The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 6, 1945, Page 1

“ALL THE NEWS DAILY ALASKA ILL THE TIME” TMP VOL. LXV., NO. 10,032 JUNEAU, ALASKA, MO AY, AUGUST 6, 1945 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS SIX JAP CITIES SHOWERED BY BOMBS New Terrible Bomb Now Hits Jap Homeland DRAMATIC REPORT BY PRESIDENT Huge Weap?:?Has Force of, 20,000 Tons of TNT, Is Report By JOHN M. HIGHTOWER WASHINGTON, Aug. 6. — The most terrible destructive force ever| harnessed by man—atomic energy— 1§ being turned on the island of Japan by United States bombers. The Japanese face a threat of utter desolation, and their capitulation may be greatly speeded up. Existence of the great new weapon | was announced by President Truman in a statement issued through the White House. He said the first atomic bomb, invented and perfected in the United States, had been drop- ped on the Japanese Army base of Hiroshima 16 hours before. ' That 6ne bomb alone carried a| wallop more violent than 2,000 B-29 | Superfortrosses normally could hand an enemy city, using old: type TNT bombs. Secretary of War Stimson follow- ed through with & report that the blast stirred a-cloud of smoke and | dust so impenetrable as to make | immediate, accurate observation of thmllm impossible. The power of e ‘bomb; 8timson as to' “stagger the m he asserted it would “prove a tre- entious - aid” in shortening the Japanese war. v Stimson’s emphasis on’ this point renewed speculation all over again as to whether Japan may be com- pletely crushed by air attack with- out invasion. Japs Given Chance Mr. Truman noted that the Japa- | nese rejected the Big Three sur- render ultimatum from Potsdam, and that this has been intended to save the Japanese people from “ut- ter destruction.” Now, he said, with the new bomb, the Japanese “may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” The announcement heralded an Anglo-American victory at a cost of $2,000,000,000 in orie of the grimmest battles of the war—the battle of the Iaboratories—to unlock the secrets; of the atom and yoke its energies to military use. The Germans were striving des- perately to win this highly secret contest in the closing months of the European struggle. Scientists agreed that a new epoch in both war and peace was probably at hand. Although much experi- menting remains to be done, this newly controlled energy can doubt- less also be used to drive rockets, planes, ships and trains for con- structive as well as destructive pur- poses. President Truman said the new bomb, which draws its energy from | (Continued on Page. Two) The Washingion Merry- Go-Round By DRFW PEARSON Lt. Col. Ydbart . Al i son active| service with the Army.) WASHINGTON, — G.l's in the American Army of Occupation for| Germany will net be able to take their wives to Europe, despite the fact that some of them have been separated from their families for two and three years. President Truman made this very clear in his recent interview with the Stars and Stripes, and, be- cause of tight transportation, this ruling seems logical. But apparently, apply to generals. Almost simul- taneous with Truman's statement, it became known that the wife of Gen. Robert A. McClure, head of the Army’s Psychological Warfare Division, was able to go to Europe. Furthermore, Gen. McClure’s wife was transported across the Atlantic at the taxpayers’' expense (Continued on Page Four) The age of atomic force, described by the War Department as most destructive known to man, was | ushered in July 17, 1945, when a | group of renowned scientists and | military leaders gathered in New, Mexico's desert wastelands to wit- experiment. LOS ALAMOS, N. M, Aug. 6-—-' | ness the results of the sz,ooo.ooo,ooo" Age of Atomic Force Ushered in With Use | Of Latest Air Weapon Atomic Bomb ‘Developed In Secret i | WASHINGTON, Aug. 6. — The atomic bomb disclosed by President Truman today was developed at The War Department disclosed fqctories in Tennessee, Washington ’todny that the test took place on g4 New Mexico. that date on an isolated section of Mr, Truman in his annouricement the Alamo Gordo, N. M., air