THE NOME NUGGET
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Telephone Main 114 P. O. Box 518
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National Advertising Representative
Frank J. Dunning, 1011 American Bank Bldg., Seattle, Washington
Entered in the Post Office in Nome as 2nd Class Matter
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
Road to Regret
(Cevcland Plain Dealer)
Some argue that our govern
ment knew tiie explosion in Eu
rope was inevitable and that na
tional defense should have got
ten under way a year, or two. or
three before it did; while apolo
gists assert that public opinion
wou d not have stood for it then.
Whatever the truth, it is point
less to discuss it now .
About three years ago Japan
ese agents combed the United
States for second-hand machine
tools and bought shipload after
shipload. These tools would be of
untold value to us now. for the
primary delay in defense produc
tion, the delay that means
months and even years, comes
about in designing and building
equipment of this type. This, too
is of the past, and while we can
not turn back the calendar, we
can avoid repetition of mistakes
which strengthen the enemy and
weaken national defense both at
the moment and in the years im
mediately ahead.
Our government warns that
within a few weeks it will be
necessary to curtail automobile
driving because of a shortage in
facilities for transportation of
oil. yet we are shipping groat
quantities to Japan.
But this is not the only aid
we are giving to our declared cn
emy. Let us turn to the Panama
Canal. Ludwig Bemelmans, writ
ing in McCall's, says; "Flying
over the canal looking at its de
fenses, it seems impossible for
an enemy to get near it. let alone
get in position to release a bomb.
Granted all that is favorable and
a chance at the target, the pro
jectile would most probably
merely kick up the earth or make
ia great splash. The formidable
construction here—steel as thick
as an elephant, chambers of
cement built like the Pyramids—
will have to be hit with better
ordnance than has been used up
to now.
"The danger to the canal is
less from-attack by air or water
than it is from sabotage—dam
age from within, or from ships
that are in transit through its
locks.’’
Yet the United States govern
ment permits Japan’s busy mer
chant fleet to take the short cut
from west to east.
Our policy, therefore, is one of
providing for the enemy vital
military supplies, such as oil and
other commodities; of conserv
ing Japan's fleet by keeping the
canal open; and of giving the
enemy every opportunity for the
stroke of sabotage which might
close this invaluable waterway.
We can conceive of no greater
tragedy than to regret in 1942
that we built up the military
might of our enemy in 1941. The
comforting excuses that apply to
the mistakes of 1938 will not then
be valid, for the world upheaval
is longer a matter of specula
tion, it is a reality.
"SECOND LINE OF
DEFENSE WORKERS”
WILL SOON LOOM UP
By JACK STINNETT
WASHINGTON—In the next 6
months, you are going to hear a
lot about “the second line of de
fense workers"—the women pow
er of the nation.
Over in the women’s bureau of
the Department of Labor things1
are humming and almost any
journalistic war horse can smell
the smoke of battle. The first
guns have been fired. The ob
jective—to get that “second line
of defense workers” trained and
ready to step into the labor mar
ket and fill gaps caused by rapid
ly expanding industry.
The ink isn’t dry yet on a re
port on the possibilities for wo
men factory workers in aircraft
production. The survey was made
by Miss Ethel Erickson, indus
trial supervisor of the bureau,
and her staff. The labor ladies
went from the storeroom where
raw materials are received to theJ
ramp where assembled planes
were revved up for the test pi-;
lots.
What they found can be sum
med up in a couple of sentences.
They reviewed seven plants,
where approximately 100,000'
men are employed. In three of
these there were no women at
all. In four, less than one percent
of the employees were women.
Yet from one-fourth to one-1
third of the jobs in those factor-'
ies could be performed by wo
men, if they had the training,
says Miss Erickson.
At the end of the World War.
23 percent of the workers in 40
airplane plants in this country
were women In Germany and
Great Britain, it is believed 40
to 50 percent of the workers to
day are women. Women's bureau
officials recognize that conditions
are different here from those in
Great Britain and Germany and
conditions a.*3 different from
1917-13.
But squawks that the labor sup
p y is getting pretty thin are be
ginning to pop up from several
sections and the labor ladies say
the second line of defense work
ers hasn’t even answered its first
roll call, rfuch less been trained
to take over at the lathes, drills
and riveters.
Miss Mary Anderson, director
of the women's bureau, who her
self had 18 years as a machine
operator before she came to her
pre-ent job. calls this lack of
trained women “the Achilles heel
of the labor supply.”
Although there is nothing of-1
ficial on it, it doesn’t take half
an eye to see that there are com
paratively few women in the
war materials industry at present
—just about enough to give the
women’s bureau basis for argu
ment that it could be devloped
on a grand scale. i
- ' I
The male workers have been
against it; the industrial manag
ers have been against it. But Miss
Anderson declares an almost over
night change has taken place in
the attitude of management and
attributes it to four things: (1)
the backlog of unemployed men
is rapidly shrinking; (2) the
draft taking considerab’e toll
from the labor force; (3) indus
trial expansion is still on a steep
upgrade, with the peak far
ahead; (4) the “unlimited emer
gency” has widened our defense:
horizons.
She points to Massachusetts,!
