The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 26, 1945, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXVI, ND. 10,151 JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1945 M EMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS ————— PRICE TEN CENTS TERRIFIC EXPLOSION TAKES LIVES OF 5 BIG THREE IN ACCORD ATMOSCOW 1 Foreign Ministers to An-| nounce Results of 11- | Day Conference | BULLETIN — LONDON, Dec. 26.—British sources say the final communique on the Foreign Ministers Cenference in Moscow has been delayed at least 24 hours. It had been expected tonight. By EDDIE GILMORE MOSCOW, Dec. 26—The “Big| Three” foreign ministers, after a lengthy Christmas Day session, ar- ranged today to announce the re- sults of their 11-day conference in which achievements were reliably reported to include concrete agree- | ments on several vital world issues. A British source said a com- munique will be issued at 2 a. m.| tomorrow (3 p. m. today, PST). | The three foreign ministers have | reached an accord on the pro-| cedure for drafting the European | peace settlement. i Authoritative quarters said U. S.! Secretary of State James F. Byrnes | was highly pleased with the re-| sults of his discussions with Soviet Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov | and British Foreign Secretary | Ernest Bevin. i Far more has been achieved, these quarters said, then was even | contemplated when Byrnes left Washington. The full extent of the | agreements reached was not indi- | cated, but one of Byrnes’ ‘aides said the results would not be disap- pointing. One of the accords was said to deal with control of Japan, whicl\i was high on the list of complicated problems on the agenda. Whether an agreement was reached on the s P R 0 O | V(Conlimwd on Page Two/’ 2 ) [Factory, Canning Ship | For Fishing on Pacific Coast Now Being Buill A WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 — war-inspired Pacific velopment project will be carried to completion to “assure safeguards for the government and the fish- ing industry.” The Reconstruction Finance Cor- i poration announced it has agreed to finance the experiment spon- sored by the War Food Administra- tion. Tt will embrace a factory ship with refrigeration and canning equipment to process fish, together with four trawlers. This fleet, cost of which is not expected to exceed $3,750,000, will be made available on lease to the Pacific Exploration Company, Seattle, The proposal was well under way when Japan collapsed. After that date it could not be considered essential to the war effort but the Interior Department indicated it would be to the advantage of the government to develop a substan- tial modern fishing industry in the Pacific Ocean The State Department suggested the undertaking would be in line Gl Party to Jap Kids Nearly End Riof: Thousands Atiend NAMES OF BEST DRESSERS AMONG WOMEN ANNOUNCE fishery de- | TRAPPEDBY EXPLOSION with the President’s proclamation of Sept. 28, 1945, concerning con- | servation and development of the | fisheries in areas of the high seas | which are of interest to this! country. Details of the worked out with Pacific Exploration consultation with interested gov- | ernment departments. The RFC said the industry will obtain a cimum amount of useful eco- their exit nomic, scientific and other infor- G. E. Lewis, operator of the | mation from operation of the pro- |Mmine, the Kentucky Straight Creek | ject | Coal Company, said rescue squads | The steel cargo ocean-going entered the tunnel shortly after vessel, “S. S. Mormacracy,” ob-|noon while clouds of smoke were tained from the War Shipping |still pouring from the entrance. | He said he did not anticipate an | Administration, is being converted | : as the factory ship at the yards immediate report on conditions in of Bellingham Iron Works, Belling- | the vicinity of the explosion. ham, Wash. It will accommodate IeWis said it could not be de- 250 male workers and an office, in | termined at once whether the air addition to its canning, freezing|shaft leading to the blast area had and storage equipment. Four steel- | been closed by the blast. constructed Diesel trawlers of ap-| ‘It is possible,” the operator proximately 650 tons each will be Stated, ‘“that the explosion may bought or built. have blown in the top, but of course we won’t know until some- one comes out of the mine.” He added that the blast had oc- curred so far underground that no concussion was felt and no noise heard on the outside. It wasn’'t until huge clouds of smoke started boiling from the mouth of the mine that it was learned of the explosion. Lewis said it was not known im- mediately what caused the blast, or whether it was set off by ex- plosives or mine conditions, The mine is a “drift” mine, running straight into the moun tainside rather than downward into the ground. - LABOR QUESTIONS Caught Far Underground ~Exits Believed Closed . lease are being officials of the Company in to 35 miners were believed trapped a mile to two miles back in a coal mine here today following an ex- plosion = which apparently closed s, Juvenile By RUSSELL BRINES TOKYO, Dec. 26.