The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 14, 1942, Page 1

\ Associated Press Day Wire ) : - Service and Wide World For 62 Years Devoted to the Best Interests of Key West Key West, Florida, h:s the most equable climate in the country; with an average | range of only 14° Fahrenhe*t | The Kry Wrest Citize VOLUME LXIII. No. 296. American. AitUnits Make Japanese Base Undetermined Number Of Jap Planes Destroyed; Ammunition Dump Also Blown Up (By Asseciated Press) DARWIN, Dec, 14.—American air forces in the South Pacific made a devastating raid today on-the Jap base on New Georgia Island: in the Solomon group. An undetermined: number of Jap planediWere “destroyed on the grounds"an .@mmunition dump was-blowit up and other military installations were damaged, ‘New Georgia Island is the Point from which the Japs made their attempt on December 12 and 13 to get supplies and rein- forcements to their Guadalcanal. “One' Nipponese destroyer was sunk and several others were badly damaged. The planes, ac- cording to the latest reports, continuing their assaults on the destroyers, which number either eight or nine. They were not Convoying any troopships, and it is believed in Allied military troops on citcles that each destroyer car-| pe il contingent of rein- — MAKING | ATTACKS INSTEAD OF RUSSIAN FORCES NAZIS LAUNCH GENERAL AS- SAULTS IN MANY SECTIONS ALONG FAR-FLUNG LINES ON BATTLE FRONTS (Special to The Citizen) MOSCOW, Dec. 14.— Today, instead of the Russians launching general assaults, the Germans at- | tacked in many places along their far flung lines. The main attack was made northwest of Stalin- grad; where, the Russian com- munique said, the enemy was beaten back with heavy losses in men and equipment after a battle that ‘lasted from dawn to noon. In another fight, south of Sta- lingrad, the Germans are said to have lost 150 men killed and to have abandoned 11 dugouts and pillboxes. In‘a fight in the central Cau- casas, the report said, the Rus- sians captured 68 dugouts, 28 gun emplacements and a big ammuni- tion dump: In this fight, the re- port added, 700 Germans. were} killed. Russians now dain superiority in the air. The war office said that, in recent fighting, the Ger- mans have lost 407 planes, while the number of Russian planes de- stroyed totaled only 156. ARRIVES ON VISIT Anthony Bernard McMahen, son of Mr. and Mrs..Leo McMéhon of Grinnell street, who is econ- nected with the United States Navy, was included in the recent arrivals here. He has been granted ten days’ leave, which he will spend with ie parents and other relatives ere, BATTERY CHARGING In 30 Minutes—While You Wait Lou Lou Smith AUTO SERVICE Phone No. § SOS EE TEBE eehaewaiae INAZIS AQUIVER ABOUT NORWAY (By Associated Press) LONDON, Dec. 14.—Ger- many’s aquiver about WNor- way. according to official circles here. who base their conclusions on a speech made by Propaganda Minis- ter Goebbels today. He told about the vast expenditures Germany was making to Strengthen the defenses of Norway. It is through that. country, Goebbels asserted, that the Allied Nations po try to strike at Germany, Along the entire shore front, he added. Norway must be made stronger, so that the Ger- mans will be able to beat back any attack launched by the Allies, regardess of how Powerful it may be. His con- clusion was that. after the Present improvements are made to Norway's defenses, it will be impossible for the Allies to get a foothold in that country from the sea. | TD IIIIIaL SD ‘TAX COLLECTIONS “| IN CITY SURPASS COUNTY'S RECORD FIFTY-THREE PERCENT OF FULL AMOUNT ALREADY PAID; BEST RECORD IN HIS- ‘TORY FOR TIME OF YEAR i ; Tax collections in Monroe lcounty are good, but tax collec- jtions in the city are better, it was said this morning at the City Hall. In proof of that statement, City Auditor Charles Roberts’ books show that the collections during November and for a part lof this month total $108,795.23, of which payment on real estate amounts to $83,247.30. The bal- ance of $25,547.93 is for personal taxes. The collections are 53 per cent of the full amount of the tax roll for the 1942-’43 fiscal year. That percentage is the highest ever attained in the city up to this time of year. As was point- ed out in the City Hall today, five and one-half months