Connecticut and Maryland, and!
in scattered sections, New York
New Jersey and California, as
states which already are begin
ning to recognize this changing
attitude and swing into programs
for training women for produc
tion of aircraft, guns, powder,
tanks, machine tools and other
raw materials.
There is a very small amount
of within-iodustry (apprentice
ship) training of women so far.
The two agencies doing most of
the training are the National
Youth Administration and the vo
cational division of the Office of
Education.
It’s only a start, but it is that,
and the labor ladies here certain
ly have a determined glint in
their eyes.
Newspaper advertising
will develop new business
for you.
British Mobilize
Children to Fight
Bomb-fired Grain
LONDON — School children
arid travelers on country roads
are to be mobilized to fight crop
, fires started by German incen
| diary bombs the Ministry of
Home Security announced in a
statement warning British farm
ers to be on' the alert for such
I attacks.
A large number of stirrup
pumps and fine pumps powered
i by trailer engines will be as
signed to the areas in which Brit
ain's home-grown wheat is har
vested.
The danger period will be
when the wheat is cut and be
comes inflammable and later
' when it is in stock the Ministry
pointed out.
Buy them by the bundle. Use
them for starting fires. For Stale
»’ The Nome Nugget.
PRFSFNT U. S. AIRPORT
“OUTPUT” PROMISES TO
DOUBLE RECORD FOR YEAR
j WASHINGTON -Seventy-five
i new airports have been approved
for tile nation’s system of de
fense and civil landing fields
since January 1, as compared
] with only 51 added during the
entire year 1940. it was announc
ed here by Brig.<3en. Donald H.
Connolly. Civil Aeronautics Ad
ministrator.
TVs brings the total number
of airports approved bv the CAA
throughout continental United
States to 2,277.
j Present approved ports include
1.035 municipal, 795 commercial,
and 282 intermediate fields; 27
: Navy and 74 Army, 41 miscell
aneous government fields, and 23
private landing fields. Of the to
tal. 690 are either fully or par
tially equipped for night land
ings.
i A great many of thse new air
ports are being used primarily
for training purposes. For ex
, ample, in Texas, where the ex
pansion was greatest—35 new air
ports having ben added during
the six month period—the major
ity is devoted to training fledg
ling pilots for the Army, Navy
and Civil Aeronautics Adminis
; tration.
Thirty-six new seaplane bases
have been made availab'e since
January 1. These bases are for
flying boats and seaplanes and
have been installed under a joint
program of the GAA and the Na
! tional Youth Administration.
They are located along all the
coasts and inland around the
j shores of the lakes and along
rivers suitable for plane landing.
Including the bases and anchor
ages of the Army, Navy, Coast
Guard and Marine Corps, there
were 325 the first of the year.
Now there are 361, and of these
21 are equipped for night use.
NEW FOREIGN MINISTER
£ Tf'i
Tei.iiro Toyoda (above), a retired
vice admiral. bee3m? foreign min J
ister of Japan, succeeding Yo-!
suke Matsuoka (below) as Prince
Fuminaro Konoye formed a
streamlined cabinet. Matsuoka
conceived the Russo-Japanese
nonaggression pact and also fos-:
tered the Tokyo alliance with the
Romc-Berlin Axis.!
. YOSUKE MATSUOKA
EMBARRASSING
FEW MINUTES
(Alaska Service Record)
Of cour:e it was unintentional
but one of the men of the C. A.
really pulled a boner the other
day at Elmendorf Field. Making
believe that invading planes
were attacking him. he jammed'
a shell into the breech of the!
37mm. gun. Imagine his surprise
when he went to pull it out, and
couldn’t. He was really in an em
barrassing position trying to ex
plain to his platoon sergeant just
how the shell got into the gun
in the first place.
SOURDOUGH STATIONERY
Write to your friends and rela
tives on the ‘Outside,’ using Sour
dough Stationery. They’ll get a
big kick out of it.
BREAM THEATRE
IOO% TALKING PICTURES
MAAIAGCAACNT C.H. CODE --1
*-\jgnttusf ttoVhu>est&>n IhtniAt £h
Two Shows Friday, 7:15 & 9:Oil p.m. Adm. 55c & 25*
•LITTLE ORVIE”
with JOHN SHEFFIELD—ERNEST TRUEG—ANN TODD
“Little Orvie” Believes A Feller's Best Friend Is His Dog
also "BUSY LITTLE BEARS” and "SPRING FL.ANTING”
ONE SHOW SATURDAY. 7:30 P. M. Adm. 55r & 25*
“INDIANAPOLIS SPEEDWAY”
with PAT O’BRIEN—ANN SHERIDAN—GALE PAGE
and “CAFE RENDEVOUS” — A Musical
__•
TWO SHOWS: SUNDAY, 7:15 & 9 Adm. 55< & 25*
“BROTHER ORCHID”
EDWARD G. ROBINSON, ANN SOTHERN, HUMPHREY BOGART
Hilarious Satire On Gangsters
also “SILLY SUPERSTITION” — A Cartoon
PASSENGERS AND EXPRESS TO
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UNCLE SAM DIVVIES U P—Final touches before test flights are put on DB-7 bombers in the Douglas plant at Santa Monica,
Calif. Planes at left are for Britain and those at right for U.S. Distinguishing insignia is on the fuselage of the planes near the tails.