—It began as a G. L’s idea to entertain a few hun- |dred kids—and nearly ended in a juvenile riot. Officers and men of the U. S. | Eleventh Corps planned a Christmas | party yesterday for 600 children of | Japanese laborers employed by the Corps. Soldiers contributed gifts, ‘Between 30 and 35 Men| PINEVILLE, Ky., Dec. 26—Thirty | MINERS ARE HIGHNIPPON OFFICER IS TO DIE BY ROPE Rear Adm. Sakaibarals . Found Guilty of Mass Executions o Wake KWAJALEIN, Marshall Islands, Dec. 26—A second high ranking Japanese officer — Read Admiral Shigamatsu Sakaibara-—must for war crimes. A military commission on Christ= mas Day decreed death by the rope for Sakaibara, former Wake Island commander during the occupation,’ rand his executive officer, Lt. Comdr. Soichi Tachbana, for the { mass executions on Wake Island Qct. 7, 1943, of 98 American civillan employes of Pan American Air- ways. A military coemmission in Manila recently sentenced Lt, Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita to hang for condoning atrocities by his troops in the Philippines Shortly before tenced, Sakaibara ordering “that the people who planned and carried out the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan be regarded in the same light as we. On Sakaibara’s orders, the 98 ! Americans were blindfolded, led to the beach, shackled and shot by Japanese riflemen. The admiral told the commission he feared the lAmcl'ic ns would aid invasion ‘forces he believed might assault | Wake. he was -~ who sen- > LITTLE GLASS EYE" WILL SOON KNOW HIS FATE WILL BE TAKEN EVerdid of Milifary Com- | | hang | El admitted * the executions—requested | b 1 St i s Buth Mix, of n, smil jammed streels with her newly-purchased Christmas tree, cn the heels of a gale that whipped the New Engli 72-mile-per-heur winds blanket i st snowfall of the year. DEATHSCORE | Fall srb?m B rings Snew W i0 ikttt AP Wirepheto) o, 5 as she negotiates the “now and &ush—= ' Following 1 coast with of snow covered the area in the Dulch Issue W [BLASTROCKS CITY; BLAZE BREAKS OUT Downfown Santa Barbara | Beer Warehouse, Apart- ment House in Flames ! ! BANTA BARBARA, Calif., Dec. 26—Five persons were killed and hflw were injured, none seriously in an unexplained explosion which destroyed a beer warehouse-topped apartment. Five bodies were recovered from the ruins. They were identified, tentatively, as Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson, Caroline Sue Stovall, 16; Mrs. Franeis Watson McClain, 26, and her sister, Miss Mildred Wat- son, 21, of Huntington Park, Calif. TERRIBLE EXPLOSION | SANTA BARBARA, Calif, Dec. 26—An explosion rocked downtown Santa Barbara tcday, shattering windows within a radius of several blecks and starting a roaring fire !in a beer warehouse topped by apartments, Deputy Sheriff Paul B. Monroe sald: "It would be a miracle if anyone escaped” from the struc- ture. Monroe said the blast occurred jin the rear of the building, at Chapala and Cota Streets, and that within a few moments it was a | mass of flames. “The street was covered with glass,” he reported. “Metal frames were blown out of the windows and tossed into the street.” All available fire equipment was 7 B it biemae called olt. e e—— - - ‘THOUSANDS ARE - GIVEN PARDONS, TRUMAN'S ORDERS i | , WASHINGION, Dec. 26—Presi- ‘dent Truman gave a Christmas Duchess of Windsor Moves candy and cookies. A &pecial pro- gram was prepared, The Washington Merry - Go- Round By DRFW PEARSON (Note—Another Drew FPear- son column on the Sermon on the Mount as applied to diplomacy will follow shortly.) D i WASHINGTON — Christmas Eve found Secretary of State James F. Byrnes in Moscow on the most im- | portant mission of his long and varied career. It is not too much to say that upon his talks may de- pend in large part whether we have peace or war within the next generation. ; In a very real sense, Byrnes is deavoring to carry out the spirit and principles which a Man born in Bethlehem gave mankind 2,000 