Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. *']Jie News of ihe Dav In Pictures” Member of I lie Associated Press
THE NOME NUGGET ’
Vol. 44 No. 103. NOME, ALASKA, Wednesday. AUG. 5, 1942 per Co^ 15*
Blackout Pacific Coastal Area Ordered August 20
Timoshenkos Armies Flank Nazis
In ilattle of Bend' Near Stalingrad
Still No Indication That Sov iet Trans-Caucasian Army
Had Gone Into Action — Being Held n Reserve
UNDATED, Aug. 4 (/Pi — Soviet dispatches declar
ed that Marshal Timoshenko's armies, sweeping art und
the German flanks, cut off Nazi forces in “the battle of
the Bend,” BO miles northwest : Stalingrad, but that
invaders continued to surge Ur ward on the lower
Don and Caucasus.
A bulletin from Hitler's headquarters asserted that
several points were captured in the town of Voro
shilovsk, 180 miles southeast of Rostov. If true, this
means that the Germans have already advanced near
ly one-third of the distance to the great Caucasus oil
fields, far beyond the sectors noted in the Soviet com
muniques: the Kuban river which empties into the
Black Sea. and crossed the Rostov-Batu rail line.
The German communique said Voroshilovsk, de
scribed as an important industrial sector, fell to Nazi
shock troops after violent house-to-house fighting.
Russians Flood Manych River Valley
A British radio broadcast reported that the Russians
have blown up a dam and flooded the Manych river val
ley to stem the advance of German armored units
north of Salsk, 100 miles southeast of Rostov.
There was still no indication that the Soviet trans
Caucasian army had gone into action and it seemed
likely that the force is being held in reserve to make
a stand in the rugged mountains which guard the ap
proach to the rich Baku oil fields, from the north.
Warns Against “Idle Dreams” of Second Front
Meanwhile, it was disclosed that Mussolini, speak
ing in northeast Italy, near the border of Slovenia,
sounded a warning against “idle dreams” about a sec
ond front.” The law in Italy will be applied in an un
relenting manner against those who nourish idle
dreams on this side or that side of the frontier. There
will not be a second front here any more than else
where in the world, he was quoted as saying after
conferring with his officers on measures to keep order
in Axis-conquered Yugoslavia.
Old Issue Is Raised By Saboteurs
m
WASHINGTON, Aug. — The sudden move by Chief
Justice Harlan F. Stone in calling the United States
Supreme Court to sit upon a plea for habeus corpus
for seven of the eight alleged Nazi saboteurs, on trial
before a military commission in Washington city, may
clear up once and for all a question of the rights of
citizens in times of war.
This question has been one that troubled the nation
since 1815, when the doughty Andrew Jackson not
only threw an accused man in prison and ignored a
writ of habeus corpus but also put the judge in jail
for granting the writ.
Definition of Famous Jurist
The question has been defined by a famous jurist in
these words:
“It was intended by the Constitution that the powers
of government in dealing with civil rights in time of
peace should be defined and limited, but powers to
provide for the general welfare and common defense
in time of war should be analyzed.”
President Lincoln acted under the common defense
clause of the Constitution many times during the Civil
War when he refused to acknowledge writs of habeus
corpus issued by the Court.
President Could Ignore Writ
President Roosevelt could ignore any writ that might
be issued by the Court. President Johnson did not heed
the habeus corpus issued in behalf of the conspirators
in the assassination of Lincoln and there have been
numerous instances in times of war where military
law has ignored the civil courts.
On the ther hand, it may be the better part of wis
dom to show undue care for the ranks of citizens and
non-citizens as a clear cut contrast with the arbitrary
> way in which like cases are handled in the dictatorship
countries.
Order Black-Out
r _ |
Coast Area
San Francisco, Aug. 5 (UP)
I —General DeWitt stopped
! night baseball and other
i night outdoor sports on the
Pacific seaboard and order
ed every electric sign and
theater marquee exting
u ished and prescribed
some form of shielding for
i virtual:v all other types of
exterior lighting, effective
; August 20. for the duration
of the war.
