THE NOME NUGGET
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EDITORIAL
•METALS WILL WIN WAR”
ALASKA ANGLE
■ ■
Recent press dispatches to the
effect the Allied powers will put
pressure on Rumania to prevent j
oil shipments from that country
into Germany, threatened to
break off diplomatic relations if
compliance was not forthcoming,
is a direct confirmation of the im
portance attached to recent ut
terances of economic authorities
to the effect that the nations con
trolling the raw materials and es
peeially minerals and oils of the
world will be triumphant in the
world crisis.
Mine products which are con
strued to include oil are para
mount. Alaska with her undoubt
ed extensive latent deposits of es
sential war-time minerals is no
minor factor in the situation, es
pecially so far as America is con
ceraed.
The last session of congress,
which set aside some $44,000,000
for development of strategic and
critical minerals and supplies,
committed the research task to
the Bureau of Mines and Geo
logical Department which now is
testing many submarginal proper
ties in various States and Territ
ories. Alaska should work to see
that she gets her share of at
tention in this program.
“Sheer weight of metal” will
win the war for the Allies, ac
cording to Dr C K Leith, chair
man of the Minerals and Metals
•Advisory Committee to the As
sistant Secretary of War at Wash
ington. Dr Leith declares that!
unless there is a social or polit-;
deal break in the Allies’ front or
unless Germany can wrest con
trol of the seas from France and
Great Britain, the ultimate deci
*ion will be with the “inexorable
pressure of raw material sanc
tions.”
j
With metals as the primary
force on the allied war front it
is interesting to note the points,
which Dr. Leith makes in dis
cussing this question.
Germany’s most critical needs i
ahe oil, copper and iron while.
there are marked deficiencies of
Nickel and tin. None of the bulk
minerals can be secured in suffic
ient quantities from any country
to the east and not even Ger- j
many’s new friend and ally, Rus
sia is able to supply them. Ac
cumulated stocks of minerals in
Germany are estimated not to
exceed supplies for six months.
There is no telling of course how
far substitution may enable Ger
many to prolong the war beyond
the limit of her present resourc
es but the end must inevitable
be the same.
Dr. Leith makes the statement
that a probable outcome of the
war will be an extension of pub
lic control of mineral resources
both national and international.
This is a purely academic point
of view' of course and must be
weighed from much tire same
point of view as the question of
an international police force to
keep the nations in order after
the war. It would appear reason
able however to expect that the
countries that posses the greatest
wealth of mineral resources
should command a high degree
of influence in shaping the course
of post war events.
NORMANDIE “PACKED IN
MOTHBALLS” SET FOR 3-YEAR
STAY DURING WAR
Anticipating a prolonged Euro
pean war the French Line has
prepared for the possibility of
keeping the Normandie, the larg
est and costliest luxury liner1
afloat in the neutral port of New
York for two or three years, it
was learned during an inspection
tour of the $50,000,000 vessel.
The naiture of the precautions
taken to preserve the Norman
die, together with the fact that
it has not been coated with the
mud-gray camouflage paint that
now covers the Queen Mary,
lent further w'eight to the belief
thait the ship would remain here
for the duration of the war.
The 83,423-ton French liner,
which has been moored to her
West Forty eighth street pier sin
ce she arrived on Aug. 28 after
zigzagging across the Atlantic
with lights out to avoid German
submarines has almost literal
ly been packed away in moth
balls. Fourteen huge barrels of
mothballs have been used to pre
serve the luxurious furnishings
of the ship.
Like Summer Hotel
As a result of several weeks of
packing and crating the Norm
andie’s present condition is re
miniscent of a Summer resort ho
tel that has been closed down for
the Winter. Expensive floors and
long corridors have been cover
ed with tarpaulins. Rich blue
and red chairs, jacketed in drab
olive-green covers, have been
stacked one on the other in small
mountains of furniture.
Hundreds of mattresses have
been piled in large heaps, silver
ware encased in boxes, mirrors
taken down. Throughout the
thick blue stateroom carpets run
long white streaks left by crush
ed mothballs. And their pungent
'dor pervades the ship from stem
to stern, from engine room to
bridge.
Never before has the Norm
andie been guarded so closely.
Police reinforcements as well as
additional company guards main
tain a steady vigil over the ship.
On board, the crew take turns at
sentry duty. All have been school
ed in what to do in case of bomb
ing. And at nighit the “fire wat
ch’’, consisting of a group of
Paris-trained firemen, march in
pairs by open stateroom doors.
At night, especially, the Nor
mandie. moored at Pier 88 along
side the gray bulk of the Queen
Mary, deserves the title of the
“ghost ship”. Despite the fact
that 559 of its full crew of 1364
are still on board, the vessel giv
es the impression of being desert
ed. The march of the firemen thru
the long, silent corridors lends
its eerie touch.
