r Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. “The News of The Dav In Pictures" Member Of I he Associated Press
' THE NOME NUGGET
VOL. 43. No. 117. NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, DEC. 5,1941. Per Copy 1W
* Japan Replys To President’s Note
Serb Guerillas Withstand Nazi Assaults In Moravia
WATCH YOUR ST E P !—High-stepping Muriel (left)
and Violet Mulvcnna of Red Oak, la., are famous at l njversity of
Mississippi football games as the drum majorette sister team—and
you can see why. They spend part of their time teaching classes in
baton work and so earn some of iiieir tuition. Each won national
titles at the St. i’aul winter carnival.
British African Armies Get New
, Setback With Loss Of Gambut
Hitler May Plan Move Into Turkey
UNDATED, Dec. 5 (4*j — Brit
an’s north African armies are
credited with beating off two
heavy Axis attacks on El Duda in
the battle zone south of Tob
ruk, but a new setback was ack
nowledged in the loss of Gambut,
supply base 40 miles east of
Tobruk. Authoritaitve London
quarters conceded that Axis
troops reoccupied Gambut which
the British captured on the sec
ond day of General Cunning
ham’s 18-day-old offensive in
L by a.
British headquarters said Axis
troops attacked El Duda in three
waves, suffering heavy casualties
in the first two assaults but gain
ing slightly in the third. Imperial
counter attacks were declared to
have regained most of the lost
ground, however. Axis forces are
again suffering heavily from kill
ed and wounded, a British bul
letin said, as New Zealand troops
are mopping up, along the Egyp
tian-Libyan .frontier, routed rem
nants of the German and Italian
column which fled to the west
ward.
Serb Guerillas
Stand Off Nazis
UNDATED, Dec. 4 </P\ — Hit
ler's ivasnion armies, hard press
ed in the sands of north Africa,
were flung into headlong retreat
in the Russian Ukraine with a
new fight on their hands as Serb
guerillas were reported battling
three Axis divisions in old Yugo
slavia.
At the same time, a London
broadcast reported fresh German
troops were rushed to points
alorg Bulgaria’s southern front
ier w'th Turkey, to which the
President has extended American
'end-lease aid. The broadcast
said Nazi military preparations
all along the frontier were step
ped up. with the Germans tight
ening control on Bulgarian ports
and air fields. There was no im
mediate indication whether Ger
many feared that the British,
al ied with Turkey, and encou
raged by Russia’s weeping coun
ter offensive in the Ukraine,
might opan a new “back door”
front in the Balkans, or whether
Hitler planed to move into Tur
key himself.
A Serb communique issued at
Cairo said the Germans launch
ed “what appears to be a general
offensive” against positions held
by' the unconquered guerilla
forces of General Mihailovic, in
a valley of a western Moravia
river. The comunique said “our
forces are resisting succesfully in
the face of furious onslaughts,
although in the sector of Uzice,
enemy tank attacks obliged one
of our units to withdraw.” Uzice
is a battle-tom town of about
12.000 population and is about 80
miles southeast of Belgrade. Ger
man troops in Yugoslavia are
estimated at about 75,000 men,
while Mihailovic is said to have
80.000 who have sworn to wipe
out the Nazi conquerors.
A Havas dispatches said 1500
persons were killed in a muni
tions dump explosion at Oujitza,
Serbia, in a fight between guer
illa and government troopsfl Of
ficial London announcements re
cently reported that 350,000 per
sons have been 'killed in mass
executions in Yugoslavia since
the country’s fall, last spring.
Roosevelt Informed That Japanese
Troops In Indo-China Are There
By Agreement With Vichy Govt.
J t/ J
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 </P) —
Japan's government informed
President Roosevelt that Japan
ese troops in Indo China were
there by agreement with the
French goverment and that their
presence is required because of
the Chinese menace to the
French colony. The Japanese
communication declared that a
treaty between Japan and the
Vichy government provided for
the “joint defense” of Indo China
and that the Japanese troops now
there did not exceed those speci
fied in the pact.
"Japan Always
to *
Says Nomura
•>
WASHINGTON. Die. 5 t/P) —
Japan's envoys took 25 minutes
to give the State Department
their government's reply to Presi
dint Roosevelt's query why Jap
anese troops are massed in
French Indo-China, but withheld
any public word as to what the
reply was. Ambassador Nomura,
asked by reporters whether there
would be further Japanese-Am
erican conference said, “As far
as we are concerned we are al- j
ways willing to talk. After all.
we are a friendly nation.” Spec
ial envoy Kurusu said merely,
nothing definite, but declined to
go into details concerning the
eomunication he gave to Hull.
The envoys, however, didn’t!
present a reply to Hull’s note of
November 26, in which the Sec
retary outlined the basic prin
ciples considered vital to peace
and a full settlement of Pacific
problems.
The President disclosed at his
press conference that he consult
ed with Hull before the latter
saw Japan’s negotiators and he
invited the Secretary to report
back to him at a luncheon en
gagement. The President made
no comment whatever on the
Japanese situation and concern
ing the number of troops in Indo
china, which the United States
and Britain fear is the vanguard
for in attack on Thailand. Kuru
u said he believed the numbers
reported were exaggerated.
Frontier Skirmish
\Uth Russians
TOKYO, Dec. 5 (/Pi — Repat
riation of Japanese nationals in
strategic areas of the Pacific
gained an ominous pace amid
signs of deteriorating relations
with the U. S. and associated
powers, including a new skirmish
with Rusians on the Manchukuo
frontier.