The proclamation creat
ed a a a * of restricted light
■ ing in western Washing
ton, Oregon and California
some places 150 miles wide
which DeWitt said the pre
| sent situation requires as
a mat - er of military neces
! sity.
“Enemy armed forces
have made attacks upon
United States vessels trav
eling along Pacific coastal
waters and upon land in
stallations. It is necesasry
to provide maximum pro
i tection for war utilities,
war materials and war pre
! raises located within Wash
I ington, Oregon and Calif
j ornia against enemy at
tacks by sea and air,” the
: General said.
Shipyard lights were or
dered shielded as much as
possible.
John Wagner, 80. Strong
est Man on Chilkoot Pass
Trail in 96 Passes Away
Juneau, Aug. 4 (UP) —
John Wagner, aged 80,
known as the strongest
man on the Chilkoot Pass
trail during the Klondike
gold rush, died in the hos
pital here. He was a pa
tient since October.
He came north in 1896
and established the reput
ation as being the only
packer able to carry a cook
j stove. He had plenty of
money on his arrival in Ju
neau and established a
claim on Salmon Creek.
Friends said he turned
down several offers from
ten to twenty thousand dol
lars for an option on the
claim.
CANADIANS MUST
WAKE SAYS HEAD
TORONTO, Aug. — Premier
Hepburn of Ontario, predicted
that Japarib next move will be a
new attack on Dutch Harbor,
from which their long range
bombers could attack United
States production centers on the
Pacific Coast and a considerable
distance inland.
“Of course I’m a pessimist, but
| I say we are living in a fool’s
i paradise and it is only absolute
fear that will waken people to
! a realization of what they must
j face in the immediate future.
The situation in Canada today is
i a perfect parallel to France in
j 1940, when the people did not
i awakan to danger until the Ger
j mans crossed the Meuse.”
Huge Cargo Planes
Are Still Urged
■1 ■
Washington, Aug. —Henry Kai
'►•r, Wr-st Coast shipbuilder, has 1
idv: vd Congress that it should !
order all of the nation’s ship
! builders to launch into the con
! struction of giant cargo planes to
j speed tire war effort and break
the submarine menace.
The bald-topped shipbuilder
! from San Francisco told the Sen
1 ate Defense Investigating Com
mittee that he is only awaiting
the signal to convert part of his
facilities to cargo plane construe
lion and that the big steel com
panies will “rise to the occasion”
if requested to make similar con
versions
Before the commitee met. Sen
itor Josii Lee claimed strong sup
port from aeronautical experts
with.n the administration for the
legislation he Is sponsoring to di
vert shipbuilding facilities to
; plane construction.
Recently, an official of the War
Production Board testified that a
shortage of motors for the huge
planes would prevent any large
scale swing to building the huge
“flying tankers."
Senator Lee urges the conver
sion on the grounds that “it
doesn’t do any good to build
I shuns if the enemy can sink them
! faster than we can build them."
Russian Is Opti
mistic In Article
KUIBYSHEV Aug. —“The day
is approaching when the Red
Army will deliver a counter
blow," Major General Zhuralev,
military commentator for the
Moscow News said in a review
ing of the battle.
“The German Army is still cap
able of scoring short-lived suc
cesses in separate sections on the
front, but we aro certain that the
German war machine is hurtling
to its own destruction and will
inevitably be smashed,” he
wrote.
He said that the situation at
Voronezh had turned the favor
of the Red Army on their south
ern flank position and that while
serious “it affords no grounds for
pessimistic appraisals.”
The Germans had transferred
seven divisions from France to
Voronezh, he declared.
- , .. . . i -
Japs Ready To
Attack In Siberia
London, Aug.—Preparations for
an attack on Russia’s Siberian
maritime provinces and Vladivos
tok are almost complete and if
necessary the Japs could “press a
button to starta move on Siber
ia’’ a British source declared.