Crew’s Morale High
Interview's with several mem
bers of the cr:,w indicated that
their morale was excellent. The;
only trouble the ship’s officers,
have had with the men accord
ing to Henri Villar. commissaire
p.incipal, is in making them sec
that their duty is to remain on
board the ship instead of return
ing to France to fight.
About 700 of the Normandie’s
crew already have returned to
France to join either the army or
their families. Those who are
left seem anxious to follow suit.
Some are so anxious. Mr. Villar
said, that they appealed ot the
French Consulate to be relieved
of duty so they might enlist for
active military service.
The attitude of 30 year-old
Raymond Goubert of Le Havre,
quartermaster, whose father was
wounded in the first world war
and who has three brothers in
the Maginot Line, is typical.
“I want to go back to France
to be among, my friends and to
fulfill my obligations as a Fren
chman.” he said. “There are
many views of duty and I realize
that it is necessary in wartime to ■
protect the patrimony of one’s
country But. as conceive duty,
duty lies where danger is.”
Only one member of the crew
seemed unhappy for any other
reason than not being able to re- i
turn to active duty. He was the;
pastry chef, an artist whose act-I
ivities have been curtailed by
the wrar.
Buy them by the bundle. Use
’hem for starting fires. For Sale
it The Nome Nugget.
Smart Dog Saves
Rangers Life
—
McKINLEY PARK, Jan. 27
Ranger John Rumohr’s life was
saved by his lead dog, Tige when |
the river ice broke during a re
cent patrol in Mt. McKinley Na
tional Park. The district ranger
sent the following report to Park
Superintendent Frank T Been,
who considers Rumohr one of
the most thoroughly experienced
dog team drivers in Alaska.
“The river ice was good ex
cept in a few places on Toklat
and about 10 miles up the Clear
water where the water was so j
deep in the snow that I decided
not to return to the ranger sta
tion that way.
“On Tokla the overflow was
bad about eight miles above the i
patrol station and seven miles
further up the river was another,
bad place.
“Here I was in serious trouble.
Breaking through the ice over a
deep channel where I could
reach no bottom by sounding!
with my eight-foot geepole, the j
dogs had to swim to get the sled
out. What really saved my life
was Tige. The dog had been sick
and I was not using him in the
team, but let him follow behind.
While I was working with the
sled he managed to get up ahead
of the team and really coaxed
them along.
“The sled floated but with me
standing on the runners sank j
down behind until the water
was coming through the front
of my pants. But it kept the nose
ot the sled from catching under
the ice. It wras quite a struggle,
for we had about 100 feet to go
before we reached solid ice.
“The dogs never would have
made it if Tige had not been
ahead of them. Whenever he
came to a place where the iee
would carry him he would turn
to the team, cry a little and wag
his tail. That would put new
spirit in them and they would
struggle ahead even if the ice
broke under them.
“I hope Tige will get a long
life. He earned it that day. I
managed to change into dry clo
thes without freezing myself.”
Ranger Rumohr’s modest use
of “we" is reminiscent of another
Norseman who made that appela
tion famous.
For Oualitv Service
l and
Promot Delivery
Call
Modern Cleaners
I
ALL TRUSS ED UP AND NO PLACE TO C O—Old Man Winter really played mean tricks on the oyster boats out of
Cambridge, Md., for ice choked Chesapeake bay and held boats in Cambridge harbor (above) just when prices were exceptionally high.
IOO% TA LKING PICTURES^
_MANAGEMENT C.H.CODE
t yto\ffui>cst&>n IfvLaint to h,[._&/
ONE SHOW TUESDAY, 7:30 PM Adm. 75* & 23*
“HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME’’
with IRENE DUNNE—RANDLOPH SCOTT—DOROTHY LAMOUR
Glorious Romance—Robust Adventure
and “TEARS OF AN ONION"
ONE SHOW FRIDAY, 7:30 PM Adm. 55* & 25*
“Bulldog Drummond Comes Back'*
with John Barrymore—John Howard—Louise Campbell
A New Thrill From Fiction's Most Daring Adventurer ’
also “Trade Mice” and “Wild Bill Hickok" — No. 2 of new serial
RAEDER CHECKS UP —Bark of the Nazis’ strategic
maneuvering in the great tug-of-war for naval control between
the Allies and Germany is the commander of the German navy.
Admiral Erich Harder, shown above after recent inspection of a
Nazi naval vessel. Germany is using underseas craft as well as
airplanes to cripple Allied shipping.
SEE WHAT HE F O U N D—Explorer Hassoldt Davis
picked up some odd-looking friends during his movie-making
trek through Africa, few of them odder than this tall bush chief
tain. Davis recently arrived at New York