• turrent Comments
From Washington
u
Within a three-hour period.
Congress began considerat:on of
a declaration of war on Germany
. and Italy, and concluded its de
liberations, and the President
signed the paper. That is making
good speed: yet. during the inter
val, a Aleck of airplanes could
have left the California coast,
sunk a Japanese warship a hun
dred miles at sea, and returned
to the landing field: provided, of
course, that there was landing
field, and that there were plan
es to do the work. Congress and
the President made a record be
cause they were prepared. In the
matter of defense, time has been
wasted by the clockful, yet it is
^ not too late to turn from our
slothfulness and live. At any rate
we had better turn if we want
to live.
It would have been strange in
deed if, having declared war on
Japan, the law should have been
permitted to decree that all fight
ing must be done in continental
America. Accordingly, the stat
ute book was cleared promptly
of so much of the Selective Ser
vice Act as provides that troops
shall not be used outside the
• Western Hemisphere. It followed
as a necesary consequence, that
enlistments were lengthened to
the duration of hostilities and six
months thereafter. Probably Hit
ler will bear watching for more
than six months after he has
been licked.
Raise Defense Appopriations
► The Senate Appropriations
Committee has raised the latest
defense appropriation by an
amount that has not as yet been
given out: perhaps from 8 bil
lion to 11 billion. It is expected
that- before the beginning of the
New Year, Mr. Roosevelt will
ask for an increase of power,
but not beyond that held by the
President during World War
Number One .
^ Register All Men 18 to 65
The oldest sat up and took not
ice when they heard that the
President had in mind to regis
ter all men between the ages of
18 and 65. The 21-28 class will be
exhausted before those of more
mature years are drawn upon
for military duty, but fighting is
not the only useful service to be
rendered. The government pro
poses merely to find out what ev
ery man of 65 or less can do. In
• cidentally, out of 32 Presidents,
21 were in the fifties and 6 in the
sixties.
Production Picture Brighter
Regarding production, things
look brighter than they did a
few weks ago. The strike menace
has departed. A twenty-four
day, seven days a week, in ev-1
cry munitions plant, is being ad
vocated by the Administration,
and suported by bo h labor and
irdu ''.rialists. When the CIO and
the General Motors, for example
think alike on a 133-hour week,
the union offering to submit diff
erences to arbitration, we are
geting somewhere, so far as pull,
ing together is concerned.
Air Raid Alarm In Capital
Washington had its first air
raid siren concert. The public;
was not called upon to do any- i
thing, the proceeding being a test
to find out whether or not the
apparatus was in good working
order and capable of making a
noise that would rise above the
racket of the city streets. It is
to be hoped that no place in con
tinental United States will be
treated to a bombing, but if that1
sort of warfare does come, per-1
haps Washington will be one of
the last areas to feel it. The Dis
trict of Columbia has no fortific-1
at ion, factories, or large stores
of war materials, and the upper
reaches of the Potomac float no
battleships.
Boys ‘Snoot’ Axis Embassies
German and Italian embassies
ic’osed quietly, so far as outside
'commotion was concerned. The
protecting policemen had noth
ing to do saving to give hard
looks to a parcel of boys who
“made snoots” as they passed by.
Indications pointed to activity
within, such as the burning of
papers and the assembling of per
sonal effects.
Notwithtanding the non-parti-.
san and whole-hearted support
that is being given the President,,
his record is not good, it seems.
His start was made by buying his
way into a city council. He lives
in a world of falsehoods. He has \
| been going to Hyde Park and j
then hurrying back to Washing-1
ton in order to create the appear j
ance of a crisis. As an advert is-1
er, he is like a bald-headed bar- j
her selling hair restorer to cus
tomers. All this must be true,
since Hitler said it recently in
Berlin.
SOLDIERS LEARN TO
SPEAK JAPANESE
—
CAMP ROBERTS. Calif. — 47
officers and men at Camp Rob
erts, Calif., will be able to tell
the Japanese what they think of
them, if they meet the enemy
face to face.
Seven Japanese-American sol
diers at the camp volunteered to
give classes in Japanese language
geography and history, and ses
sions are being held twice a
week.
One subject covered by Pri
vate Yoshio Nakazawa is the lan
guage necessary to converse with
the Japanese Geisha girls.
I
New Privileges
l ne’er OPM For
\laska Mining j
Notification has bean received i
by B. D. Stewart, Commissioner
of Mines, now also serving as
Emergency Coordinator of Mine
Priorities for Alaska, from Wil
bur A. Nelson, Administrator of
Mining Priorities, at Washington.
D. C.. of important new privil
eges that have been granted to
mimng enterprises by the OPM.
By amendments to Preferenee
Rating Order P-56 that were ef
fective December 2. 1941 these
new privileges have been extend i
ed to all mining enterprises to,
which serial numbers have been j
granted under that Order. Such 1
enterprises in Alaska now num
ber 31. Gold placer mining op
erations which fall under Prefer
ence Rating Order P-22 are not
included among those entitled to
the ratings granted by Order P
56.
In genera] the amendments,
cover three main points:
1. The benefits of the Order
are extended to cover
(a) Refactorv plants;
(b) Approved prospecting en
terprises.
2. A rating of A-l-c is granted
to enable operators to make ad
vance provision to avert actual
breakdown. It should be noted
that this rating may be applied
only with the advance permis
sion of the Director of Priorities
in each particular case.
3. A rating of A-3 is granted
for the purchase of certain ma
chinery and equipment listed in
a schedule that is attached to the
amended Order, and of repair
parts for such machinery and
equipment. As to such machinery
or equipment (though not repair
parts) advance permission must
be obtained from the Director of
Priorities in each case before ap
plying the rating.
So far as Alaska is concerned
the most important benefit con
fered by these amendments is
the privilege of using the rat
ings granted by the amended
Order to approved prospecting
enterprises. These benefits!
should serve to stimulate the
search for and development of
deposits of minerals, particular
ly those other than gold. A wire
is being sent to the Office of Pro
duction Management to learn
whether or not the term “propect
ing enterprises” as used in the
amended Order includes gold pla
cer prospecting enterprises.
(Continued)
•SOURDOUGH”
STATIONERY
At Nugget Office
S. S. WILLAPA BREAKS TO PIECES
Waves breaking over the grounded steam schooner Willapa, veteran of the Pacific coastwise trade,
f ripped the lumber-carrying vessel to pieces and scattered its million - foot cargo along the shore
^ near Port Orford, Ore. The crew of 24 was rescued by the Coast Guard. Many of the men were
picked up out of the water where they were thrown as the ship began to go to pieces in a 90mile gale
A SIGHT TO SEE !—Never in all lie"- 15 months had Bernice Easley seen such a beast as this,
a stuffed St. Bernard do* on Inc midway of Texas state fair in Dallas.
REDUCING THE OVERHEAD —To further defense efforts it Syrf've Wu South Wales,
Dolma ilannon, 11, sold her lops auburn hair. It n. .o- a red i feet, ii > before the rutting.
pwwrmiiirr ; ■ m m '■ s
BRITONS WARTIME FOOTIN C—Home guardsmen tramp about a factory in England,
demonstrating some snowshoes under production in that war-pressed country, for exporting.