wspuper In Alaska. 6,Tiie Ae*® of Iiie i)a\ iti Pictures'5 Member of I lie Xssociatecl Pre««
THE NOME NUGGET
VOL. 44. No. 141. NOME, ALASKA. Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1942 Per Cop>' 15*
*a* JPT
una Is
I
Battle of North Africa "Extremely
-1
Critical'"--Showdown Is Developing
—
LONDON, Nov. 25 (.P) — Foreign Secretary An-1
thong- Eden told the House of Commons that the bat
tle o N ih Africa is “in an extremely critical phase"
, but declined to discuss the arrangement Gen. Eisen
howe" made with Laval and the French authorities.
Eden didn’t elaborate on his statement.
w An Allied spokesman, however, repeatedly point
ed ov ’hat the relatively light resistance of the French j
was only the first phase of the showdown for domin-;
ation of the Mediterranean’s African shore. There will i
be a test, and it is now developing, between the Allies
and the stronger defenses of the Axis. This spokesman
stressed that political arrangements in North Africa
were intended to free Allied military commanders i
there for the main job, in that sense that political and !
mildary considerations closely dovetailed.
Germans Report Heavy Air Blows On
* British and Allies in North Africa
BERT .IN, Nov. 25 (/P) — Heavy air blows against
the British in Libya and her allies in French North Af
rica, were reported by the German command but said
“there were no fighting actions of importance” on
either battlefront. In Libya, a bulletin said, low-flying
German plane attacked British desert strongholds and
flying fields.
A Berlin radio broadcast reported that the British
First Army “suffered a severe setback in its attempt
to gain ground in the Tunisian-Algerian frontier area.”
It was asserted in difficult and mountainous ground,
fairly strong British tank spearheads, closely followed
by several motorized columns, were caught in am
bushes prepared by German and Italian tank troops.
Unlikely Japs Getting
Reinforcements Solomons
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24
(/P)—Secty. Knox said “It;
is very unlikely” that the,
Japs are getting reinforce-'
ment troops to oppose the!
American forces on Guad
alcanal. “It is possible but
not probable, because of i
rigid U. S. patrol, work-1
ing day and night.”
Knox said the Japs have,
not been reported landing
any more troops since the
great unsuccessful drive,
almost two weeks ago, to
land a huge force and over
whelm the American de
fenders and the airfields
there. Prior to the big
push, the Jap method was
feeding in an average of
about 900 men every sec
ond night, landing them,
from cruisers and destroy
er group.
British Army
Takes Agedabia
Cairo, Nov. 24 (/P.) —The
British Eighth Army en
tered Agedahia, 100 miles
south of Bengasi yester
day and continued in pur
suit of the broken Axis
army toward El Agheila,
70 piiles to the southwest.'
The British announced
that Rommel’s forces evac
uated Gialo, an. o6$ls south
of Agedabia and were re
ported continuing the
withdrawal toward El1
Agheila, where a stand
may be made.
The oasis was occupied
by British units.
NOTICE
_
Two Super-Fex oil-burning
circulating heaters in good condi
tion. one large, one medium, for
sale at the Nome Nugget
Russian Cains
Average 6 To
12 Miles a Dav
*
Russians Steadily Closing
In Along Whole Stalin
grad Salient
Moscow, Nov. 24 (TP) —
The jaws of a double Rus
sian offensive, battlefront
reports said, bit deeply in
to the cold steppes west of
the Don bend and cost the
Germans 50,000 dead and
captured and closing stead.
ily the Nazis’ whole Stalin
grad salient, despite des
perate German resistance
efforts to keep open the cor
ridor for reinforcement
and escape.
At Stalingrad, the Rus- j
sians reDorted new gains |
and maintained -an aver- j
age of 6 to 12 miles a day |
northwest of Stalingrad,!
and 9 to 12 miles a day
southwest of the city. The
deepest reported penetra
tion was at Chernyshev
j skaya, on the Chir river,
! 125 miles west of Stalin
i grad and 75 miles west of
I Kalach, railroad town at
i the Don bend, which the
; Russians seized over the
week-end.
Violent Struggle
rr
for Air Supremacy
<h er North Africa
London, Nov. 24 (/-P)—A
violently erupting struggle
for air supremacy was
fought over Tunisia and
along the Axis Mediteran
nean shuttle route, while
British and American forc
es on the ground are get
ting set for an all-out as
sault on Tunis and Bizerte.
Once the enemy is driv
en from the North Afric
an skies there is every
sign that the aerial conflict
will be a hard one for the
great fleets of German
planes gathering in the
Mediterranean theater. Ax
is reinforcements are still
reaching Tunisia through
an alleged gantlet and “the
fight is going to be tough
er and longer than might
j be expected,” said a spokes
! man for Allied headquar
j ters of the North African
; campaign.
i FEDER AL TAX ON STEAMER
FARES IS INCREASED
An increase in the Federal tax
j on passenger fares on steamers
1 of 5 percent went into effect on
j Nov. t. This, already to the j
| peceent previously in effect,
means a 10 percent tax on all
j passenger fares.
