Evening Star Newspaper, February 4, 1942, Page 2

In This Edition Closina N. Y, Markets—Sales, Page 18. 90th YEAR. No. 35,708. Two Extra Pages Late news and sports are covered on ‘The Star, supplementing the news of the regular home delivered edition. Pages 1-X and 2-X of this edition of ch WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION ¢ Foening Star WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1942 Great Help onWay,Wavell Says, n Rallying Singapore Defenders; Dutch Still Battling in Calls on Troops Not to Retreat Another Step B3 the Associated Press. SINGAPORE, Feb. 4.— Allied Generalissimo Sir Archibald P. Wavell declared today that Britain and the United States are sending ‘“great reinforce- ments” to the Southwest Pacific battle area and called on his fighting men not to retreat another step before the Japanese onslaught. He declared that the defense of Singapore must be made “as mem- orable and successful” as the defense of Tobruk.” Meanwhile, artillery batteries on Singapore Island goared into action again, blasting away at Jap- anese troop. movements on the Ma- layan mainland as enemy air raiders unleashed new attacks on this island fortress. Job to Fight for Some Time. Gen. Wavell linked the present fighting forces of the United Na- tions in the Southwest Pacific to the original British World War bat- tle force at Ypres and said their job was to fight for time until rein- forcements arrived. This was the text of his special order of the day: & “The Japanese are straining every nerve to keep the advantage gained by their initial surprise and to gain a quick success. “Once their impetus is thwarted they will soon be discouraged. Our part is to stop them to gain time for the great reinforcements which we and our American allies are send- ing to.the eastern theater. “We are in a similar position to the original British Expeditionary Force which stopped the Germans and saved Europe in the first bat- tle of Ypres. “We must be worthy successors of them and save Asia by fighting these Japanese. Japs Can’t Exploit Mobility. “They have now reached an area where we cannot be constantly out- flanked, and where the enemy can- not exploit superior mobility. “You must yield no strip of ground without fighting hard, and must leave nothing behind undestroyed that would be of the least service to the enemy. “Our friends and allies, the Dutch, are carrying out this policy in every part of the N. E. I. with sacrifice and resolution. “I look to you all to fight this bat- tle without further thought of re- treat, and to make the defense of Singapore as memorable and suc- cessful as the defense of Tobruk which British, Australian and In- dian troops held so long and so gal- lantly.” Situation Unchanged. Despite the sudden flurry of artil- lery and air activity, there was no sign that the Japanese were about to begin their expected attempt to cross Johore Strait, and a com- munique described the general sit- uation as unchanged. The announcement said the new Japanese air assaults had caused some damage but few military casualties. Bombs dropped in the second raid on the island this morning fell on the residential areas of the city itself and in the countryside. It was acknowledged officially that 22 persons were killed and 90 in- jured by air raiders yesterday. At the same time it was disclosed that anti-aircraft guns had shot down two, and probably three, Japanese planes over the island Sunday and Monday. Taking advantage of each passing hour free from attack soldiers and civilians labored shoulder to shoul- der to strengthen Singapore's de- fenses, while anti-aircraft crews (See SINGAPORE, Page A-4.) Reading At Home It is the habit of Washing- ton people to read The Star in their homes every evening and Sunday morning to get all of the news of the day. The Evening Star has more than double the afternoon circulation (not including noon editions), of any other ‘Washington newspaper. The circulation of The Sunday Star is far greater in Wash- ington and its suburbs than that of any other Sunday newspaper. Yesterday’s Advertising (Local Display) LINES. The Evening Star____ 28,811 *d Newspaper _________ 14,976 3d Newspaper _ 13,631 4th Newspaper Yesterday’s Circulation (The Evening Star) Tues,, Feb. 3, 1942____*185,718 Tues., Feb. 4, 1941____*167,320 18,398 Returns from newsstands not de- diicted and no samples included. Telephone National 5000 and