Emperor Hirohito called at the
army section imperial headquar
ters where he received an aud
ience with General Sugiyama,
chief of the general staff, who it
was formally announced, report
ed on ‘‘matters under his juris
diction." Hirohito also gave an
audience to the headquarters !
staff.
---—__
U. S. To Keep
Burma Road Open
UNDATED, Dec. 4 (/Pi — In
the far east crisis, the Japanese
press sizzled anew over alleged
“encirclement” of Japan by Am
erica, Britain, China and the
Dutch East Indies.
New Japanese military man
euvers increased the tension and
in Chungking, the Chinese army
spokesman said that 40 Japanese
warships, including an aircraft
carrier with 45 planes aboard,
was spotted in Camrahn Bay on
the southeast coast of French
Indo-China, potential spring
board for attacks on Singapore
and the Dutch Eeast Indies or
the Philippines. The spokesmap
said Chinese secret service op
erators also discovered that the
Japanese are hastily building an
air base in western Indo-China,
near the Gulf of Siam and im
pressed 5,000 native workers to
do the job.
In the meantime, dispatches
from Manila reported the arrival
there of the first group of Am
erican transportation men, en
route to the Far East to keep war
supplies rolling on the Burma
Road. Included were American
planes and pilots to guard them
from air attacks on the long
road.
As the United States still wait
ed for the Japanese answer to
Hull’s terms for peace in the Pac
ific, in Tokyo, the privy council,
the Emperor’s highest advisory
organ discussed American-Japan
ese relations in a two and a half
hour session. Premier Tojo and
I
foreign minister Togo reported to
the Council in detail, it was an
nounced, and “active opinions
exchanged.”
Portugal is reported to have
joined the rush to defense mea
sures among Europe’s colonies in
the Orient. The Vichy radio said
the Portuguese minister of col
onies ordered to active service
all reserve officers in the colony
of Timor, on the eastern tip of
; the Malayan Peninsula.
DOMEI FORECASTS
JAP REPLY TO U. S.
TOKYO, Dec. 4 </P) — The au
thoritative agency Domei tonight
circulated a statement declaring:
In the Japanese view, the dec
laration of the fundamental Unit
ed States position handed to
Japan’s envoys by Hull last week
: cannot serve as a basis “for nego
tiations hencefore." Domei mere
ly quoted “observers,” but in
view of its close connections with
| the government, the dispatch was
widely interpreted as an accurate
forecast of the eventual Japan
ese reply to the United States.
Might Bring Japanese
Statement of Policy in East
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (/P) —A
Japanese embassy official said
Tokyo’s negotiators on the tense
far eastern situation meet the
President and Hull tmorrow with
their government’s reply to
Roosevelt's request for an ex
planation of large Japanese troop
movements in Indo-China. He
added that the envoys might
bring a statement of policy bear
ign on the American note hand
ed them by Hull last week. The
appointment is for 8 a.m. PST.
Torpedoed Tanker
Damages One of
Attacking Subs
WASHINGTON. Dec. 4 OPi —
The Navy reported that the tor
pedoed and damaged naval tank
er Sa inas which made port with
out lrss of life, counterattacked
and apparently damaged one of
the submarines which launched
a total of five torpedoes at the
vessel in the north Atlantic on'
Oetobt r 30.
New $1,990,000
(onn. Bridge
( oIJapses-3 Dead
HARTFORD, Conn.. Dec. 4 </P) j
At least three men were kill |
ed and 19 injured and an unde-j
termined number of others miss- j
ing, as a section of a new million
nine hundred thousand dollar
Connecticut River bridge, con
necting Hartford with East Hart
ford, collapsed, tossing them 90
feet into the water. A number of
the injured were serviously hurt.
Maximum Mobil- |
ization British
Is Approved
LONDON, Dec. 4 i/P) — The
House of Commons gave its gen
eral approval to Churchill’s plan j
for maximum mobilization of
men and women by a vote of 32fi
to 10 after putting down an in
Recapture 4.000
Square Miles In
Donets R. Basin
UNDATED, Dec. 5 iJP> — Rus
sian Ukraine armies are reported
to have captured 4.000 square
miles of territory in the Rostov
and Donets River basin front,
wresting "a hundred villages”
from the fleeing Germans, while
in the north, Soviet dispatches
admitted the Nazis opening of a
violent new onslaught northeast
of M scow. The German push, it
was reported, broke through the
Red army defenses just below
Klin, 50 miles north of Moscow',
and continued eastward toward
Dimitrov, 40 miles due north of
Moscow.
On the southern front, the So
viet radio said Marshal Timoshen
ko’s armies, driving west through,
the Donets River basin and along
the Sea of Azov, reached the
Mius River, “where the Germans
are trying to form a new front.”
Two Red army spearheads are
reported racing ahead in an at
tempt to hem up the Germans,
retreating toward Maruipole, a
hundred miles west of Rostov.
Soviet dispatches acknowledged
that German rear guard detach
ments are still holding out in
parts of Taganrog. 40 miles west
of Rostov, but said the Russian
flag is flying again over the city.
surgent Laborite amendment
which would also have conscript
ed wealth. The Labor amend
ment also would have national
ized many industries and was
beaten 336 to 40. It was previous
ly disapproved in caucus, and
which will smooth over the threat
ened Laborite split on the issue.
RUSSIANS REPORT GAINS
seige ring at Leningrad (1), and claimed gains in the Kalinin (l>
and Maloyaroslavets (3) sectors, on the Moscow front. In the
Crimea, the Germans said they were “in front of Kerch" (4) and
were battering Stevaaftopol (5) by air.