Theaters, Taverns Are Hit
Hard By Dimout Order
•>
Seattle, Nov.—The black
out of residential areas
! stopped Seattle’s rip-roar
i n g wartime pleasure
boom dead recently as
theaters, dance spots and
taverns all over the city re
ported business off 50 per
cent after nightfall.
Residential areas, which
were lighted until mid
night are now completely
black from dusk on.
Theaters and ballroms
| usually anticipate crowds
of high school and college
age youths on Friday
nights but now parents
1 keep their children and
young people in the house.
Managers reported a few
boys of high school age in
! audiences but almost no
i girls. Adult attendance
was alsb off everywhere.
Theater audiences and
; tavern crowds began fall
jing off on Thursday, by 10
: to 30 percent, but business
| as a whole was cut by ap
' pgoximately one-half.
Ttyree big downtown the-,
i a.iers reported audiences j
off 60, 40 and 50 percent.
Neighborhood theaters:
report fair attendance at
1 early shows, with many
patrons arriving with flash
lights, but uniformly bad
attendance at late shows.
Friday night theater queu
es failed to develop any
where.
Bartenders report that
women patrons refused to
carry purses if they visited
bars, and that many cus-|
tomer were staying home
altogether. One bartender
at a tavern with a steady
family business reported
only 20 percent of his us
ual Friday crowd.
Ballroom dance crowds
wore scanty and many wo
men asked their partners
to take them home early.
Meanwhile Police w ere
increasing their vigilance
after two women reported
that they had been attack
ed in the dark.
Trackless trolleys and
buses of the Seattle Tran
sit System were general
ly running on time, Lloyd
P. Graber, general manag
er, said.
“Service on lines which
run on well traveled
streets has been on time,'
while lines which operate j
along streets with little
automobile traffic and,
hence few lights have been
a little late. Generally, the
j service is good.
“Our worst difficulty has
been the trouble drivers
have in seeing passengers
waiting at curbs. Passen
gers have started stepping
out in the street as coaches
approach. We are afraid of
this —it might cause acci
dents.
“We want people to ei
ther light a match as a bus
approaches or, if they have
a flashlight, to shine it at
themselves. Don’t shine it
at the bus. The driver is
trying to see you.”i
| Buy Deters? Bond.' ar.d Stamp
! hanksgiving Proclamation
In conformity with proclamation of the
President of the United States of America, and
he Governor of the Territory of Alaska, I, Edward
Anderson, Mayor of the City of Nome, hereby
proclaim, Thursday, November 26th, as a general
holiday, to lay aside our every-day duties, and
devote our minds and thoughts in thanks to Al
mighty God for all blessings besowed upon us as
a nation. And also pray for his guidance, in our
duty to preserve liberty, freedom and happiness.
EDWARD ANDERSON. Mayor
Bombers Under Mac Arthur Smash
Jap Attempt At Landing At Buna
LAND FIGHTING HEAVY, SLOW AND DIFFICULT
Allied Headquarters in Australia, Nov. 25 (/P) —
Thursday — Heavy and medium bombers, operating
under Gen. MacArthur’s Command, smashed a Japan
ese attempt to land reinforcements at Buna Wednes
day, sinking two enemy destroyers and damaging a
third, with indications that it probably sank. All were
heavily loaded with troops.
Headquarters announced that a Japanese light
cruiser and a fourth destroyer were also in the action
and retreatc-d hastily from the northern New Guinea
shore under heavy Allied pounding.
Fighting on land continued heavy, slow and diffi
cult, encountering carefully prepared enemy positions.
Russians Squeeze Invaders’ Escape Corridor
MOSCOW, Nov. 25 (/P) — German losses in dead
and captured alone rocketed close to 100,000 as the
Russian counter offensive gained momentum and
squeezed the invaders’ escape corridor from Stalin
grad, down to a widest of 30 miles, battlefront dispatch
es reported from Stalingrad.
The Russians are reported rolling back the Nazis, '
in a wedge to the Volga, clearing another avenue for
supply and reinforcment of the garrison, which has al
ready lashing out of its defensive positions and beat
ing back the Nazis street by street. Northwest of the
city, the Russian offensive penetrated 80 miles into the
depth of the German defenses and within the great
Don bend, to the southwest, the Russians stabbed 5
miles into the invaders’ lines. The jaws of the nut
cracker are still closing. The communique added 3400
more German dead to the overnight toll in the Stalin
grad and Don bend sector alone, raising the official
count killed to 44.400 in 6 days. Battlefront dispatches,
said the tally, when all reports are in. will be close to
50,000