t Oldest Newspaper In Alaska* 1 he News Of I lie Day In Pictures’ Member Of I lu Asso< iatcd I ress.
~— 'THE NOME NUGGET
♦____
VOL. 42. No. 61. NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1940. Price per copy iw
> Germans Make 65-mile Break ‘Little Maginot Line*
President Asks Over Billion For War Implements
* Allied Commander-in- Chief Orders
Troops To Die On The Spot
Rather Than Retreat Before Nazis
PARIS, May 17 i(,P) — Allied
Commandar-in-Chief Gamelin or
dered troops to “die bn the spot"
rather than cede further ground
to the German invaders. He is
sued the command as the order'
of the day after another day of I
German blitz-drive into northern
France. He said: “Any soldier
who cannot advance should die
on the spot rather than abandon
a part of his native soil confided
to him.”
Germany Smashes Through Little
Maginot Line To About 100 Miles
i From Paris, Report Capture 12,000
UNDATED, May 17 (Jf>) — Ger
many’s lightning mechanised
trcops smashed ^to a point about
-rites from Paris the,French
high command admitted. Paris it
self was placer under rigid mili
^ taiy control.
Authorized German sources re
ported that Nazi sledge-hammer
blows pierced France’s Maginot
Line "in a manner which even
German optimism believed im
possible.’' Th'e Germans mean the
"little Maginot Line” on the Frar
co-Belgian frontier. The Allied
forces were described by the Ger
mans as “in retreat every-where
on the 115 mile Meuse River front
between Antw rp and Sedan.
The French high command said
swift-striking Nazi armored units
advanced 30 miles into France's
environs to Rethel. A war min
istry spokesman said however
the thrust had been bottled up
by French mechanized columns
supported by planes in all-night
fighting officially called “ex'rem •
ly violent.” South of Sedan, vil
■lages changed hands as many as
five and six times.
Th'e Belgian government mov
ed from Brussels yesterday to
Osier d cn the North Sea coast.
Reuters news agency reported
_i
that a Belgian communique is-j
sued at noon said the army “re-,
mains intact and morale is high
although it and its Allies moved 1
to new positions."
Reporting success after success;
tire Germans exultantly claimed ,
a 62-mile-wide break through
.he little Maginot line extension, j
in a thrust through the Belgian
secondary defense line along the
Dyle River which protects Brus- j
;e’s. They reported the capture
of 12,060 Allied prisoners of war
n the Sedan battle area, includ
mg two generals and the prelim j
inaiy German occupation of Zee
land. the tiny Lland province of I
he Netherlands which had alone ^
continued Dutch fighting.
HUGE NEW TANKS
..REAR MAGINOT LINE
LONDON, May 17 (/P) — Huge
ew tanks larger and more heav
■y armed than those used in Po
.and broke through the little Mag
not line. A military source said
they consisted of three armored
divisions each containing 400
tanks.
4'ihcrr-h<» for The Nome Nugget.
\» asliington Instructs The
3,500 American Citizens In
Great Britain Return Home
LONDON, May 17 (JP) — The
U. S. Embassy was instructed
from Washington and advised
American ci'.izens in Great Brit
ain to return homo if possible.
The United States is sending
ships to meet them at the west
coast of Ireland. Many Americans
called at the embassy seeking ad
vice on what to do. It is estimat
ed that there are still 3500 Am
ericans in the United Kingdom.
Authoritative sources said the
military situation “though very
serious m3y be regarded as very
slightly better than yeserday or
on Wednesday.”
A meeting of the Allied su
pr ncil in Paris s
terci . was attended by Prime
Mini ter Churchill who flew
there- and returned by plane.
The admiralty sent a message
to all ships operating from N r
way to the Belgian coast: "You
are helping your country to wea
ther as black a storm as has ever
broken over her.”
Authorities announced that the
children who were removed from
London to Suffolk county on the
east coast were moved again
Sunday to Wales, in western Brit
ain.
High Command
Reports German
Troops in Brussels
BERLIN. May 17 (/P) — The
high command announced that
troops marched into Brussels to
night breaking through the Bel
gian and Allied resistance after
two days of bitter and bloody
fighting along the Dyle river in
northern Belgium.
American Ceme
tery in France
J
Is Bombed
PARIS, May 16 (/P) — French
officials said the American Meuse
and Argonne cemetery at Rom
agne in eastern France, the larg
est American World War ceme
tery in Europe, about 35 miles
south of the present Sedan bat
t'eficld was bombed yesterday.
These two Canadian war veterans, Louis Abgarall (left), 35, of St. Laurent, Manitoba, farmer and
father of nine children; and Julien Durupt, (right) 36. of. Vancouver, B. C., are shown as they
arrived in New York on their re turn from France. Abgarall wes sent back because officials thot
he was needed more at home. Durupt was almost completely blinded by a mine explosion before
the Magiuot Line. j
American,
Ambulance
Driver Killed
PARIS, May 16 i/P) — Ameri
can ambulance driver Lawrence
Jimp, of Nantucket, Massachu
setts, attached to the French
army was missing after German
artillery (bombarded the ambul
ance he was driving. Official
French reports said it was heav
ily shelled in the Sarreguemines
sector several days ago. Another
American ambulance was wreck
ed and three others hit.