have The Evening and Sun- day Star delivered to your home. Increase L B o’ k4 ’ the Philippines (2)." Artillery blasted at Jap troops in Johore massive Japanese bombing fleet tinued on Amboina Island (5). NAI'-IAH 4 % M wzon TA NE S maniia{ PHILIPPI »ISLANDS A W 4 0 . ? . f AR " MINDANAO . i ALAW/ woaru Bavao - - BES © ) CELE| uiuuonu AMBOIN JAPANESE MOVE NEW CONVOY TOWARD BATTLE ZONES— Chinese report a 69-ship Japanese troop convoy off Amoy (1) moving south. The United States Navy has a land battalion in batteries on Singapore Island Province (3). Dutch claimed a attempt failed to smash Soera- baja (4), apparently from bases on Borneo, fell short of the mark, but inflicted severe losses. Dutch asserted fighting con- —A. P. Wirephoto. British Rear Guard Withdraws From Derna Posifions Strong German Forces Defeated in Attempt To Cut Off Escape By the Associated Press. CAIRO, Feb. 4—The British high command announced today | that rear guard forces had “completed their movement from | their last covering positions| about Derna” and rejoined the main British column. (In London a British military commentator interpreted the Cairo announcement as meaning the British had withdrawn from Derna. The retreat from Derna meant the British had fallen back 50 miles in two days' on their coastal flank in Libya. (The Germans and Italians re- ported that their forces were pushing on to Derna, 160 miles northeast of Bengasi and 95 miles from Tobruk, after inflicting a heavy defeat on Indian troops covering the British withdrawal.) The British communique said the rear guard force—the 4th Indian Division—beat off strong German detachments which had attempted to cut off their withdrawal. British mobile columns, supported by planes, continued offensive opera- tions against the flank of the Axis drive east and northeast of Msus in the desert area southeast of Bengasi, the war bulletin said. Axis Continues Advance On Derna, Italians Say ROME (from Italian broadcasts), Feb. 4 (#).—Axis forces in Libya are continuing their advance toward Derna after inflicting a heavy defeat on Indian troops thrown into action | to cover the British retreat, the Italian high command said today. | The advancing Axis columns are | receiving strong support from the | German and Italian air forces, the high command added. (The German communique, which also reported the defeat of Indian troops fighting a rear- guard action in Libya, said Nazi aircraft had bombed British forces in the Tobruk area and supply dumps near Matruh, Egypt.) The daily war bulletin also de- clared that German air formations were continuing their daily assaults on the British Mediterranean base at Malta, causing fires and explo- “(See LIBYA, Page A-4) 80 Americans Arrive In Java From Singapore By the Associated Press. BATAVIA, Netherlands Indies, Feb. 3 (Delayed).—Eighty Ameri- cans, including part of the United| States consular steff, arrived in Batavia today from Singapore. MacArthur's Forces "Sharply Repulse’ Jap Attack on Flank Third Transport Believed Sunk by Flying Fortresses Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s forces sharply repulsed a Jap- anese attack on their left flank in Batan made by elements of the 16th (Kimura) division last night as his troops continued to mop up remnants of the enemy invaders who had succeeded in filtering through the American lines on the west coast of the peninsula, a war communique re- ported today. In a delayed report of an air action on Japanese shipping at Balik Papan, Borneo, the communi- que disclosed that seven American Flying Fortresses sank two enemy transports and repeatedly bombed a third, which was probably sunk. All the American planes returned to their base undamaged. This attack was believed to be the | one mentioned in yesterday’s report |from Sir Gen. Archibald Wavell, | supreme commander of Allied Paci- | fic forces. Jap Supplies Fall to Americans. The Japanese troops who survived | the smashing of the two invasion ;ncumpu yesterday to penetrate the | American lines were found isolated in small pockets back of the coast. No reinforcements were able to reach them, and the Japanese had | attempted to supply them with food and ammunition dropped by para- chute. Most of these supplies, how- ever, fell into the hauds of Gen. MacArthur's men. On the right of the American line in Batan little activity was re- ported in the last 24 hours. Enemy air activity over the