will elapse before taxes for this pe- riod become delinquent. The sum of $108,795.23 is also the highest for collections in any years up to this date. 4 ABSTRACT CONCERN WILL LOCATE HERE The six Key West lawyers}1 and County Clerk Ross Sawyer, who spent the week-end in Mi- pany, learned that the company is arranging to open a branch in Key West under the name of the Monroe Commonwealth Ab- stract company. The branch will. be opened as soon as negotiations, which are now being made to ob- tain a building, are completed. The guests from Key West were shown Monroe County real- ty records attached to reels. All records are photographic. Heny H. Taylor, Benjamin Ca- rey and Joseph Otto, former Key Westers, joined the party from this city, who comprised Judge William V. Albury, J. Lancelot Lester, Aquilino Lopez, Jr., Ro- ger Watkins, Enrique Esquinal- do, Allan B. Cleare, Jr., and Ross Sawyer. PALACE THEATER INVISIBLE AGENT with Ilona Massey White at Fleming] NEWS and SERIAL ame as guests of an abstract com-| tal personnel. THE SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U. PUBLIC MAILING XMAS PACKAGES MUCH EARLIER SEVEN OF LARGEST POSTOF- | FICES IN COUNTRY RE- PORT PARCELS BEING HANDLED IN DUE TIME Some of the public—but not enough—are heeding the warn-| ings of the Post Office Depart- | ment that Christmas gifts must be mailed this year earlier than ever before, if reports fom seven of the largest post offices in the United States prove to be typica!. Six of these offices, queried on Christmas mailings, reported that gift parcels had started moving through the mails from 10 to 12; days earlier than in previous years. The seventh reported some rise in parcel post but no broad gain in Christmas mailings. Christmas cards—one of the most difficult problems because of the public’s habit of mailing them in a last-minute deluge—also have started to move, but in only small‘ numbers. But, postal officials warn, the early mailings are not yet in suf- ficient volume to prevent delay in deliveries of gifts until after Christmas unless mailings are in- creased sharply at once, and prac- tically completed by December 15. Wartime burdens on trans- portation and on the postal serv- ice make it essential that the! peak of mailings be far earlier than in normal times. | Postmaster General Frank C.| Walker, who has held repeated conferences with high officials of his department on the Christmas mail problem, again called atten- tion to the absolute necessity of} public cooperation. | “My department is handling a: variety of big wartime tasks, in addition to the distribution of} civilian mail,” he said. “Wej handle a vast. amount of Army and Navy mail within -this coun- try until it. reaches military andj} naval stations or embarkation ports, where it is taken over for delivery by the Army and Navy. We write many millions of dol- lars’ worth of war bonds, sell im- mense numbers of war stamps, handle a huge volume of official correspondence and printed mat- ter. Our service is burdened with war work ana so is the transpota- tion system that caries the mails. “There has never been a time in} the history of the postal service when there was more necessity for the public to mail parcels and cards early if delivery is to be made by Christmas.” A factor now complicating the postal problem is the vast move-! ment of population caused by the! rapid development of war indus- tries in many cities Unofficial estimates indicate that some fair- sized cities have almost doubled in population. Detroit has. grown about 336,000 since May, 1940, ac- cording to the Census Bureau; Washington has grown 231,000; Chicago, 149,000; Los Angeles, 131,000; and other centers of war activity proportionately. In each} of these cities, there is now the} equivalent of another large city | | requiring postal service, and gifts | are being mailed to many hun-} dreds of thousands of these per- S. A. KEY WEST, FLORIDA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1942 Champagne-Saver? AP Features Champagne hes always been the accepted mode of speed- ing warships down the ways, | but Mrs. Neva Spear offers a i new note in the technique for © war planes. She kisses a new Martin B26 bomber at Balti- more, Md. i : One Hundred C harred Bodies Found In Ruins \Of Building Destroyed By Fire Saturday (By Associated Press) ST. JOHN'S. Newfoundland, ; the hysterical cries Dec. 14.