Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. “The News of The Day In Pictures’* Member Of The Associated Press
THE NOME NUGGET
VOL. 43. No. 31. NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1941 ***Cow 154
German Forces Reported In Syria
Roosevelt Appeals To France Not Aid Germany
Pres. Points History U. S. Protecting Its Commerce
GERMAN TANKS, BOMBERS
ESCORTED FRENCH PLANES
REPORTED CROSSING SYRIA
UNDATED. May 16 0T) — Ger
man tanks and bombers escorted
by French fighting planes were re
ported moving across French
mandat'-d Syria toward the an
cient “Garden rf Eden," kingdom
of Iraq. The British middle east
headquarters announced that
RAF warplanes attacked the Ger
man aerial invaders yesterday in
a seri s of raids on Syria, includ
ing Damascus, Rayak and Palm
yra, where some of the principal
airports are situated.
Nazi troop transports as well
as giant bombers were said to
have arrived at the French-ruled
colony. Countering the Axis
thr at, British reinforcements
were reported to have arrived
both at Iraq and Palestine.
Dispatches from Beirut and Le
. r ••.
banan told of new sparks which
may spread the conflict still fur
ther. A stiff protest was made by
t’he Ir^q gov r.nment against
Emir Abdullah of Transjordan
f ■ ■ ■: ■ srted hostile thrusts by
Tran Jordan forces along the Iraq
frontier. Transjordan borders
Ir.q and Poles tine and is guard
ed by strong British forces under
Gen S': Henry Maitland Wil
son. Tire Baghdad government
d clarod that “swift and severe
measures’’ will be taken if the
frontier incidents are not halted.
Iraq newspapers flared with
headlines reporting that Russia
disclosed she will lend help and
that Russian volunteers are joln
: ing the Iraq air force to help in
the fight against Britain.,
Hess Stories
Receive No
. Confirmation
UNDATED, May 15 </P) — Au
thoritative quarters in London
spiced the riddle of Rudolf Hess'
flight from Germany by declin
ing to confirm the unofficial but
censor-passed reports that the
Nazi d puty fuehrer, in defiance
of Hitler’s orders, flew to Britain
as a self-constituted apostle of
peace. This new twist further
complicated the war’s strangest
story.
These facts emerged: one—the
British radio spokesman at fir.-t
hinted broadly that Hess was di
vulging vital German military
secrets by declaring he was talk
ing and writing “words to make
the German command sweat.”
And two—.Berlin radio’s, subs -
quently inisted that Hess is suff
ering from a “messiah complex”
and flew to the Scottish estate of
Duke Hamilton, an old friend, in
-he hope of bringing about an
end to the war.
Informed British quarters
then accepted this version only
to have it cast in doubt by high
officials.
Churchill was expected to
make a statement on the casa
today but later it was reported he
had decided to postpone it, ap
parently wanting more informa
tion from Hess before laying the
affair before Parliament.
A highly placed American
source in London declared that
Hess' arrival constituted a threat
to the defense of the British Is
les, as he might be the harbing r
of new smashing attacks by the
Germans. Blaming the British
with casting too rosy a glow on
the incident, the American said
it might lull the people and soft
en them for new blows by Gr
many.
Reminds Twice
In History Navy
J •/
Protects Shipping
WASHINGTON, May 16 </P> -
Pres id1 nt Roosevelt injected a
discussion of the German declar
ation that the Red Sea is a dan
ger 7,crfor foreign ships and
pointed to a reminder that twice,
bef re in bi-tory, the United Stat i
s ii ed w - rsi :ps to pr t (t her
or me: "i to obtain freedom of j
‘he re s. He mentioned the ac-!
tion of the new American repub -
lie against the Barbary pirates in
live Me lit rranean a century ago,
a naval action, as well as against
privateers in the Caribb- : n. The
President, in citing the coses’
from history, said he was merely
providing a lead for newsmen to
follow up. Th • freedom of the!
seas, he said, was a historic Am
erican policy, but didn’t indicate j
just what the United States might |
be prepared to do about the Red
I Sea.
Rescues Man
Dangling From
Plane In Air
SAN DIEGO, May 15 (/P) —The
daring flying of two Navy pilots
effected the spectacular mid-air
rescue of Lieutenant Walter Oss
poff while he dangled head-first
for thirty minutes ov r the ocean,
from a parachute caught on a
marine transport plane.
