NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. 46.—No. 70. NOME, ALASKA. FRIDAY, JUNE 16. 1944. PER COPY—13c.
Village Of Hoonah
Destroyed By Fire
Wednesday Eve
ANCHORAGE. Alaska. June
16.—(AP)—An Alaska Airlines
radio picked up a distress call
from Hoonah, Alaska, on the
evening of June 14th. which
said: "Send aid. Hoonah is
burning."
JUNEAU, June 16.—(AP)—Sev
en'y-five percent of the inhabi
tants of Hoonah, southeastern
Alaska viliage, are reported as
homeless after a fire swept wild
ly through most df the village on
Wednesday night.
One Native, John Smith, is1
known *o be dead, and there is
the possibility of one other cas
ualty.
Replacement value of the dam
age ' is estimated In excess of
1 $350,000.
The fire destroyed all stores, j
government teachers’ quarters,
the church, and reached very
near to the Union Oil Dock,, but
did not ignite the gasoline in
storage. The cannery on the out
skirts of town, escaped damage. :
The fire spread quick through
the flying dry moss, which cov-;
ered nearly every roof.
In the first reports, 380 were
estimated to be homeless, but la
ter. the figure rose to 500.
The Coast Guard immediately
dispatched (wo vessels to the
scene, and Governor Gruening,
with Bureau of Indian Affairs
officials, went yesterday.
Deputy U. S. Marshal Walter
Hellan, reported that blankets
and other supplies were being
rushed to the stricken area.
Hellan also said, “One Native'
perished and several other per-,
sons suffered minor burns.”
The fire presumably started
when a woman, who was drying
fish under a stilted house, used
gasoline instead of kerosene for
quicker action.
The people of Hoonah have al-|
ready decided to lay plans for
rebuilding.
DeCaulle Visits
Homeland Again
ISIGNY, France, June 16.— j
(AP>—General Charles DeGaulle
returned to his homeland Wed
nesday for the first time in four
years. His countrymen lined the
streets, shouting his name in a
dramatic ovation.
The leader of the French Na-'
tional Committee on Liberation
appeared unexpectedly, but the
news carried rapidly, and the!
name seemed as magic to the.
chanting crowds.
REBECCAH LODGE
MET WEDNESDAY
The Midnight Sun Rebecah
Lodge met at the home of Mrs.
E. H. Mahan Wednesday evening,
with Mrs. Con Yenney and Mrs.
Fred Rohn, assisting hostesses.
After the meeting, cards were
played for entertainment, and
the following were the winners.
' Mrs. Merle Roberts, presiding of
ficer, first prize; Mrs. S. David
Mazen, second prize, and S. Da
vid Mazen, consolation.
MRS. HELGA ENGSTROM
ARRIVES IN NOME
Mrs. Helen Engstrom and son,
Ronald, arrived in town to join
Mr. Engstrom, who has been
waiting here for them. They will
leave immediately for their mine
in the Kougarok district.
BALKY—It takes forceful persuasion to load an unwilling mule, obviously opposed to air travel,
into a transport plane for an air trip behind Jap lines east of Imphal.
Assault Troops
Land On Saipan,
Jap Naval Base
__
PEARL HARBOR. June 16.—
<AP> — Assault *roops landed
Wednesday morning on Saipan, a
Japanese air and naval base in
the Marianas. Troop landings
“were continued against strong
opposition", Admiral Nimitz an
nounced today.
Initial landings of the assault
started aPer an intensive prepar
atory bombing and bombardment
of Saipan. Tinian. Guam, Pagan,
| and Hota Islands by a great naval
| task force for four days prior to
the landings.
“Initial reports indicate our
casualties are moderate," said
Nimitz.
The assault on Saipan brings
the leapfrog vault to within 1,500
I miles of Tokyo.
Piano Recital Held
Saturday Eve
The piano students of Miss
Erickson presented their annual
piano recital at the Lavinia Wal
lace Young Mission on Saturday
evening, June 10th. he church
auditorium was decorated with
flowers and ferns for the occa
sion.
Marg Bjornstad welcomed all
those who were in attendance.
The following participated with
piano solos, duets and two-piano
numbers: Juanita Fagerstrom,
Bertha and Margaret Bjornstad,
Marilyn Dowd and Florence
Bell.
The Federated Church Junior
chair, with its director, Mrs.
Booker, favored the audience with
two selections.
MRS. WEST, RECENT
ARRIVAL IN NOME
A recent arrival in Nome is
Mrs. West, the former Miss Mar
guerite Lee. Mrs. West and daugh
ter will spend the summer in
Solomon with Mr. and Mrs. Rich
ard Lee, as Mr. West is flying in
China.