defense lines was limited to a few sporadic bomb- ing attacks which did no damage. Japanese prisoners, forming groups of Tatori fighters, expressed sur- prise at the humane treatment re- ceived at the hands of their captors. They said they had been told Ameri- cans would execute all prisoners. A battalion of marines and blue jackets is fighting with Gen. Mac- Arthur's hard-pressed men, the Navy announced last night, and an (See PHILIPPINES, Pdge A-6) Farouk Asks Backing For Coalition Regime By the Associated Press. CAIRO, Peb. 4—King Farouk called on the Egyptian people yes- terday to support his efforts to- ward forming & government of na- tional union. The government of Husein Sirry Pasha resigned Mon- day as a result of internal diffi- culties. Summary of Foreign. ? Vichy government will return to Paris. Page A-3 National. Martin charges Flynn is trying to liquidate G. O. P. Page A-1 Stamps will be issued for sugar rationing. Page A-1 Naval officers report 1,292 men miss- ing. Page A-1 Free insurance for service men broached. Page A-1 U. 8. aid urged for educating col- lege youths. Page A-2 Restricted area designated in Cali- fornia. Page A-2 President invites Labor Board to conference. Page A-2 House leaders ask action on China loan. Page A-3 Inventory of women for war produc- tion planned. Page A-4 Today's Star Spy ring toured plane plants, court told. Page A-6 Washington and Vicinity. $50,000,000 housing bill approved by House unit. ‘Token sales decision postponed for D. C. Ad Club opposes bill to ban liquor prices. Page B-1 Parley called tomorrow on “share your car move.” Page B-1 Miscellany. Vital Statistics. Page A-2 Nature’s Children. Page B-6 ¢ Page A-1/ | A. A. F. planes returned safely after | month. Page A-2 Inquiry into war-worker influx urged in House. Page B-1 One dead, three seriously injured in | early morning fire. Page B-1 Large _defense housing project @lanned for Hillcrest. Page B-1 Ambiina Foe's Big Attack On Soerabaja Falls Far Short By the Assoclated Press. BATAVIA, Netherlands Indies, Feb. 4.—A massive Japanese bombing fleet attempting to smash Soerabaja, the United Na- tions’ chief base of operations in the Netherlands Indies, fell far short of its mark, the Indies high ; command announced today, i‘while on the secondary naval | base of Amboina Dutch troops still are battling a Japanese landing force. (The Tokio radio as heard in Berlin today claimed that Jap- anese occupation of Amboina, 635 miles north of Australia and | flanking the Allied seaborne | route, had been completed.) The attack on Soerabaja was car- | ried out yesterday by 70 to 80 Jap- | anese bombers with heavy fighters, | the Indies command reported, and | the raiders inflicted “very consider- able” losses on the Dutch interceptor | squadrons which took to the air to meet them. Damage Is “Negligible.” But the raid caused only “negli- ;gihle" damage to Soerabaja’s mili- | tary objectives, according to a com- munique released through the news agency Aneta, while the defending planes and anti-aircraft batteries took a toll of “presumably” eight Japanese fighters and two bombers. Dutch losses in planes were offset to some extent by the fact that some pilots were able to parachute | to safety. The alarm at Soerabaja was said | to have lasted from 10:10 am. to 12:30 pm. during which many | bombs fell on the center of the town | itself—an important trading city | and second largest in the Indies, as well as on the naval and air bases. | Aneta said a naval base workshop | was slightly damaged, two naval employes killed and two injured. Bombs demolished 25 houses in the | city, it said, killed 31 persons and | injured 139. Within the 125-mile-arc bound- | ing the raided area, it added, the | Japanese struck also at the island of Madura, just off Soerabaja; the small Soerabaja suburb of Grissee and at Tuban, a city of 25,000 popu- lation 60 miles from Soerabaja, | where 18 persons were Kkilled. | | Amboina Fighting Seesaws. The high command reported that | in addition to continuing resistance |at Amboina, where there still was |no apparent decision in the heavy | fighting, the Dutch were putting up |a battle in the vicinity of Balik | Papan, east Boreno oil center, whose | installations were wrecked well in | advance of the Japanese landing. “Reports from the vicinity of Am- | boina prove bitter fighting con- | tinues there, with the tide of battle turning from one