years ago and which this tired| world has looked forward to but never attained during the selfish and sometimes bloody years that followed. & Byrnes started on . his momeén- tous mission with the best will in the world, but little advance pre- paration. That, however, was not his fault. It is extremely difficult these days to prepare things with the Russians in advance. If the Secretary of State sends for the British Ambassador, he talks to a former Minister of Poreign Affairs who can talk with authority as al virtual member of the British Cabinet. But if he sends for the Russian Ambassador, he meets a nice but inexperienced former sec- retary who says that he must refer everything to Moscow. That is what Byrnes has now done. He has referred the matter| to Moscow—in person. | He has wisely taken with him| the advisers who are most sympa- thetic to the Russians, leaving be- hind those who have always i Up from Tenth to Fifth | Place in List NEW YORK, Dec. 26.—Mrs. Stan- ley Mortimer, New York socialite, retained her title today of the {world’s best dressed woman while| the Duchess of Windsor moved up from tenth to fifth place in the an- nual poll conducted by the New York Dress Institute. The list as announced, follows: Mrs. Mortimer, the former Bar- bara Cushing, sister of Mrs. John Hay Whitney and Mrs. Vincent As- tor. Mrs. Byron Foy, daughter of the late Walter Chrysler. She also was runner-up last year. | mission in Yokohama | UP IN CONGRESS Legislation fo Make Unions Liable for Damages One Proposal But the Yanks had forgotten about Japan’s birth rate. Guests began' arriving long before party time. They came tumbling in droves from the {adjacent street car station and |clattered gleefully up the short hill! ion wooden clogs. | | Their G.I. hosts soon swore that the wholze Tol yo-Yokohama area ;musl have becn denuded of young, WASHINGTON, Dec. 26—A sug-! Tatsuo” Tsuchiya, alias “Little | e |life. ®S.x hundred? That was only gastion that labor Unions be made“ Glass Eye,” and is expected to an- |holly in scores of the nation's homes a starter; there were 1200, then ljable for damages resulting from 3,000 — 6,000 — 8,000 — and the,strikes in violation of contracts came [final estimate was 9,000, ‘ Local police and laborers were ihustled to the scene to help main- sponsible strikes,” Wiley told a re- {tain order. The children were sort- ‘ed into shifts, and admitted 300 at a, time, while frantic G.I. hosts' delved into duffle bags for impromptu addi- tional gifts. step alone would “practically solve” the strike problem. The Wisconsin Senator said he in- (tends to discuss his proposal in the i Expected Tomorrow | : By MORRIE LANDSBERG , YOKOHAMA, Dec. 26—An Am- | eriean military war crimes trial ; commission late today took under radvisement the Allied case against nounce a verdict tomorrow. | In his closing argument, Major today from Senator Wiley (R-Wis).|Louis Geffen of the prosecution | holi “That should do away with irre-|staff contended that the case ‘“is! : the ;350 persons were killed porter, adding he believed such a!rules of land warfare forbiddingWith more than half of them vic- willem Schermerhorn and a party fenses outside army and navy reg- | very simple—a violation of any form of cruelty to prisoners.” He again demanded the death pen- alty. As the commission began its de- [ ON HOLIDAY REACHES 350 (By The Associated Press) Black crepe replaced the | i | green .teday as mourning for victims of Iviolent ceaths over the Christmas ay A survey indicated approximately violently, jl"m of automoblle accidents. Breaks Out, London Tal Indonesian“Sit-u'aiion fo Be Discussed as Chiefs Get Together LONDON, Dec. 26 - Premier of high Dutch Government offi- present to several thousand form- jer convicts who served with merit in 'the armed forces during the war. | The Christmas Eve proclamation by |the President applies to men who (entered the armed forces on or after | July 29th, 1942, and who have served honorably for at least one year, |For them, the slate is wiped clean, | their full citizenship rights restored, lincluding the right to vote. | The proclamation applies only to {former federal prisoners. It does {not apply to men convicted of of- | fenses after their entry into the |services, and it applies only to of- ulations. But it still applies to ! The traffic fatalities numben:d .cigls arrived here from The Hague thousands of former convicts who 1176 while at_least 61 persons died in fires, Violent deaths by mis- today to inaugurate discussions of the Indonesian situation with Prime Mrs. Millicent Rogers, daughter of | “qye “hrogram was «urtailed and'Senate when Congress reconvenes! liberations in the case—the first ' cellancous causes accounted for 111 winjster Attlee and other members of the late H. H. Rogers, oll mag- | pceded up, and sweating Red Cross January 14.. Labor legislation is one ! of its kind in the Japanese home- | nate. Mrs. Lawrence Tibbett, wife of the opera singer. The Duchess of Windsor. Mrs. George Schlee, fashion de- signer known Valentine. Mrs. Harry Hopkins, Louise Macy. Rosalind Russell, movie actress. Mrs. Robert Sarnoff, the former Esme O'Brien. Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce wife of magazine editor Henry R. Luce. the former S ——-- CONGRESSMAN FOUND DEAD IN HOME KITCHEN WASHINGTON, Dec. 26.—District Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald said Rep. Joe W. Ervin, 44, North Carolina Democrat, was found dead of asphyxiation in his gas-filled kitchen yesterday afternoon. {workers handed out doughnuts un-/of the big items on the schedule for |land—it was announced hearings ! 'til their arms ached. “returning legislators. | By nightfall, only 8,000 of the' President Truman asked earlier|week for two more defendants, one 19,000 had been \others still were wating, hungrily finding” procedures entertained: The, this month for a law to set up “fact- in labor dis- jcojd. Their friends who had been lucky h to get inside shared gifts! i :lx:gugescr?beiethlen‘:m:d;ui evengt ix:! "B Ia ( k M a r k e '" in |rapid-fire Japanese—then the thous- Stolen Army Goods \lic interest. AR g i ol ands of wooden clugs pounded down 'SOLDIERS PULL OFF MASS MARCH, THEN GIVEN REPRIMAND i comes s | MANILA, Dec. 26—8pokesmen for | The report said the supplies 14,000 G.I’s said a mass meeting |filled an Army three-ton, six- !would be held today to discuss | wheeled truck. It added those ar- cancellation of a scheduled home- |rested were in the hands of the bound transport sailing—after a Army and the Federal Bureau of mass protest . march yesterday | Investigation. brought both an explanation and m |a reprimand from their colonel, | ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 26— |The Anchorage Times reports | arrested following -the discovery of “black market operations in stolen ;Revealed,_‘A_nthorage ' several soldiers and civilians were | victims. Thesa included deaths by ishcotings, freézing, a tornado, train of the British Government. The question of recognition of would be conducted later in the 'and airplane crashes and accidents tne gelf-proclaimed Indonesian Re- 'or whom was charged with direct- ling the slaying of an American professionally @S and hopefully outside in the sharp, putes with' major effect on the pub-!prisoner. Tsuchiya was accused of fatally beating Pfc. Robert Gordon Teas of Streator, Ill, a survivor of ‘the Bataah “Death March,” who died in the Mitstishima prison camp. Lt. Col. John Dickinson of Jack- sonville, Fla., chief defense counsel, told the commission there was no i competent evidence to prove Tsu- chiya guilty and he asserted the | defendant had not been given a fair trial or ‘“what we know as such in Anglo-Saxon law.” D e STEAMER MOVEMENTS | Steamer Baranof, from Seattle, in pert and scheduled to sail for the westward at 5 o'clock this afternoon. | Steamer Columbia, from the wes ‘ward, in port and scheduled to sail | south at 8 o'clock tonight | Princess Norah scheduled to sail i the home. | The heaviest single toll over the I'holiday was taken ip a hospital fire iin Hartford, Conn., with 17 persons \fatally. burnad. Six other persons |in Meriden, Conn,, died in a fire at a home. Texas and California reported the !most deaths by violence, 47 and 46, respectively. The fatalities in Texas were 29 vietims of traffic accidents and 18 by miscellaneous causes, in- cluding 15 slayings. California top- iped the country in motor deaths | with 35, ] i e | | STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Dee. 26 . Closing !quululion of Alaska Juneau Mine “'bmuk today is 9, American Can | 101%, Anaconda 457, Curti ‘Wright 8, International Har 95, Kennecott 40%, New York Cemn- tral 35%, Northern Pacific 37%, U. S. Steel 81%, Pound $4.03'¢ | Sales today were 1,410,000 shares ! Dow,.Jones averages today were 8- public in Java will be uppermost. Van Mook, acting governor- general of the Dutch East Indies, has recommended recognition of Premier Sutan Sjahrir's govern- ment, but The Netherlands Cabinet rejected the proposal. Attlee was believed to have made it clear that Great Britain wants an immediate settlement. $75,000 Fire Af Anchorage ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 26.