RETURNS AFTER
TWO-YEAR ABSENCE
Mrs. A. Steinwandel and two
children returned home again,
after an absence of two years.
Mr. Steinwandel is the engineer
in charge of the post power plant.
Allies Increasing 1
Strangle-Hold
On Peninsula Neck
In *
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
OF THE ALLIED EXPEDI- j
TIONARY FORCES, June 18^
(AP)—The allies are steadily
increasing their strangle-hold
on the neck of the Cherbourg
peninsula, as the Americans, in
a ten-mile-wide western drive,
have pushed an armored column
to within three miles of the
Cey road junction, and to with
in six miles of another.
S'orming westward from Ste.
Mere Eglise, one of Gen. Brad
ley’s columns reached Reing
Neville, three miles from St. Sau
veur, a road junction which would
sever two of the three roads lead
: ing to Cherbourg, about 18 miles
north.
A few miles to the south of the
| firs’ column, another American
I force is engaged in desperate
fighting for Le Haye du Pitts,
the capture of which would sever
all roads through the bitterly
contested peninsula.
Dimond Asks For
Veterans' Hospital
—
WASHINGTON, D. C„ June 16.
—(AP)—Alaska’s Delegate, An
i thony J. Dimond, asked congress
recently to authorize the Veter
j ans’ Administration to construct
veterans’ hospitals in Alaska, one
hospital to be constructed in
southeastern Alaska, and another
at Seward.
Nipponese Tell
Of Raid On Japan
NEW YORK, June 16.—(AP)—
The Japanese Imperial headquar
ters acknowledged today in a
broadcast communique that
“about 20 B-29 and B-24 bomb
ers from the ‘China area’, raided
■ northern Kyushu, the southern
Japanese island."
The FCC reported the commu
nique, which said: "Our western
air defenses immediately inter
cepted and repulsed them, shoot
ing down several. Our losses were
negligible.”
An earlier broadcast, in the first
Tokyo confirmation of the bomb
ings, claimed six American planes
downed.
Pilotless Planes
Used In Raid On j
Great Britain |
PILOTLESS PLANES
LONDON, June 16.—'APt—
Flame-spitting, pilotless planes
drove into southern England to
day and last night, it was report
I ed today.
This was the Germans u..t
! “seeve* weapon” since the inva
i sion of France.
These craft exploded on or near
the ground, causing deaths and
considerable damage in scattered
areas, and sent anti-aircraft guns
barking extensively in daylight,
for the first time since the early
blitz days in 1940.
Descriptions of the weapon var
ied considerably, but all agreed
these self-destroying aircraft flew
at terrific speed and were marked
by bright lights, and shot flames
from their exhausts, suggesting
they might be rocket propelled. I
Allies Move Ahead
From Adriatic Sea
To Tyrrhenian Sea
J _
j ROME, June 1€—CAP>—The al
lies smashed forward from the
I Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea
| today, advancing as much as 25
miles in 24 hours, and capturing
such important highway towns as
Asquapendente, Narni and Terni.
Along the way of farthest ad
vance was made by the British
8th Army, in the capture of Todi,
60 airline miles north of Rome,
and only 85 miles south of the
Pisa-Rimini line, where the flee
ing Germans may make a stand.
There has been no organized
enemy defense in front of the line
running from Pisa on the west;
coast through Florence to Rimini!
on the Adriatic Sea.
The Fifth Army pushed above
Lake Bolshena and captured Ac- j
quapendente, about seven miles
north.
RETURNS FROM
CALIFORNIA
Mrs. Duke Mitrovitch, who flew
to the States recently, returned
home this week after a visit in
California.
Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Quigley
have returned to Nome and will
leave shortly for their mine in
the Solomon district.
Two B-29s Lost
By Accident In
Raid On Japan
: WASHINGTON, D C„ June 16
—<"AP>—Two of the mighty B-29’s
j were lost through accident yes
I terday, but none because of ene
i my action, as the American su
per-bombers turned Japanese ui-|
: dustrial targets into “glowing
masses of wreckage”
The crew on one of the lost |
planes, however, is safe, the War
Department reported.
The number of participating)
i aircraft in the raid, was not made
known as the first . details eh-)
gaged in this aV*ck» marked the
1 beginning of .an. entirely new
chapter in aerial'warfare by the)
.greatest bombers every built.
The formation, un,dec direct |
I command of General Arnold, was
described as a' “sizeable task)
' force,” operating from recently,
| completed, largest single grout
1 of airfields in the world, in the
' heart of western Chind.