side to the other,” the communique said. “Also in the | immediate vicinity of Balik Papan fighting continues.” Amboina is second in importance and strategic situation in the Indies only to Soerabaja, which, since Sing- apore became unavailable, has be- come the United Nations' chief base | in the South Seas. Dutch Still Have 50 Airfields. The Dutch still hold some 50 land of Borneo which the Japanese | “haven’t even spotted,” a high mili- | tary official declared today in coun- tering what he said were broadcast | Tokio claims that the entire island | is under Japanese control. “The Japanese may control Tara- kan and Balik Papan (east coast{ oil ports) and perhaps even Pontia- | nak (chief west coast port), but they still have quite a way to go pefore they can make good their | ridiculous claims,” this source told | the news agency Aneta. From the airfields in the impene- trable Borneo jungle, he said, “we can keep up a spirited guerrilla | warfare which will cost the enemy | dear.” Big City Still Held by Dutch. The officer said the important south coast city of Bandjermasin | (320 miles across the Java Sea from Soerabaja) and its airport | also still are in Dutch possession | despite repeated enemy attacks, but jungle-hidden airfields on the Is-| An Evening News With the Fu fi‘r';:'fi News LOCAL—NATIONAL—FOREIGN Associated Press and () Wirephetos, North American Newspaper Alliance, Chicago Daily News Foreign Service and The Star's Staff Writers, Reporters and Photographers. Associated Press. THREE CENTS. GHES GONE AND RUN AWAY NEVER DARKEN AGAIN. WITH THE HIRED MAN. SHE'LL THIS DOOR 1,292 Men Missing Or Prisoners, Senafe Told by Navy Officers | 825 Are Marines; ‘ Bill Seeks Allowances For Their Dependents By the Aszociated Press. The Senate Naval Affairs Commit- tee heard testimony today that 1.292 officers and men of the Navy and | Marine Corps are known to be pris- | oners of war or missing in action. This information was submitted by naval and marine officers at a committee hearing on legislation which would enable the Government to make allowances out of the pay | of men in enemy hands to depend- ents or for payment of insurance ; premiums. The measure would cover men in the ranks of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps and civiliian employes of the War and Navy Departments who were captured or missing in action. | The officials said they had no in- formation on the number of civilian employes who have fallen into enemy hands in the Western Pa- cific, but that the number was rel- atively small. A Bureau of Navigation officer said that 56 naval officers were “sup- posed to be prisoners of war” while five others were missing in action. their status undetermined. About 30 men of the Navy were missing in action, he said, 75 were “probably prisoners” and “about 300 others we suspect are prisoners.” A Marine officer testified that 44 officers and 716 men of the Marines were “in the hands of the enemy,” | while one officer and 65 enlisted | men were rated as missing. | More definite figures, the officers | said, are expected to be”available when negotiations through the Red Cross and the Swiss government | have been completed with Japan for exchange of information. | Admiral Leo Otis Colebe:t, direc- | |tor of the Coast and Geodetic | | Survey, told the committee that | Comdr. George D. Cowie, senior | | officer of the survey, was killed in the first Japanese bomb raid on Manila. ‘Argentina Takes Special Coast Defense Measures By the Associated Press. BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 4 —Acting President Ramon Castillo an- nounced today that Argentina was taking extraordinary measures to defend her Atlantic coast. { Castillo said the army class of 1920, which normally would have completed its service the first of the | year, would be kept under arms throughout 1942 and in addition two classes of reserve officers and auxil- | iary services would be recalled to | service. ” That would give Argentina, one | of the two American republics which | have not severed relations with the | Axis, an army of, approximately 100,000 men Castillo, who nevertheless has pledged his government to solidarity in American defense, said details of the measures to guard the coast would be disclosed through the Ministry of War. (See INDIES, Page A-6. |Australian nye‘rs Score {Hit on Large Jap Vessel By the Associated Press. CANBERRA, Australia, Feb. 