base. sajd that from 65,000 to 125,000 | The blast from the test jarred workers were employed at the proj- windows in homes as distant as ect at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, southern Arizona. | Tenn., at Richland near Pasco, v lnuonu. the rule won't| At Albuquerque, 120 miles away, & blind girl, when the flash of the | test lighted the sky before the ex- plosion could be heard, asked, ' “what was that?” A thunderstorm delayed the test an heur and a half and blotted out aerial observation. The nearest lookout point was set up 10,000 yards from the steel tower from which the experiment periment took . their positions 117,000 yards away. They were or- away from the blast tower. Final assembly of the atomic { bomb had begun the night of July 12 in an cld ranch house. Various | from distant points and put to- gether there. One false. move would have! forts into eternity. At the appointed time there was a blinding flash lighting up the whole area brighter than the | brightest daylight. A mountain range three miles from the ob- servation point stood out in bold relief. Then came a tremendous sustained roar and a heavy pres- sure wave which knocked down two men outside the control tower. Immediately thereafter a huge | multi-colored surging cloud boiled to an altitude of over 40,000 feet. |Clouds in its path disappeared. i Soon the shifting sub-stratosphere winds dispersed the now gray mass. success. The steel tower had been entirely vaporized. Where the tower had stood there was a huge sloping crater. First Troops 0Of Canadaiin - Pacific War GUAM, Aug. 6—Canadian troops, the vanguard of 30,000 men of the CTanadian Army Pacific Force, have arrived in advanced Pacific areas. They will be followed by Royal Canadian Air Force Squadrons and 60 ships of the Canadian Navy, including’ two aircraft carriers, two crufsers, destroyers and frigates. Col. Richard 8. Malone, Director | of the Canadian Army Public Re- said thew Canadians will fight alongside the Americans in | the Pacific, using American wea- | pons, organization, tactics and terms. —— PORTLAND, Ore.—The District Attorney had failed to recommend a sentence for James Mullahan, {who pleaded guilty to stealing three watches. The judge asked the defendant: “What would you suggest” “About four years, I gum " said Mullahan. “That’s what it will be,” uld the ! judge. 2 ————— PAYETTE IN JUNEAU a guest at the Gastineau Hotel. took place. Key figures in the ex- | dered to lie down with their headsI blasted the scientists and their er-| The test was over, the project a | Edward R. Payette, of Seattle, is, | with an umbrella. Wash,, and at an unnamed in- stallation near Santa Fe, N. M. 'EQUALIZATION . BOARD OPENS SHOP TONIGHT Evaluator Henretfa Ex- plains Evaluating Pro- oess fo Commitiee ! 4 and| component parts ‘were" ‘assembled Comerietiig 1moncii€uu|ed day and evening sessions, the Junean .Gity Cotncll will begin sitting as a Board of Equalization this cvening at 8 o'clock in the City Hall. The highlight of this evening’s | opening hearing is expected to be ! the report of the special committee- rof-three appointed on behalf of the } taxpayers to preview the assessment { rolls and bring in recommendations {for eliminating inequities committee’s main recommendatior »\wlll be to toss out the entire r»- valuation of property in Juneau re- icently completed by Howard S. | Henretta and delivered to the City Administration, complete with $11,- 950 price tag. | Evaluator Henretta, recently re- | turned from Fairbanks where he is engaged in evaluating properties of citizens there, met Saturday after- noon here with members of the special committee-of-three: John Reck, Walter Sharpe and James Larsen. The Interview with Evaluator Henretta brought out several in- | teresting facts concerning the man- ner in which the assessment of prop- erties here was undertaken: 1—Lot valuations were set by 2 | Council committee, on a basis of zon2s; not by Mr. Henretta. Mem- bers of the Council committee were: Councilmen Don Skuse, Harry Lea and Stanley V. Grummett. g 2—The year 1941 was set as the ibase year for evaluation, by the City Council. 