THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday, by The Nome
Publishing Company, Nome. Alaska.
Telephone Main 114 P. O. Box 518
Subscription Rates Payable In Advance.
Deliverd by carrier in Nome, Little Creek and Sunset
Creek, for $2.00 per month. By mail, postage paid, out
side of Nome and vicinity, $1.50 per month.
Entered in the Post Office in Nome as 2nd Class Matter
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
- — - --
EDITORIAL
WHAT OF ITALY IN THE WAR
Armed to the teeth and poiseo
like an eagle Italy watches the
death struggle between Ger
many and the Allies. Close
mouthed, silent yet menacing,
Mussolini and his cohorts are gen
erally conceded to be awaiting
the issue on the battlefields of
France to see which way to
throw their weight.
The clamor of the Italian press
& public indicates a decided anti
Allied leaning. This and Italian
resentment of dominance of the
Mediterranean by Britain impels
Italy toward the German side,
4>ut if she does go in on that side,
Yugoslavia and other Balkan
states likely will put in with the
Allies, and keep Italy more than
busy in the Adriatic area.
It’s safe to assume Italy will
not plupge in with a losing cause
and would have been in the con
flict long ere this had she con
sidered she could have come off
victorious. In timely comment on
the Italian attitude the Juneau
Empire says:
"Signor Ansaldo, the editor of
the Telegrafo of Leghorn, could
hardly have been more candid
when he wrote of the “inevit
able’’ carving-up of territory and
the monopolization of 'all the
world’s resources’ by the victors
whenever this war is over. Only
if Italy is really strong will she
fee among the victors,' he wrote.
It does not seem to have occurred
to him that a victorious Germany
might seize all the spoils and
leave only a few crumbs for Italy
regardless of the part she may
have played. The Italian argu
ment is that Italy must be ready
for war at any moment, and must
jump in on the victor’s side some
time before peace is made.
"Yet if anything is axiomatic
in the present situation, it is that
Italy is appallingly unready for
War on either side. Arrival of
th a British fleet in heavy eon
■ctr‘ration in the Mediterranean
m -cs her even less ready to
throw her lot with Germany in
full military alliance. Since Sep
tember Italy has been busy, at a
g J profit, making shoes and uni
f; rr.s for the French army. No
s' lies or equipment have been
pi. J up at home. Until now not
tlic slightest effort has been made
to prepare the country physical
[ ly or psychologically for war.
“Italy is peculiarly vulnerable
1 to blockade by a strong sea pow
I er. Her only land connections are
with hostile Yugoslavia, reluct
ant Switzerland, impoverished
Germany and her enemy. France.
The entry of Italy into the war
on Germany’s side, moveover,
would close off, another leak in
the blockade of Germany. With
in her own boundaries Italy has
little in raw materials or manu
factured products to contribute
toward the axis war machine. Of
all the countries of Europe, Italy
is inherently the poorest. If sup
plies from the outside world can
be cut off by the British and
French, the end, for Germany as
well as Italy, will be hastened.
“If Mussolini hesitates now, he
has good reason. At the first blow
his overseas empire would be cut
off by Allied sea power, his coasts
would be open to attack and, the
North Italian Plain, the classic
battleground between Frenchman
and Italian, could revert to its
historic role.”
The Washington
Daybook
By Jack Stinnett
WASHINGTON — It's the eas
iest thing in the world to fight
a war on a map on your library
table.
Any ordinary fellow with a
'knack for strategy can beat any
full fledged general, hands down.
As Napoleon observed, anybody
can map a masterful piece of
strategy. But it takes a genius to
carry it out.
The trouble with you and me
when we map strategy is that
we leave out factors, including
the weather, and what it does to
armies and navies, and the ele
ments they use for travel—water
air and terrain.
More often than not, it’s the
weather that wins and loses bat
tles, and not armed forces.
In the battle for Scandinavia,
two extremely important weath
er factors don't appear on your
map.
1. The North Sea is the fog
giest area on the earth's surface
in the spring, and.
2. Norwegian roads at this
time of year look like the lane
to the pasture after a spring rain.