—A $75,000 fire burned out three fam- " ilies" homeg but injured no one last flames destroyed Glov- 's Super Service Garage and liv- ing gquarters in the building he fire started when an oil fur- nace exploded in the basement. Ong of the tenants, 8. L. Cannon, served their country well in the larmed forces and who are being re- warded accordingly. |CHRISTMAS TA . MADEBY TRUMAN WASHINGTON, Dec. 26—Presi- dent Truman said we must strive without ceasing this Christmas Eve jto make 1cal the prophecy ot Isaiah that nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and “nei- ther shall they learn war any more." That was the counsel he offered the nation after turning on the lights of the National Community’ Christmas Tree on the south lawn iu[ the White House last Monday afternoon. It was the first time the tree had been illuminated since the United | States went to war in December, | 1941, | “With our enemies vanquished," declared Mr. Truman, “we must gird ourselves for the work that lies ahead. Peace has its victories ! no less hard won than success at arms. We must not fail or falter. | “We must strive without ceasing |to make real the prophecy of He was alone in his home at the Who was quoted as telling them: time of death, and his body was' “You men forget youre not found by a friend, the coroner said.| Working for General Motors—you're Ervin's wife was reported out of 5‘-‘%}:\ .:xrl:n ;r:letspnper e Some-kmd of ‘an. s, B'{‘ w;: oMnaix;Jol:‘l:;n;zsmw;i:‘.’m was to attributed the statement to Col. it g 4y At i r with J. C. Campbell, depot commander, will be only a patchwork agreement | bave had Christmas dinner with a < = “UPR% Foounandes and that if the whole problem is |{riend. When Ervin failed manswer{\} (;orfler 121 ue‘:nv.hat i, n: not settled, the patching will have | telephone calls, the coroner added, racks. eue)!(_pa ne : e s:: to be done again and again with the friend went to his home and m_t:hcanoe ;a‘ am:: wau{ ?hco;\;;:c 32 the whole fabric eventually pulling 'found Ervin dead with the kltchen‘ ;;lm ::n::;e maenx:nd: t!;e a " apart. Specifically, Byrnes will not | filled with gas from the range. P! pots. i The body was upright in a chair,’ The men dispersed within e SARSLARE M0 SHiARs O jwith the feet on another chair, Dr. minutes, discarding their ' MacDonald said. Want Ships” banners.” | from Vancouver Friday night. caved $10,000 worth of securities and Isalah: ‘They shall beat: their ds. Other people living in the swords into plowshares and their premises lost all their possessions in spears into pruning hooks; nation fire. shall not lift up sword against ! nation, neither shall they learn | war any more’.” Steamer Denali scheduled to s 1as follows: Industrials, 182.76; rails. ‘ S SR ‘Shares of Alaska 1 ‘ A' “ S !e1from Seattle Friday, dus in Joneau | 8347 utlities, 3840 Iriines on Ja ' i tangled in the Soviet hair. He is/ doing his level best to succeed. Probably, in view of all this, | December 31, goes to Sitka and re- Byrnes will be able to work out | i 8! | | turns to Juneau southbound about| pr. ALBRECHT TO TALK NEW YORK, Dec. 26.—Public of-!January 3. | © AT CHAMBER MEETING fering of 125,000 additional common | Taku scheduled to sail from Seat- | Aot shares of Alaska Airlines. Inc., will tle Saturday. In a simple ceremony performed - - !be made today by a syndicate head-, North Sea scheduled to sail from | Dr. C. Earl Albrecht, Territorial Christmas Eve at the Resurrectisn ;| Robert D, Seal, former associate ed by R. H. Johnson and Company. |Seattle January 4. | Commissioner of Health, will speak Lutherap Church, the Rev. G. Her- | editor of the Daily Alaska Ketchi- |The shares are part of an original' Alaska was in port yesterday after- | of his recent trip to Washington, bert Hillerman united in marriage kan FPishing News, stcpped over ‘authorlzed issue of 1,000,000. Pro- noon and sailed for Seattle. I D. C., tomorrow noon before the Winifred Victoria Oberg and John in Juneau for a few hours today ceeds will be used to provide addi-’ Freighter Cricket in port from |regular luncheon-meeting of the Emmett Crowley of Juneau. At- enroute to Anchorage where he . tional equipment and other improve- Seattle today. Arrived during the Juneau Chamber of Commerce in tendants to the couple were Nils will join the staff of the Anchorage /ments. night. the Baranof Hotel Gold Room. Anderson and Barbara Garrett. Times. the R WED CHRISTMAS EVE 10 “We P SAA (Continued on Page Four)