed Milan resident who told his captors “I outwitted the rich so I could give to the poor and needy.” An investigation disclosed that the gang printed a large sum of counterfeit money six months be- fore the Allied occupation of Milan and began unloading it the day the Allied troops arrived. ‘Two Italian-speaking criminal in- vestigation division agents disguised ) gang down. wiping out | received a communicatjon revealing | persons hired from the United States | MAY FIND OUT RUSSIA'S ROLE INPACIFIC WAR Chinese Premier Soong Is- sues Important News, Far East Situation By ALEX H. SINGLETON LONDON, July 9.—Chinese Pre- mier T. V. Soong’s mission to Mos~ cow raised increasing speculation | the possibility that Russia’s role in the Pacific war would occupy a top place on proaching Big Three Conference. Responsible, but non-attributable sources, said flatly that it would Soviet relations in the Far East without taking into consideration the outcome of the Japanese war and its impact upon Far Eastern affairs. The belief that Russia eventually would enter the war against Japan has been based on three factors: 1. Long standing suspicion, which | has resulted 'in both countries’ main- taining strong armies on Russia’s eastern border. 2. Russia's demonstrated.determ- | ination, as evidence by a request to|worked with Morton, went into Slo- ,pmticlpav,e in the Tangier discus-vakia several weeks ago in an el-‘ | sion, to have a voice in settlements, involving areas important to the! | preservation of world stability. 3. Soviet determination to sur-!gquestioning German officials and den, of which the camp here is a' in diplomatic quarters today over| the agenda of the ap-|J be impossible to discuss Chinese-| A.P.MAN EXECUTED BY NALIS, Joseph Morton Captured by Germans, Killed in Concentration Camp ROME, July 9.—An investigation by the Associated Préss indicated to- day almost beyond doubt that ph Morton, 34-year-old AP war correspondent, was executed by the Germans on January 24, 1945, after his capture in Slovakia. Morton, whose enterprise and dar- ing won for him a distinguished career as a war reporter in the Mediterranean theatre, had accom- panied a mission of 17 Americans and British who went to assist Slo-} vak patriots in a revolt last fall. The entire group was taken pris- nnm at Banska Bystrica in central| Slovakia, 125 miles north of Buda- pest, and apparently nearly all were‘ killed. | Lynn Heinzerling, veteran Asso- ciated Press correspondent who had ! fort to determine Morton's fate. Heinzerling said upon his retum [here that he was satisfied from| Islnslrumenl for Peatel EIGHT GERMAN PRISONERS ARE KILLED IN CAMP Guard Prob—afiy Runs Be- serk - Sprays Machine Gun Bullets on Tents SALINA, Utah, July 9.—Machine gun bullets fired by an American soldier killed eight Germans and injured 20 others asleep in a prl- soner of war camp. Why the soldier turned loose u’\l.'\ barrage was a question still pub- licly unanswered today. The shooting occurred early yes- terday, a half hour after Pfc. Clar- | R. Stettinius, Jr., | Foreign Relations Committee today | that the United Nation's charter | offers | he ence Bertucci of New Orleans, La.,| had gone on duty as a guard at the! camp housing prisoners working in |central Utah farm fields. Col. Arthur Ericsson, Commander of the prisoner of war camp at Og- round the country with (rnendly|gualds that Morton was executed at | branch, said Bertucci, 23, suddenly | governments, as demonstrated bym Nazi concentration camp at Mau- fired from his post in a guard tow-| ! the pressure which forced the crea- hausen, a small Austrial town on er into a tent area in which the tion of the new Polish Government. {the Danube ten miles southeast of | prisoners were housed. One American source said that discussions of coordinated European | settlements would be handicapped | The full story of Heinzerling’s trip| than 15 seconds, ripped into the in the foreseeable future. | future tn the Far East. Blockade of JapHarbors AIIempIed Tokyo Radio (laims Raid- ing Planes Profecting U. S. Submarines SAN FRANCIBCO July 9.