3—Depraciation allowances made on buildings was entirely a matter of the opinion of Mr. Henretta. In 1 answer to the question “Is there any set theory that you apply in arriving |at the depreciation rate?” Mr. Hen- iretta replied to the committee: “For tax purposes there's no set rule that I know of, to be frank about it.” 4—Assessments were based on a cubage formula which Mr. Hen- retta declared had been worked out by engineers associations in larger | citles. The formula is not concern- {ed with the actual cubic contents of any structure but is arrived at |by established arbitrary standards for story heights. 5—After arriving at the normal value per cubic foot for the class of building, Mr. Henretta added ad- ditional values for any special equipment. Mr. Henrefta declared that some errors were to be expected in mak- ing such an evaluation as he did here, that to correct them is why he has returned to Juneau. His remark that working outside under weather conditions both here and. in Ketchikan is likely to result in mistakes through blurring of fig- ures by rain constrained Commit- teeman Sharpe to suggest that the next assessor for Juneau be equipped As previously reported, the special | 'Douglas Man Drowns Here Wade Lace.y_l)—ead asload-! ed Truck Falls Through Juneau Dock early today when a loaded dump ed through the planking between' th Alaska Steamship Dock and Columbia Lumber Co. building. Engaged in hauling rock to the, Federal Housing Project on Wil- loughby Avenue, Lacey evldently‘ cut through behind the Columbia Lumber Company plant, to avold waiting to pass a pile-driver on South Franklin Street, coming out on that part of the dock marked “No Thoroughfare.” An alarm sounded at 11:55 o'clock called out the Juneau Volunteer Firc an unsuccessful attempt was made | to locate a diver who could extrlcatei the driver of the truck. When none | was available, it became ncce»ary‘ to hoist the truck above water far enough for rescuers to break the windshield, through which the body was removed. No bruigés or marks were visible ]on the body and it was thought death: by drowning. Aboub an hour and a half elapsed before the combined efforts of the Coast Guard, Fire Department, Juneau Motors wrecker, Sommers Construction Co. hoist truck and Wayne Grabam, with a loaded truck, succeeded in getting the truck above water. ‘ The only eye-witness who actual- ly saw the accident occur was E. G Osterholm, a painter on the Snow White Laundry building, who saw| just the tail-end of the truck as it disappeared through the planking. ! A resident of Douglas for several | years, Lacey is survived by his wife, and four-year-old son, Wade, Jr. URGE MORE HOME RULE FORALASKA Lawmakers Hold Hearing, | at Ketchikan-lIckes Discussed ' KETCHIKAN Alaska, Aug. 6—‘ Alaskans argued for statehood and| ‘he right to elect their own gover-| nor and handle their own wild jame problems at a hearing held! here by the Congressional Commit- sees on Roads and Territories. They proposed also that the Ter-| In Accident| Wade Lacey, truck driver recently | returned from Adak, was drowned : Yank Troops from ET0 in Phlllppmes s S 680 PLANES HITENEMY WAR PlANTS Spread Fire and Destruc- tion Over Wide Nip- pon . Areas By MURLIN SPENCER GUAM, Aug. 6—Striking savagely the | truck which he was driving, cruh-; § | for the second time in five days, 680 | Superfortresses and Mustang fight- |ers spread fire and destruction through six Japanese war -centers stretching almost from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to the southern bhome island of Kyushu yesterday Department and Coast Guard, and g in the Philippines. area, | ¥ust American troops redeployed from the European theatre disembark uncn their arrival by transport The man, mistly service troops, §2w geryice with the Fifth Army in the Mediterranean SEN. JOHNSON 1S DEAD IN 'WASHINGTON - Veteran C;fig)rnia Law-| maker Passes Away at Age of 79 HIRAM JOHNSON WASHINGTON, Aug. fify.nn'ur Hiram W. Johnson -of California,’ |militant opponent of the League of March of Death, he had Francisco through three years of Japanese tests if they intend to contest the Nations and the San FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 6— A gallant soldier who survived | three years of - hell in Japanese prison camps is dead after 31 days of heaven at home. Cpl. James E. Newman, 25, whose fight against disease touched the heart of the nation, just couldn't battle one more malady. Newman, identified in the minds of thousands as the soldier who came home to die, had spent an uneventful night. But yesterday morning Newman suffered an as- thmatic spasm.