4— Australian flyers scored a direct hit on a large Japanese vessel in a raid Britain harbor of Rabaul, an air communique indicated today. One stick of bombs was said also to have scored a near miss on an- | other vessel. ‘The _communique said all the R. driving off enemy fighters which tried to intercept them. Weddell Will Return To See Roosevelt By the Associated Press. MADRID, Feb. 4—The United States Embassy announced today that Ambassador Alexander W. Weddell would return to the United States soon to confer with Presi- dent Roosevelt. Mrs. Weddell will accompany him. last night on the occupied New | R. A. F. Raids Naples | And Palermo Heavily By the Assoclated Press. CAIRO, Feb. 4—R. A. F. raiders, in an attack on the Italian harbor | of Naples Monday night, hit docks. | freight yards and a repair base, | | the R. A. F. Near East communique | said today. Palermo also was bombed the | same night, a direct hit being scored on the quays there, the communique | said, and a “large enemy merchant vessel in the Central Mediterranean” | was torpedoed by British night flyers | and forced aground. | _Backing up the ground forces in North Africa, the R. A. F. reported infiicting casualties on Axis forces and destroying vehicles in air sweeps against enemy motorized units in | the Derna region. |Retired Actor Dies ot 86 AMITYVILLE, N. Y., Feb. 4 (®— Harry J. Holliday, 86, retired actor, died yesterday. He appeared in New York theaters during the 80s and 90s, playing th such stars as Richard eld, K. 8. Willard, E. H. Sothern and Olga Nethersole. v | Nazis Discover Japs’ God Also Is ‘Pure Aryan’ By the Associated Press. NEW YORK. Feb. 4—A Berlin radio broadcast beamed for East Asia declared today that “the Jap- anese and German pagan gods are symbols of the same pure Aryanism.” The broadcast, heard by N. B. C., identified Wotan, old god of German mythology, with the Japanese “god the two were “similar in character and meaning” and were an actual bond between the countries. “Both gods.” the broadcast said, “are watching over their people to keen them in military and pa- triotic spirit.” ‘Wotan, known to the early Scan- dinavians as Odin and the Anglo- Saxons as Woden, was the chief deity of the Teutonic pantheon and also was sometimes represented as a dealer in magic and dispenser of victory. ‘The Japanese “god of the sun and the winds” presumabiy is the Ger- man pronagandists’ identification of the ranking deity of the Shinto pan- | theon, the sun goddess Amaterasu, whom the Japanese consider the di- vine ancestress of their race. Pefroleum Prices Frozen At Level of October 1 By the Associated Press. The Government yesterday fixed prices on petroleum and petroleum products, including gasoline, for all transactions except retail sales. Effective immediately, prices were frozen at levels posted for crude petroleum and the lowest quoted for | petroleum products on October 1. 1941. These levels already prevailed generally as a result of O. P. A. requests and voluntary agreements | with the industry. | Price Administrator Leon Hender- son said formal price fixing was House Accepts Boosts In Navy Fund Bill, Largest in Hisfory | G.O.P.'s Part Stressed | In Passage of Measure Carrying 262 Billions | of the sun and the winds,” and said | By the Associated Press. The House agreed today to accept Senate increases in the Navy appropriations bill, boost- ing the total to $26,495,265474, largest in history. | The conference report then went to the Senate for approval House action, on voice vote, came | only a few minutes after Repre- sentative Ditter, Republican, of | Pennsylvania, took the floor to assert | that the Republican minority had contributed wholeheartedly in steer- ing the big measure through Con- gress. | ~ He made that statement. he said, because of a charge “made within the past few days” that the minority was not co-operating—apparently a reference to a radio address by Ed- | ward Flynn, chairman of the Dem- ocratic National Committee, in which Mr. Flvnn advised against | election this fall of a Congress hos- | tile to President Roosevelt. | House Minority Leader Martin, | chairman of the Republican Na- | tional Committee, had declared yes- terday that Mr. Flynn sought “to | liquidate the Republican party and ‘squrlch all criticism.” That, Mr. Martin said, was “the | only possible explanation™” of Mr. | Flynn's speech Monday night in which the Democratic