—Tokyo | radio reported a “considerable num- ber of American submarines and mine-laying Superforts attempted to blockade Japanese harbors while raiding planes swept widely over the| home islands today in their daily strikes. The Domei News Agency claimed that “at least seven” submarines have been sunk in Japanese waters since the beginning of June and Nipponese planes were ‘“continuing their assaults on enemy submarines.” This claim and all reports of air action were without American con- firmation. All raiders from Iwo Jima hunted new targets, Tokyo said, in their | daily attacks on Honshu and Kyushu islands. Spies, Wat Criminals Execuled | by Coundil PARIS, July 9.—BH& Gen. Ed- | ward O. Betts, Acting Director of the legal branch of the U. S. Group Control Council, says that 31 spies and war criminals were convicted by | U. S. military commissions and exe- cuted before V-E Day. The executions were given mini- mum publicity because of a possi- bility of reprisals, Betts said. e STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, July 9. — Closing | quotation of Alaska Junesau mine stock today is 7', American Can 96%, Anaconda 34%, Curtiss-Wright 7, International Harvester 84': Kennecott 38':, New York Central 29%, Northern Pacific 33%, U. S Steel 69%. Sales today totall~d 800,000 shares. Dow, Jones averages today as follows: Industrials, 166.55; 60.51; utilities, 33.34. ———ere—— TNID HAND HERE Enid Hand, of Seattle, arrived in are rails, as Italian hoodlums tracked the;Junenu yesterday and is a guest at!California, is a guest at the Baran- the Baranof Hotel. Linz. He was told that the body‘ had been cremated. | wrimes lnvesugnuons. [ 'SHANGRI-LA" TRIO ARRIVE INHOMELAND l HAMILTON FIELD, Calif., June 9. | -A pretty Wac Corporal and two other survivors from “Shangri-la” arrived in an Army transport plane from New Guinea today enroute to Washingtdn to report to the Army | lon the plane crash last May 13| which cost the lives of 21 others. The three, still wearing bandages | over burns suffered in the crash into a New Guinea valley surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks, are Cpl. Mnrgaret‘ Hastings, 30, Oswego, N. Y, Lt. John 8. McCollom, 26, Trenton, Mo., | and Sgt. Kenneth Decker, 34, Kelso, | Wash. The pert little Corporal — she weighs 100 pounds and stands five feet one and a half inches tall—, contradicted two reports which had preceded her, She was not offered a throne by | the natives of the hidden valley in | New Guinea. She formed no ro- 300 SENTENCES OF DEATH IMPOSED BY | " U.S. ARMY COURTS| WASHINGTON, July 9. — Army court martials have imposed more | than 300 death sentences during this war, but only 102 actually were car- ried out. Commutations to life or lesser terms were ordered for the | others. In a report on military justice, | the Army said all of those executed ‘wlth a single exception were found guilty of murder or rape. The ex- | ception, not identified, was convict- |ed twice of deserting under fire in Europe. A total of 33319 soldiers con- victed by general court maritals were reported under copfinement in this [ country or abpoad at the present | time, 'The Navy saying none of its per- sonnel has been executed by court | maritials during this war, added | that 22,009 sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen were in confinement as | of mid April. —epl YAGET HERE ! George A, Yaget, of Los Angeles, Three bursts of fire, including in all 250 shots and lasting no more | unless an agreement is reached—at and his findings is being reviewed | tents. | least on a general basis—on Russia’s slhy censorship, since it concerns war' His ammunition expended, Ber- | tucei yelled for more, Ericsson said,’ but was placed, instead, under ar- | rest on orders of the branch camp commander, Lt. Albert S. Cornell. In New Orleans, Bertucci's wid- | owed mother said an army officer who notified her of the incident ,expressed the opinion the suldier {had gone berserk. “Something must have happened to him,” said Mrs. Mary Bertucci, adding that she could not under- stand her son’s action. | A