This source, whose identity is
not permitted to be disclosed, said
that occupation of the islands at
the western tip of the Aleutians
has resulted in a useful strateg
ical situation.
The Japs have since placed
themselves “on the flank of a
possible American attack on Jap
an.” Japan has massed an army
of about 30 divisions in Manchu
kuo.
Her military activity in Burma
and other areas necessarily is
limited, it was pointed out, as
i the source predicted that Japan
! is preparing to throw at least a
I half million men overland into
j an onslaught on Siberia.
Enemy Sub Shells. Sinks Small L.S.
Merchant Ship In North Pacific
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (/P; — The Navy announc
ed that a small United States merchant ship was shell
ed and sunk by an enemy submarine in the north Pac
ific several hundred miles off the west coast more than
two weeks ago. The survivors were landed at a west
coast port.
Survivors Oi Sunk \essel Relate
Attack and Machine-Gunning Boats
Eight Men Die: Two In Attack, Six From Exposure
On Night of July 1 4th
SEATTLE, Aug. 5 LP> — How a Jap sub crew ma
chine gunned survivors of an American freighter sink
ing in flames, after a severe shelling in the north Pac
ific was told by the crew, evacuated recently from Al
aska. Hospital interviews were approved by the 13th
Naval District headquarters.
Eight men died in the attack on the night of July
14th. two of gunfire and six from exposure in life rafts.
Two were wounded by shell fragments and all 24 sur
vivors were suffering from exposure when rescued
after drifting about for 8 days in a lifboat and 2 rafts.
The vessel was a medium-sized cargo ship owned by
| a Pacific Coast Company and commanded h y Captain
Christian Evenson of San Francisco.
The iookout first sighted the sub at 8 p.m. and the
captain ordered a zig-zag course. The sub dived and
surfaced a half hour later three miles away and start
ed shelling. Four went overhead but the fifth struck
the starboard forecastle, damaging the rigging and
tearing through the deck, going out through the bow.
Then came five more rouds of wild shelling. The Japs
stopped until 10 o'clock when the sub came closer.
The captain put the ship into violent maneuvers to
keep the stern toward the sub. One shell splintered a
starboard lifeboat and another ripped through the
wheelhouse and tore a corner off the radio room. A
third knocked down the funnel, carrying away the an
tenna and silencing the radio. A fourth shell passed
between the captain and the mate on the starboard
wing bridge. Then a direct hit disabled the rudder
control and set the stern afire.
The survivors said a Navy plane flew over them
the next morning without seeing them
ALEUTI\N COMMAND UNIFIED
Senior Nav al Officer Has Been in Charge Since
Before Dutch Harbor Attack
SEATTLE Aug. — United States forces in the Aieu
tion Islands in Alaska, a high 13th Naval District au
thority asserted, have been under a unified command
since some time before the Jap attack on Dutch Har
bor June 3. This authority said that the unified com
mand has received “the full cooperative assistance” of
both the Army and the Navy since its inception on a
joint order by the Army Chief of Staff and the Com
mander in Chief of the United States fleet. The spokes
man continued:
“Reports that referred to the existing unified com
mand in the Aleutian war zone wrongly implied that
such command was established only in the very re
cent past. The fact of the matter is that unified com
mand of all forces operating in Western Alaska was
! established some time prior to the attack by the Jap
! anese on Dutch Harbor.
“All forces which successfully repelled that attack
i June 4 were under the sole command of the senior
: naval officer present in Western Alaska.
1 “These forces, as already has been made clear by
' previous announcements from the Navy Department,
I consisted of naval surface forces, Army and Navy air
units and garrison troops of the Army stationed at
Dutch Harbor for its protection.
Similarly all tactical operations that have since oc
curred in the Aleutians area have been under a single
command.”