Belgian Liner
Hit By Air Bomb
And Is Beached
LONDON, May 17 i/Pl — The
Belgian liner Ville De Bruges,
formerly the United States liner
President Harding. which was
sold to Belgian interests after
the American neutrality regula
tions were proclaimed, was beach
ed after a German bombing at
tack Tuesday. The crew arriving
in London said the 14,000-ton
liner was heading out of Ant
werp with 64 passengers, mostly
women, when an aerial torpedo
killed four members of the crew.
All of the passengers were land
ed safely.
Army Asks for Private Firearms
LONDON, May 16 </P) — The
Army called for the loan of pri
vately owned firearms as the na
tion hastened to organize a home
defense corps to deal with a pos
sible parachute invason.
I
i Roosevelt Cancels Western Trip
WASHINGTON, May 17 (/P) —
President Roosevelt said he vir
tually cancelled plans for his
western trip because of war prob
lems and the necessity for in
creasing American defenses.
President Roosevelt Asks Congress
For 50,000 Military Anti Naval
/lanes A Year In Defense Program
C
WASHINGTON, May 16 T
Pn sident Roosevelt asked Con
gress ;or $1,182,000,0 0 in cash
and contract authorization for
military implements to "mu t
any lightning offensive against
ou; American interest.” In a
momentous message delivered in
person to the House and Senate
assen bled in joint session at a
few hours notice the chief exec
utve asserted earnestly that “dan
gers” confront us because of Eu
rope’s war and the speed with
which modern armies may con
quer time and space.
He broke the request down in
to $896,000,000 in immediate au
thorizations, of which the army
is to get $546,000,000 and the
Navy and Marine Corps two hun
dred and fifty million. One hun
dred million will be left at his
disposal to “provide for those em
ergencies affecting national secur
ity and defense.” In addition, he
asked legislators to authorize the
government to enter into con
tracts totaling two hundred eigh
ty six million dollars to be ap
propriated later on. Of this the
Army, Navy and Marine Corps
would receive one hundred eigh
ty six million and the President
one hundred million.
Roosevelt said he would “like
to see this nation geared up to
its ability to turn out at least
50,000 planes a year. Furthermore
I be live this nation should plan
at this time a program to pro
vide us with 50.”00 military and
SAVES SWEDISH GOLD
Captain William McHale, skipper
of the American freibhter Mor
macsea. shown as he brought his
ship into New York harbor, dis
closed that he fled the port of
Trondheim, Norway, with a for
tune of §4,500.00 in Swedish
| owned gold hidden in the hold
of his ship after Germans had
captured the port. He said that
a skeleton force of about 500
! Nazis seized Trondheim in a pre
dawn raid April 9 and “walked
| in unmolested.” .
naval planes.-’ His message was
broadcast to the nation and the
world.
To Provide For
Construction Air
Base Anchorage
o
WASHINGTON, May 16 (/P) —
Legislation authorizing the sev
| en hundred twenty six million
dollar army expansion program
was introduced in the House by
Chairman May of the military
! committee soon after Roosevelt
I spoke. The legislation carried no
I funds but cleared the way how
ever, for the army to act at once
until funds are made available.
Other congressional action, ear
lier was responsible for war de
partment officials outlining the
first steps and plans for building
up the army on land, and in the
air to include the construction of
the eight million seven hundred
thousand dollar airbase at An
chorage which the House recent
ly disapproved. Other expenditur
es include about one hundred six
million dollars to train 7.000 nut
itary pilots annually, quadruple
ating the present rate.
Russell Maynard
Named Director
Public Welfare
JUNEAU. May 16 (Speeal to
The Nugget )—Russell G. May
nard. Deputy United States Mar
shal for the Second Division,
with headquarters at Nome has
been appointed Director of the
Department of Public Welfare by
he Welfare Board, now in ses
sion at Juneau, succeeding W. B.
Kirk, who resigned on account
of ill health. Maynard is r v in
Seattle where he recently took
prisoners south and will also*
serve the remaining nine months
of Kirk’s present term.
Hoover In Accord With
U. S. Defense Program
NEW YORK. May 17 (A1)—For
mer President Herbert Hoover
j endorsed President Roosevelt’s
defense program saying "there
can be no partisanship upon the
i principle of national defense. The
President is right that d -fense
j armament should be revised.”
Mail Rate Schedule on S?a*4le
Juneau Route to Be Six Cents
WASHINGTON, May 17 (IP) —
The domestic air mail rate of
six cents an ounce or fraction of
an ounce will apply over the
Seattle-Juneau route, the post
office department said.