board of inquiry interviewed Bertucei, officers and men at the camp and the prisoners. Bertucci's story, however, was not disclosed and Ericsson said it and other tes- timony would be handed on to the 'security and intelligence officer at | Ninth ‘Service Command Headquar- ters at Fort Douglas, Utah. Bertucci will be held in custody, Ericsson added, pending considera- tion of the inquiry board’s report. Ericsson said a spokesman for the Germans, First Sgt. Hans Fer-' tig, testified at the inquiry that he had never heard threats exchanged ! between guards and prisoners, but said that the presence of machine guns on the towers made prisoners fear just such an incident as oc- curred. | | PLANNED KILLING FORT DOUGLAS, Utah, July 9.— An Army officer said today that Pvt. Clarence V. Bertucci, 23, of New Orleans, admitted planning the | mass killing of German prisoners of | war which he carried out by spray- ing .30-caliber machine gun bullets through their tents, killing eight. Col. Arthur J. Ericsson of the| Ogden, Utah, prisoner of war com- mand, said that the New Orleans soldiers at a hearing shortly after' the killings said he was not sorry' about his act. Bertucci, dark-haired and of uligm build, served eight months with o' field artillery unit in-England, but was never at the battle front. FAMOUS SUPER LOST ON OCEAN BOUND FOR HOME SAIPAN, July 9.—“Dauntless Dot- tie,” the Superfortress that led the first B-29 strike against Tokyo and | for 53 missions carried without falt- ering the high spirit of her name, | has been lost in the Pacific, carry-| ing to their deaths 10 of the 13 men aboard. Like “Dauntless Dottie,” those who lost their lives had completed their| combat missions and were returning | to the United States. The plane crashed shortly nneri taking off from Kwajalein for Ha- waii, the announcement yesterday i | | | of Hotel. sald. Date of the accident was not revealed. WASHINGTON, July 9.— Edwald told the Senate “a truly effective instrument for lasting peace.” The former Secretary of State testified as the first witness as the 50-nation agreement reached at San Francisco started officially through the Senate amid indica- tions it may be ratified without | amendment or reservation. Speaking from a prepared man- uscript, Stettinius declared: “I believe the five major nations proved at San Francisco® beyond the shadow of any doubt that they | can work successfully and in unity with each other and with the other | nations under this charter.”s No country has a greater stake, continued, than the United States “in a speedy beginning upon jthe task of realizing in fact the promise which the United Nations charter offers to the world.” He defended the voting procedure under which the United States, China — plus two small nation members—must approve before the settle international disputes. “These nations possess most of 'the military and industrial resourc- jes of the world,” he asserted. “They month. iwill have to bear the principle re-' sponsibility for maintaining peace The pro- visions of membership recognize this inescapable fact. “I submit that these five nations, possessing most of the world's pow- er to break or preserve peace, must agree and act together if peace is to be maintained, just as they have had to agree and act together in order to make possible a United Nation's victory in thls war.” BRIT. SHIPS UNDER FIRE, KAMIKALZES ' All Struck Blows by Suicid- | ers But Escape ‘with Minor Damages GUAM July 9.—The Indefatigable, | the Victorious and another unldenll- fied British aircraft carrier were struck by Japanese suicide planes in the Ryukyus during the Okinawa campaign but all three escaped with minor damage and remained in op- eration, U. 8. Paclfic Fleet Head- quarters disclosed Sunday. Two other British fleet umm.‘ the Illustrious and the Indomitable, have been identified as part of the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet, but it was not stated whether either was one of the ships hit by the Japanese | Kamikaze fliers. Two suicide clashss were made | upon the Indefatigable in one day; | the Victorious was hit once, and the | unidentified carrier was hit twice nn consecutive days. Two other Kamikazes actually touched the flight decks and another touched a ocarrier’s superstructyre, but all , crashed hnrmleuly into the sea. 