-* His doctor relleved this with an increase of oxygen, and gave him & stimulant. The young soldier ! went jnto a sound slumber. He did | not recover consclousness. “He died from sheer exhaustion,” the doctor said. His mother, who had said “the Lord will see him through the rest cf the way,” collapsed with grief | His brothers stood with tears in their eyes as they .arranged for his funeral, to be held Monday after- ncon, | Only the father, O. F. Newman, ,gave no sign of sorrow. The gray- haired man seemed a mountain of ‘sl.rrnglh in an otherwise devitaliz- 'ing scene. Young- Newman had survived the lived Life Ends for Brave i Soldier Who (ameto Parents’ Home fo Die TAXPAYERS MUST ENTER PROTESTS SAYS COMMITTEE Appearante—B;fore‘Equal- ization Board Is Neces- sary Step The committee appointed by the Juneau Taxpayers' Association to look into the matter of this year's assessments, today advises the tax paying public to protest to the Board of Equalization in all cases where they are not satisfied with the present assessment. | “Under the law, if no protest is filed by the individual taxpayer, he has no standing in court, in case he desires to test the validity of the assessment,” C. E. Naghel, Committee Chairman, said. “It is realized that a great many taxpayers are fishermen and men away from Juneau in defense work awna it will be impossible for them Ito be here. This is most unfortun- ate, for the reason that the law requires all persons to file pro- itory be permitted to draft its own Charter for a‘United Nations or- imprisonment suffering starvation, validity of the assessment in court. divorce legislation, be given its own | veterans’ and insane hospitals and‘ that its land laws be liberalized. :almon canning industry, said he favored statehood as the ultimate s0al but “all- we’ll get is statehood with- reservations.” Statehood without control over resources was not desired by Al- askans, he indicated, adding that Interior Department methods “hamstring progress and develop- ment of industries.” ‘ Arnold asserted the greatest “threat” under Secretary Ickes' In-| dian land reservation ruling an-| nounced this week, was to miners, fur farmers and lumbermen. He said the Alaska Indians had unusual non-treaty status which| gave the Interior Department a chance to attempt “almost any- thing based on letters they write to each other.” ¢ W. C. Stump told the Congress- men flatly “Alaska wants state- hood. Any other request we make is an interim request.” | ganization, died today at 79 years. maltreatment, disease. His body “In all cases as much data as The veteran Republican senator wyacked by pain, he had escaped possible should be furnished the | succumbed at Naval Hospitdl, where Cabanantuan Prison when Rangers Board of Equalization in support of W. C. Arnold, representing the | had heen confined for twd and raided that notorious camp when the protest, but where it s not cne-half weeks. His physician, Capt. Robert E. Duncan, USN, said he died from a thrombosis of a cercbral ar- tery. His political activities over a third of a century, it was stlll behind Japanese lines.' | Doctors on two hemispheres had given up hope. But Newman wouldn't give up, possible to go into details due to the very short time available, or for |other reasons, a protest Itself, against the assessment, to be en- extended he wanted to come home to Fort tered on the records of the meet- covering | Worth, Texas, he said. He wanted ings of the Board of Equalization, some of the most stirring events to come back to a little white will be sufficient.” in the nation’s history. A striking