The raid gave the Nipponese
Empire, in the words of an eye
witness, “her answer to the De
cember 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in
cident.’*
Red Army Smashes
Wav Through
Finnish Line
MOSCOW, June 18.—'A?>—
The Red Army smashed its way
through the Finnish “New Man
nerheim Line”, one of the last
barriers on the way to the impor
tant seaport of Viipuri, it was re
ported today.
Red Star, the Russian newspa
per, said, “The new line was a
tremendous fortification, consist
ing of four lines of walls, made
cone-shaped, with lines of anti
tank blocks almost two yards
high, before which lay an anti
tank mine field, 20 yards wide,
strewn with German mines.
“A great gap has been cut in
| this line, and in some places,
Soviet tanks and artillery, as well
i as infantry, are considerably be
| yond it.”
|
Halsey Relieved
Of Command
ALLIED SOUTH PACIFIC
HEADQUARTERS, June 16.—Ad
miral William F. Halsey relin
quished his position as command
er-in-chief of the south Pacific,
hursday, to Vice-Admiral John
Henry Newton, his deputy.
Halsey is being assigned to an
undisclosed Pacific role.
Reductions Are
Ordered By OP A
_
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16.
—( AP>—The OPA ' ordered “sub
stantial reductions” in the ceiling
prices of both domestic and im
| ported fur skins today, and said
the savings would be passed on to
the public.
The regulation, effective June
, 18th, fixes prices on the sales of
| skins through auction houses, and
j brokers.
Dyed or dressed Alaska seal
| skins, raw or dressed blue or
white Alaska fox pelts are cov
j ered by separate regulation.
Superfortresses
Strike Blow At
Huge Steel Works
3y CLYDE A. FARNSWORTH
AT A U. S. SUPER-FORT
RESS BASE IN WESTERN
CHINA, June 18.—'AP,—Amer
ican B-29's. the new Superfort
resses, struck a terrific body
blow to Japan's war industry
and hare probably knocked out
one-fifth of the empire 's steel
production, in yesterday's rai-}
on Yawata. the '“Pittsburgh
of Japan."
The world’s most powerful war
planes made the longest bombing
flight in history, leaving trains of
demolition bombs, and burning
the Imperial Steel & Iron Works
at Yawata, in northern Kyushu.
“This is but the beginning of
our organized destruction of the
Japanese indus’rial empire,”
commented Brig. Gen. Kenneth
Wolfe, who is chiefly responsible
for the production of the 3-29,
The Imperial works is the lar
gest in the Japanese Empire and
credited with twenty per cent of
*he Jap steel production
Yesterday's mission was a com
bined psychological and strategi
cal stroke at maximum power,
which has long been a secret with
the 20th Bomber Command.
Two of the B-29’3 failed to re
turn
The raid came on the heels of
Premier Tojo’s declaration the
Japs themselves were preparing a
surprise.
Japanese stations broadcasting
the English version of Tojo’s
speech, were p«ay!ng “pirated
swing music" when Wolfe's raid
er pack came in on their 151-foot
silver wings for the first target
attack in Japan with the new
weapon, on the most strongly de
fended of the Japanese home Is
lands.
Brig. Gen. Wolfe, aground by
War Department order, was
sweating out the mission in his
ward room, with Major Gen.
George Stratemeyer, second in
command of all allied air forces
in the southeast air theater, when
the first Superfortresses flashed
the code word “Betty”, meaning
"bombs away”, at 12:50 a. m.
Friday Japanese fime.
Said Stratemeyer: “Wolfe, may
I offer my congratulations. This
is the start of the finish.”
The Superfortress, which can
carry more explosives faster, high
er and farther than any other
plane, flew from a network of
bases laboriously carved out of
Western China plains, by 450,000
conscript and contract Chinese la
borers, men, women and children.
Actually, this was the second
Superfortress raid, the first being
a raid on the Makasan railway
shops at Bankok, on June 5th, in
a great shakedown operation.
The southeast Asia communique
of June 8th called it the “heav
iest blow of the war”.
A Bankok communique said:
“Black smoke rose to great
heights through the clouds, as the
bombers, despite the bad weather,
pressed home widespread attacks
on railway shops and parceling
yards.”
MRS. E. M. SEWART WILL
MAKE FAIRBANKS HOME
Mrs. E. M. Stewart, widow of
the late superintendent of the Al
aska Road Commission, Valdez
district, was a Fairbanks visitor
last week. Mrs. Stewart, who was
on her way to the States, said
she planned to return to Fair
banks within a few months and
make her home here.—(Jess*n’st.
Weekly). ^