The rescue was made by Lieut.
W.W. Lowrey and J. R. McCants,
aviation chief machinists mate, in
a dive bomber at an altitude of
1,500 feet. Lowrey’s precision fly
ing involved cutting the para
chute shroud cords with his pro
pellor while operating with a!
leeway of about 20 feet.
Proof of Labor Blanks can now
te had at the Nome Nugget office
MERCHANT SHIPS ARE TARGETS OF GERMAN BOMBERS
A geyser of water spouts over the stern of a Brit ,li merchantman bombed by German warplanes.
This picture was photographed from a German pi me. In background is what was described as a
wreck of a sinking ship.
ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS IN COAST DEFENSE PROGRAM
Three-inch anti-aircraft shells poured over this Pacific Northwest beach at Grayland, Wash., as the
SGjtli Coast Artillery gave its new guns their first live ammunition.
Pres. Roosevelt
Appeals France
Not Aid Germany
WASHINGTON, May 15 1/P) —
President Roosevelt appealed to
France tonight not to deliver her
self to Germany, who is “bent on
th? utter destruction of liberty.”
At the same time the Coast
Guard took a dozen or more
French merchant vessels in Am
erican waters, into protective cus
tody. The vessels included the
liner Normandie.
These steps are Washington’s
swift reaction t.o dispatches in
dicating that Vichy is throwing
her lot in with the Nazis, the
British virtually accusing the
French of acting as a German
ally in p rmitting Nazi planes to
cross Syria to Iraq.
President Roosevelt’s state
ment implied that France is
about to enter a German alliance,
involving the “peace and safety
of the west.rn hemisphere.”
Int’natnl Situation
Too Serious For
FDR Interpret
WASHINGTON, May 1(5 (/P> —
President Roosevelt said interna
tional conditons w re too serious
for him to interpret or comment
further on the implications of his
appeal last night to the French
people, to turn down collabor
ation with Germany. He dismiss
ed a barrage of press conference
questions, seeking to draw him
out, as too hypothetical. Among
the queries he put in that cate
gory, are these: Is there likely
to be a change in the status of
Martinique, the strategic French
island in the eastern end of the
Caribbean: and: Will' Admiral
Leahy, American ambassador to
Vichy, be asked to come back to
Washington to report?.
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Luftwaffe
Assaults Creek
Island of Crete
UNDATED, May 15 (/Pi — vio
lent two-day assault on the Is
land of Crete, the seat of King
Georg.’s Greek government was
reported. Hitler’s command said
the Nazi Luftwaffe “effectively
bombed military objectives on
the islands of Malta and Crete
by day and night,” destroying 15
British planes on the ground in
the attack on two Crete airports
and shooting down 8 others in
fights over the island.
Impending GMC
Walkout Settled
By Mediation Bd.
UNDATED, May 16 </P) — A|
threatened strik against the Gen 1
eral Motors Corporation, holder,
of $750,600,000 defense contracts,
was averted when the company
accepted a National Mediation,
Board peace formula, a few hours
h> fore the scheduled deadline
for a walkout and the Mediation:
Be ard tentatively scratched an- ■
other labor dispute off the books.
Word of the union acceptance
of the terms will settle the strike
at the Exc llo Corporation, De
troit die and tool plant. I
IL S. Reaches
Open Break
Witli French
UNDATED, May 16 (/P) — Ex
cept for diplomatic formalities,
informed quarters said that the
United States had reached an op
en break with the French gov
ernment.
In London the British govern
ment is reported to have warned
France against further collabora.’
tion with Germany, especially in
view of developments in the mid
dle east.
Axis Drive In
North Africa
Gets Setback
UNDATED, May 16 </P) — On
the north African war front, toe
German command acknowledged
that British tanks stormed back
to key fron'ier post of Salum,
just insid E^ypt, the scene of
fierce fighting for weeks. The
Nazi comirun que also noted
strong British forces advanced on
Fort Capuzzo, across the border
in Libya. This indicates a serious
setback to the Axis drive toward
the Suez Canal, which only a few
days ago knifed 45 miles into
Egypt.
C I B E—This Is Editor C. C.
Grey whose sentence beneath
photo of a Lockheed Hudson
bomber delayed issuance in Lon
don of Jane's All the World’s
Aircraft. He wrote: “Now that
the United States have decided
to support tiie war financially
to the last Englishman . . .’’