—One hundred charred 294 the wild shouting of the voice of a radio announcer! bodies,.up to early this afternoon,*vould be heard. When -hé was had been taken from the two- ‘inally forced to leave his post, the microphone still recorded! that was the cries of the people in the gutted by fire Saturday night. pal as they struggled desperate- i ly to escape. Of the number of bodies found, It is estimated that 20 men in the armed forces of the United 5 a States lost their lives and prob- which led the authorities to be-' ably twice that number in the hat, «Canadian fore he the The affair v of story frame building only seven were those of women, lieve before panic a barn dance reached its height, women were in the Knights of Columbus Hall! | for service men. Immediately rmitted to | in: ‘sh Sineawes the eae tle the lccy otk tie twas Heats structure first. women | men, | PRICE FIVE CENTS British Eighth Arm Army ( Captures jeciated Presa) SIXTEEN AXIS SHIPS SUNK LONDON.—Sixteen Axis ships were sunk in the Mediterrancan j last week, according to information issued today by the British ad- miralty. Most of those ships were attempting to reach the naval | base at Bizerte with supplies and reinforcements for the Axis forces | at Tunis and Bizerte. RUSSIA AND TURKEY IN NEW PACT MOSCOW.—Russia end Turkey today entered into a new friendship pact. It was said that American Ambassador Steinhardt helped to put through the negotietions for a reassertion ot the Pledges of friendliness between those two countries. FIRST WAAC TO BE COURT MARTIALED | WASHINGTON.—The first WAAC to be court martialed is Catherine Doris Gregory. She was tried by women officers and | was dismissed from the service for acts unbecoming an officer. WANT TO DINE RICKENBACKER NEW YORK.—Admirers of Eddie Rickenbacker in New York heve invited him to attend a dinner in his honor. It was said in Washington that Rickenbacker will be in that city some time this | week, and the invitation was sent to him there. He is reported to | have fully recovered from his experience of being adrift on a raft jin the Pacific for 20 days. after he was forced to land his plane be- ; cause of the lack of gasoline. LOSES LIFE IN FIRE ST. PETERSBURG. Fla.—One woman lost her life in a fire that totally destroyed one apartment and badly damaged two others here early this morning. Severe] persons were injured. One of | them was a man who jumped out of a second story window and broke his left leg. VANDENBERG WONT BE CANDIDATE WASHINGTON.—Senator Vandenberg announced today that he will not be an aspirant for the Republican nomination fcr the | presidency in 1944. He made the assertion during a general dis- cussion about the campaigns that evidently have been started al- ready in behalf of various aspirants for the nomination two years j hence. Key West Fire Department | Turns In Ancient Gasoline | Engine In Scrap Campaign Six hundred persons were in the hall when the cry of fire flames burst through the rear of| the dance hall and everybody! The first gasoline fire engine rushed for the doorways. It was} Key West ever had will be con- ~poq araym “Aemioop uleut G3 38! verted into bombs and shells for PBS TELS Me 2 jeaused general consternation. | jes were piled high, that most of , However, now and then, above/the lives were lost. LARGE NUMBER AT WORK NUMEROUS TREES NEW YORK—More than two! NEW YORK — Approximately million trees cover the lush 16-;| 14,000,000 men over 45 years of square mile island of Djerba, off age are now working in the Unit- the Tunisian coast ed States. RT “All the Jewelry You Want On Credit” Br ee She ine Her Gift to Come From People’s sons who are away from home. “Postal employees are going to do their best, as always, to see; that the Christmas mails are de-| livered on time,” said Acabrade |e O'Connell, First Assistant Post- | master General, in charge of pos-j “Postmasters al-} ready have done splendid work in} calling the unprecedented prob- | lem to public attention through newspapers and radio, and in pre-| paring to meet the rush of mail- ings. “But this year deliveries on} time are impossible unless the! public mails its parcels earlier | than