figure in the Senate !since first elected to Congress in! 1916, he played a leading part in | defeating President Wilson's Lengur lof Nations covenant and later ln cpposing United States adherence to' the World Court. His wife, whom he referred to as the boss”, was with him at thc time of his death. One of his last gréat Senate flghw was against passags of the 'teen age draft bill. He told his colleagues with tears in his eyes, that he op-| posed “calling children to fight our battles.” He had been expected to take a He also urged extension of the icqq in opposition to the recently ap- Federal Highway Act to Alaska. — e | { Mr. and Mrs. Cushing, of Sitks, | are guests at the Baranof Hotel. {75 |proved World Charter, but illness prevented. (Continued on Page Three) | cottage he had left seven years before, He said his mother’s cooking tcvmtlnued on Paoe Five) (ANADA LIFTS LIQUCR RATIO OTTAWA, Aug GA—The wartime alcoholic beverages order, under which the sale of liquor was ra- ! tioned in Canada, was lifted today. “In view of the termination of ! hostilities in Europe,” said an an- nouncement from the office of Prime Minister Mackenzie King, “the principal reasons for imposi-| tion of the restrictions no longer exist.” > s SIO(I( OUOIAIIOIIS ! EW YORK, Aug. 6 — Closing \qunutlon of Alaska-Juneau Mine bto!‘k today is 7, Anaconda 32%, Cumm;-wnght 6%, International Harvester 82'%, Kennecott 37%, | New York Central 25%, Northern | Pacitic 28%, U. 8. Steel 677, Pound $4.02%. Sales today totaled 480,000 shares. Dow, Joues avetages today are as follows: Industrials, 163.19; ralls, £7.36; utilities, 32.45. ! D McDONALD IN JUNEAU l | J. J. McDonald, of Seattle, 1s & guest at the Baranof Hotel. and teday. Once again an all but helpless Japan—warned that the big bombers {were coming on a mission of death |—was unable to offer effective resis- ;tance while the industrial areas.of Nichinomiya, Imabari, Maebashi and €aga and Uke Coal Liquefaction Cempany burned and fell apart from 3,850 tons of incendlary and high exrlosive bombs dropped by a fleet ol 1680 Superforts. Yoesterday air ‘rald sirens scream- |ed throughout Tokyo in a warning [that 100 P-§1 Mustangs had re- \turned to strike terror with rockets {and mach s against -anything they could find in the Tokyo area. | Radio . 180" . earried the nmnvmp the d today with sn attack oo the ‘area. s A single Japanese vmma‘ them come yesterday and then fled from the skies, The B-29s in two raids August 2 " (Continued on Pape Three) —le e JAP ISLES BOMBED IN N. PACIFIC Navy's Ne;l_fong Range Bombers Smash Out’ af Kuriles By Olen Clements (Associated Press War Correspondent) ALAK, Aleutians, Aug. 6.—Navy Privateers, making thelr first ap- pearance in N Pacific' skies, struck two widgly ceparated North- ern Kurilos targets Saturday. They teached seven Japanese fishing boats at hitherto untouched Oneko- aan Island. 4 A sacond target was to Toroshima Islends at the entrance to the Para- mushiro Straits, where separats flight of Privateers bombed fisheries and en enemy warning station through an undercast. Results were not observed. All planes rWnQd safely from both flights. # A fishing flest of 11 Japanese boats was surprised in & small hq near towering Otgmari Zaki on One=~ kotan. Each Ngvy plane bored in with all 12 of .50 caliter guns blazing and scattered the small craft which wsn.begched by their Ccrews. A few rounds of machinegun fire came from the largest of the fishing boats, a 100-tonner, but the guns were silenced by the Privateers. The {100-tonner, probably the mother ship for smaller fishing craft 'in that area, was left smoking, as were 8ix others of the smaller craft hit by the long range Navy version of the Army’s Likerators. The Onekotan raid indicates that the Navy’s Privateers, with a range of more than 3,000 miles, can be used to hit Japanese {slands in the central and southern Kuriles, last remaining part of the enemy home- land untouched by American ships or planes. Eleventh Alr Force Liberators flew across the stormy North Pacific last Priday and bombed the Ataoka naval -base {5 the Northern Kuriles lwmmm opposition,