Tiat means the Germans have
an ally in the Scandinavian wea
! ther, just as they had the wea
ther for a friend in Poland and
just as the Russians tried to use
the weather against the Finns—
and darn near lost the war.
Weather Beat Poland
In Poland Germany wanted to
stage a blitzkrieg with a mechan
ized army. So her generals took
the weather map for 70 years
back picked the average driest
month of the year—August—and
struck. Motorized armies run best
I in dry country. You know the
j rest of the story.
In Finland, Russia chose Dec
i ember. Finland has been invaded
[eight time, you see, and every
; time the attacking force chose
| December. It’s the one time the
Jake ice is frozen deep enough to
hold up marching columns. At
[other times, an invading army
could be cut up, and its units
beaten by guerillas.
Dame Nature almost beat the
Russians, because she sent the
' worst package of weather in 50
years to northern Europe.
In Scandinavia, the Germans
are playing the weather to the
hilt, and the law of averages, too.
Usually, the fog closes in 40
per cent of the time along the
coast of Norway at this time of
year. Add to that some 10 hours
of darkness in every 24, and you
have increased hiding time for
German transports and naval
units—perhaps up to 60 per cent
of the time.
That’s just what the Germans
want to slip past the British fleet.
German ships navigate along the
N. rwegian coast only during fog
and darkness. When the weather
clears they hide in fjords.
Victor Hugo, in Les Miserables,
wrote: "If it had not rained on
the night of June 17, 1815, the
future of Europe would have
changed." He meant the rain de-;
layed units of Napoleon's armies.
Subsequent historians think Na
poleon's conflicting orders had
something to do with Waterloo,
too, but anyway, rain was an im
portant factor.
At Jutland in 1916 the weath
er almost beat the British fleet,
then suddenly changed, and help
ed the British gunners find their,
targets.
Today the weather is more im
portant than it ever was before.
The weather man has a word for
it. Visibility. He tells us what
visibility. He tells us what visibil
ity is in his daily charts, and on |
his daily maps.
As visibility goes, so goes the
war.
NOTICE
That unique and humorou*
and typical Alaskan stationery— (
“Sourdough Roadhouse Letter
heads and Envelopes”, have be«
brought strictly uptodate, and are j
now available at the Nugget offi
ce.
Subscribe for The Nome Nugge’
A YEAR AFTER — IN S P A I N—When the 32-month civil war ended in Spain on March
£8, 1939, the nation was left with a tremendous reconstruction job, erasing the scars left by gun and
bomb. Above is the mice-called “model prison” of Madrid being razed in March, 1940, to establish a
park. A 10-vear public works program is now in effect in Spain.
CHARLES A. LINDBERGH, 1939
NO REASON TO FEAR
INVASION SAYS LINDBERGH
WASHINGTON, May 22— Col
onel Charles Lindbergh declared
Sunday night that the United
States faces the possibility of
war only because the American
people attempt to interfere with
European affairs.
Lindbergh addressed the na
tion by radio (CBS) on the air
defense of America. Said he:
“We are in danger of war to
day not because European people
have attempted to interfere with
the internal affairs of America
but because the American people
have attempted to interfere with
the internal,affairs of Europe.”
Lindbergh said that the United
States faces little danger of an
attack by air and that no for
eign government possessed plan
es with sufficient effective cruis
ing range to carry on such inva
sion. He added that America was
in what he called “internal dan
ger.’’ Declared Lindbergh:
“We need not fear a foreign
invasion unless the American peo
pie bring it on through their own
quarreling and meddling with af
fairs abroad.”
The flyer made a plea for the
United States and the Pan Am
erican republics to formulate a
clear-cut policy of cooperative de
fense and foreign policy. He de
plored what he called “this in
sane chatter of calamity and in
vasion that has been running
rabid for the last few days:
Said Lindbergh:
"It is not befitting to the peo
ple w'ho built this nation.”
Lindbergh continued that the
policy of the United States in re
cent months leads neither to
strength nor peace. Said he:
“It will leave us hated by vic
tor and vanquished alike regard
less of which way the battle
runs.”