ever before. We have re- duced the age limit for extra per- sonnel from 16 to 16, but the thou-; sands of persons being hired are] (Continued on Page Four) SELECT YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE Just Received A LARGE SHIPMENT of Northern Christmas Trees Choose Early for BEST TREE! A. VILLATE 418 FRONT STREET ETRE TATU ET ARTA TT TT a oer woveeceret GIVE HER A WATCH 2) GUFTS THEY ALL LE IK NATIONALLY ADVERTISED: .WATCHES @BULOVA :@BLGIN /\@WALTHAM ‘@GRUEN @LONGINES) aids @ OTHER MAKES LADIES WATCHES" ' ’ *1973 USE YOUR CREDI Open Evenings for Your Convenience JEWELRY DEPARTMENT PEOPLE'S CREDIT STORE “The Friendliest Credit Store in South Florida” OPPOSITE THE BUS STATION 514 Southard Street PHONE25 Key West, Fla. BERRA ROO B RRR RAR A RA ARA A O AA A AD i SOME HOME OWNERS IN WEST PALM BEACH ENTIRELY TAX FREE | the Germans and the Japs. | That is the decision of the Key | West Fire Devartment, which has | given the old engine to Joe Pear- |man, chairman of the Monroe | County Salvage Committee. The ! engine has been moved from the |No. 1 fire station yard to the lot on the shore front, across from ithe dump yard at Carolin !Grinnell streets. It. is estimated | that there are between five to six thousand pounds of metal in the engine. { H The old engine w | 14.—Some owners of property in this city had the pleasing experience of learning today that they will not have to Pay one cent.of taxes during the next year. They are the owners of homes that are exempted up to $5,000. In all other cities in the state. despite the ex emption, texes have to be Paid for bonds or liens. but several callers at the tax col lector’s office here today were told when asked the amount of their taxes. “Noth- ing!” Many of them thought the collector was funning. but they learned after he meant just whet he said. and a novelty in the fire fighting when it jarrived in Key {more than 25 y fused by the Key ; partment 11 years and was aba doned 14 years gao when the | ond of the gasoline engines rea ed here. Te one at the No. 1 tion now is the third and by the best of that type of engine that has come to Key West. Mr. Pearlman said this morning that the collection of scrap metal is still j Three trucks and six men are aking colesting meta! aineady DEALERS ASKED TO SUPPLY KEROSENE collected for shipment in barges ne REJECTED: KILLS SELF _—__— The Citizen has been ret CHICAGO, Dec. 14—Despon-'ed to announce that the dency over his failure to pass both ing board would army and navy physical examina- tions is believed to have caused | h@ve all dealers furnish ps jHenry Zeiss, 24, to commit sui-| With kerosene for the ti cide by shooting himself with a,ing inasmuch as the organization | special service revolver ‘ be pl | | | | | | me |has been unable to necessary stamps av: work will be completed within ,a short time. The board son this request ‘to deal | their patrons jis that the group is overrun wit |requests for ration books and jformation in connection with the ‘yationing program. Th states that the rea- have in the Shox int Bays bet El Aghia — Strugole Gen. Montgomery’s Forces Are Now Said Te Be Twenty Miles Beyond Captured Stronghold CAIRO, Dec. 14.—The Eighth Army has stormed captured El Agheila with Icss of only a few men. G Montgomery reported. At the war office here. it was said that the fall of El Acheila is the fi stronghold since the beg! cf the wer that has been abar Goned without a fight. General Monigomery however red pounded El Agheila for more then a week with heavy g¢ and big bombs so that its fenses were torn to pieces. Pra’ ticclly all the mines that leid in the epproaches tc Agheila were blown uv by Br ish artillery and bombs dropped by many souadrons of vlanes. Montgomery's men mede mejor assault at dawn. expect to meet with determined res ance. but only what was called “token” of apposition yas set up by the handful of men that was left behind by Marshel Romme He and the remainder es retreated toward from fi British Eighth mew 20 miles ind Reports the that th A beyond El Ache thet its progress Trivoli was contin. tle opposition. COMPLAIN ABOUT MAIL CENSORSHIP RELATIVE TO OPENING OF AMERICAN MAIL continuing in Key West SDI II II DD had tiated PRESCRIPTIONS Pharmacists. . GARDNER'S PHARMACY Pree Delivery - ~