National Committee chairman asserted that the Republican party was “not as much interested in winning the war as it is interested in controlling the House of Representatives.” Bomb; Are Norse Answer necessary in the petroleum industry | because of the increasing scope of | control and the “growing multiplic- ity of informal agreements and un- derstandings.” He said the price schedule would clarify O. P. A. price | policles and “protect the industry | and the public from the effects of unwarranted price increases.” Exempted from the schedule were asphalt, industrial lubricating oils, industrial naphthas and solvents, greases and specialty products such | as household oils and spot removers. Goering’s Visit to Rome Seen Auguring Attack B3 the Associated Press. BERN, Switzerland, Feb. 4—The presence of Reichsmarshal Hermann | Goering in Rome was interpreted in | Italian political circles as a sign of “new developments very soon in the Mediterranean.” the correspondent of Zurich's Die Tat wrote last night from the Italian capital. He said few believed the report that Marshal Goering was on vaca- tion. Political circles in Rome, he said, regarded the marshal’s Italian journey in the present phase of the war as ‘“certainly of great impor- tance.” Marshal Goering went to Italy January 27, saw Mussolini the fol- | lowing day, made a trip to Sicily for | an inspection of German air units January 29 and returned to Rome Monday. To Quisling’s Elevation By the Associated Press. STOCKHOLM, Feb. 4—A Wave of fires and bombings in German- occupied Norway, attributed to Nor- wegian resentment over Sunday's | installation of Maj. Vidkun Quisling as puppet premier, were reported to- |day in Swedish newspeper advices | from Oslo. A rubber factory in Askim, de- scribed as one of Norway's largest, was said to have burned down yes- terday. A factory in Drammen also was reported destroyed. Fire broke out in the Nasjonal Teatret (national theater) in Oslo, | but was extinguished quickly. A bomb was thrown at the Stortin- get, or Parliament House, but no damage was reported. A bomb also exploded at the university. Fires were reported to have broken out in two railway stations just when | extra trains were ready to leave. In incidents in other parts of Norway a motor factory at Bergen, on the west coast, and a wharf at Laksevaag burned yesterdey, the advices said. | | | | | Harsh Measures in Amsterdam. LONDON, Feb. 4 () —A Reuters dispatch from Stockholm said to- day measures approaching a state of siege had been imposed by Nazi authorities pn Amsterdam as a re- sult of demonstrations and sabotage. 50 Million Fund For D.C. Housing Wins Approval Committee Speeds Emergency Bili to House Calendar LARGE-SCALE Defense Housing Projects Planned in Hillcrest Section of Southeast. Page B-1 By JAMES E. CHINN, A bill authorizing an appropri- ation of $50,000,000 to construct homes for Federal workers in the District and surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia and to expand existing public works to serve the inflated war-time pop- ulation, was unanimously ap- proved today by the House Pub- lic Buildings and Grounds Com- mittee. Action was taken in executive session following a series of public hearings on the legislation during which both Federal and District officials showed that Washington's housing shortage had reached the “danger” point and that there is an acute need for extension of such vital facilities as public schools, hos- pitals, water supply and garbage and refuse disposal plants. The committee had under consid- eration two bills designed to accom- plish the same purpose. One was prepared by Defense Housing Co- ordinator Charles F. Palmer. The other was sponsored by conferees on the so-called Lanham Act which au- thorized appropriations of $600.000,- 000 for housing construction in de- fense areas throughout the country. The latter was the one approved by the committee. Early Action to Be Sought. The committee’s action advanced the bill to the House calendar. Chairman Lanham said he would seek its early approval by the House because of the seriousness of the housing situation in the Washington area Information given the committee indicated that at least $40,000,000 of the recommended $50,000,000 ap- | propriation would be used by the Federal Works Agency to build about 10,000 housing units in the District area for Government war workers in the low-income brackets. It is plan=- ned to advance the remaining $10.