'Son of Senalor Glass, Newspaperman,Dies; Funeral Is Held Today LYNCHBURG, Va, July 9.—The| funeral services will be held at the residence here at 5:30 pm. today for Powell Glass, 58-year-old gen-| eral manager of the Lynchberg newspapers, the News and Advance, who died at a Richmond hospital on Sunday. Mr. Glass, son of United States Senator Carter Glass, had been critically ill for several weeks, heart disease being the immediate cause | of death. R —— . . ——— ALHADEFF IN TOWN Charles Alhadeff, of Seattle, ar- rived in Juneau Sunday, and is a guest at the Baranof Hotel. MUSTANGS ATTACKING NEW AREA First Opposmn Made by Nips Who Claim Fast Planes Are in Air CHINESE TROOPS IN ADVANCE, INDO-CHINA British Forces Plow Ahead in Burma - Aussies Expand Foothold By Leonard Milliman (Associated Press War Correspondent) Chinese troops recaptured the !gateway to Indo-China, Chungking reported today, as American war- planes struck again at Japan in at- |tasks described by Tokyo as omly the begining of an “attempt to raze the Japanese mainland thoroughly before invasion.” | | Great Britain, Russia, France and Weed-end Allied communiques an- nounced 40 more Nipponese . and small craft were sunk or d:- | council can take positive action to aged, and 64 enemy planes dest |ed, incluuding the first s&' fighters encountered .oyer et emy homeland in more than ' a to - that The Allles acknowle Japanese Kamikaze attacks dnmmgum ritish craft carriers, and W {assault units landed-on. the China “invasion coast” A* ¥ ‘The chlnou High m To- ported its troops had upmdam nakwan, South Guird 'Pass, ~and drove through this gateway to Indo- China in pursuit of Japanese’sol- ,diers who were remmu in con- ‘fusion. |" The entire southwestern' corner fl |Rwangsl, China bgrder: ‘province, { was reported cleared of the invaders, ! including Tanchuk, former U. 8. ajr ibase. Tanchuk is the fourth form- ]er 14th U S, Alrforoe hase retaken by resurgent Chinese in gouthern China. |ln north Kwangsi, regulars advancing 20 miles; nort Liuchow, recaptured Lojung. Chungking /claimed heavy casual- Ities were inflicted on ~Japanese [Marines who lgnded southwest - of Moy, on the China coast opposite | Formosa. The invaders were re- portedly driven 30 miles south of |men- beachheads. The coastline for 400 miles northeast of this landing {is In Chinese hands, and has often {been named by Tokyo as a likely \IM for an American landing. Mustangs. Mske Raid Tokyo's main coneern was the in- ievitable landifig on the homeland, which Nipponese deasts said was raided today’by about 50 Mustang fighters from Iwo Jima hunting new | targets at Kyulhu.‘ louthirnm |island of The Mus ufl into unir !tn serious air opposition yesterday when new, fast Japanese fighters dove on them out of the clouds over fields in the Tokyo area,- Americans destroyed 33 enemy more. _ Seven Mustangs were !n‘ ‘pn the “extremely l“ralllve ceptors. z ,' begiuning | This may be the Tokyo's promised revival of air fense, Most week-end 'strikes; cluding & 600" plane Suj cifles raid which set five industrial afire, encountered no x Japan has lost 6,173 planes for tain and 859 others probable so far this year, but Tokye has that it would soon hurl large num- bers of better and faster fighters against raiding Superforts. 3 On Other Fronts British troops plowed ahead in Burma despite Incnllldk Japanese resistance. Australlans drove over mined and through harassing artilley and !mortar fire towards southeast Bor- !neo’s rich Sambodja and Samatin- da oil fields; while other Aussies expanded their hold around Balik- papan. Tokyo claimed an Allled transport was sunk off the ofl port. ———— i RASMUSSEN ARRIVES Charles H. Rasmussen, oi Seattle, has arrived in' Juneau and is a guest at the Baranof Hotel. ———r MR., MRS. O. BERTON HE| Mr. and Mrs. ' O. Berton, of Wrangell, are guests at the Baranof Hotel,