- 000,000 to the District Commissioners for construction of vitally needed public works. Representative Lanham explained that all of the money advanced to the District for public works would not have to be repaid; that a major portion of it would be in the form of outright grants. The District, he said, might have to repay a part of the funds used for extension of the water supply and distribution sys- tems, since the Water Department is self-sustaining and the munici- pality receives revenue from water users. To Relieve Shortage. The approved bill specifically stip- ulates that the $50,000,000 shall be used to “relieve an acute shortage of housing, public works and equip- ment therefor presently existing and impending in and near the District of Columbia and impending war ac- tivities.” It further declares the Commis- sioners are authorized to “accept” for the District from the administra- tor of Federal works such “advance- ments” as may be necessary to carry out a public works program. Chairman Lanham said several committee members at the closed meeting had ‘“resented” criticism that the committee had not acted with dispatch on the legislation. He pointed out the Budgét Bureau did not reveal until late last Tuesday the $50.000,000 estimate for housing and public works needs. The fol- lowing day, he explained, he in- troduced the two bills calling for " (See HOUSING, Page A-4) Five Killed, 11 Injured As Fire Sweeps City Jail By the Associated Press. SAN DIEGO, Feb. 4—FPive pris- oners burned to death today by fire which raged through cork-lined padded cells in San Diego’s City Jail. “It was like an oven,” Battalion Fire Chief Edward F. McLarney said, describing the intense heat in the concrete block. Eleven other prisoners were taken to hospitals suffering from burns and the choking smoke. Police Chief Clifford Peterson and fire officials were questioning a sus- pect, one of two prisoners who es- caped unhurt. Police Sergt. Mike Shea said the fire broke out about 4:30 am., and that when he was attracted to the block by screams, he found the two cork-lined cells ablaze, with smoke pouring through the rest of the block of 26 cells—only 17 of which 0. P. A. to Issue Sugar Stamps As Part of Rationing Program By the Associated Press. Special “sugar stamps” to be is- sued by the Government to regis- tered consumers will be required be- fore purchases can be made under the pending sugar rationing pro- gram, it was learned today. Each stamp will permit an indi- vidual to buy 12 ounces of sugar— | the weekly ration. A spokesman for the Office of | Price Administration disclosed that | booklets containing enough stamps to last three months or more would be printed and that the time re- quired for the printing would delay operation of the rationing machin- ery for at least another month. It was reported that the plan con- templates registration of consumers by families, with stamp booklets to be issued to each member of the family, regardiess of age. However, no more than one stamp per person used each week. This would a family of three, for example, s may all a weekly ration of 36 ounces of sugar. ‘The O. P. A. spokesman said de- tails of the registration requirements had not yet been worked out, but that the registration would not be handled by local post offices. Stamp books will be issued at the time of registration. O. P. A. said the rationing would were occupied. Can the Russian War News Be Trusted? Has the Nazi retreat been turned into a rout? ... What about the Nazi spring offen- sive? ... Are the Soviets plan- ning to interfere with the internal affairs of other na- e supervised by local boards, prob- ably the same boards now handling | tire rationing, but augmented by a member or members drawn from the food industry. It was understood that retailers accepting the sugar stamps would paste them on “sugar cards.” When a card is filled, the retailer then can present it to his wholesaler as au- thority to purchase the exact amount of sugar represented by the stamps on the card. Details of the rationing are being perfected jointly by the O. P. A. and the War Production Boarc. tions? The answers are given by Sir Stafford Cripps, former British Ambassador to Mos- cow. He knows Russia as few other men and the Russians trust him. Read his authori- tative articles tomorrow and Friday in @he Evening Flar A