Lindbergh charged that certain
powerful elements were seeking
to involve the United States in
war. Concluded Lindbergh:
“If we desire peace we need
only to stop asking for war. No
one wishes to attack us—no one
is in a position to do so.”
Republicans Support Speech
WASHINGTON, May 22 — A
number of Republicans backed
up Col Charles A. Lindbergh’s
deploring the “nations war hy
steria’’ which they said surround
ed the administration’s New Deal
program. Among them were Sen
ators Gerald P. Nye and Warren
R. Austin.
They said that Colonel Lind
bergh’s reference to “powerful
elements” desiring the United
States to take part • in the war
was unfortunate,” but that the
bulk of his speech was excellent.
Old Papers For Sale
Buy them by the bundle, Use
them for starting fires. Fot Stale
at The Nome Nugget.
Federated Church
Wilbur P. Wood, Pastor
11:00 a.m.—Church School
7:45 p.m. — Worship service.
Sermon topic: “Adventurous
Religion.”
ESKIMO METHODIST CHURCH
Miss Sarah Taylor, Deaconess
11:00 a.m.—Church School
5:30 p.m.—Worship service.
Sermon topic: “Spiritual Gi
ants.” W. P. Wood will preach.
ream theatre
IOO% TALKING PICTURES
_ MANAGEMENT C.H.CODE —1
'Zj^y}cJlthASt yjfAthnXSt&M ItoctfAi Cm U.S.t*-*
ONE SHOW FRIDAY, 7:30 PM Adm. 55* & 25* *
“HOTEL HAYWIRE”
with LEO CARILLO—LYNNE OVERMAN—MARY CARLISLE
It’s Chockful of Nuts
also "POPEYE” in “ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP’
A Special 20-Minute Color Cartoon
ONE SHOW SATURDAY 7:30 P.M. Adm. 55* ft 25*
“HOLIDAY”
with KATHERINE HEPBURN — CARY GRANT
and “MARCH OF TIME’’
; TWO SHOWS: SUNDAY 7:15 & 9. Adm. 55* ft U*
“THE WESTLAND CASE”
with PRESTON FOSTER—CAROL HUGHES—FRANK JENKS
A Whirlpool Of Intrigue
also “VOCALIZING” and "SILLY SEALS”
SOCIAL SECURITY
Receipt Forms *
Simple and Easy to Fill In—Meets the Provisions
AS REQUIRED UNDER THE NEW LAW
IN EFFECT JAN. 1, 1940.
EXCERPT FROM THE LAW
Section 1403 of the new Federal Insurance Contributions
Act reads as follows:
“(a) Every employer shall furnish to each of his em
ployees a written statement or statement in a form suitable
for retention by the employee showing the wages paid by
him to the employee after December 31, 1939. Each statement
shall cover a calendar year or one, two, three, or four cal
endar quarters whether or not within the same calendar year
and shall show the name of the employer, the name of the
employee, the period covered by the statement, the total
amount of wages paid within such period, and the amount
of the tax (Old-Age) imposed by Section 1400 with respect
to such wages. Each statement shall be furnished to the em
ployee not later than the last day of the second calendar
month following the period covered by the statement, ex
cept that if the employee leaves the employ of the employer,
the final statement shall be furnished on the day on which
the last payment of wages is made to the employee. The em
ployer may at his option furnish such a statement to any
employee at thetime of each payment of wages to the em
ployee during any calendar quarter in lieu of a statement
covering such a quarter and in such case the statement may
show the date of payment of the wages in lieu of the period
covered by the statement.”
“(b) Any employer who willfully fails to furnish a state
ment to an employer in the manner, at the time, and showing
the .information required under sub-section (a) shall for each
failure be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5.00.”
Order Now And Simplify Your Office Work
FOR SALE AT
THE NOME NUGGET
Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau
FORECAST, NOME AND VICINITY
Tonight, continued cloudy with occasional light snow and not
much change in temperature: Saturday partly cloudy and slightly
warmer.
Data For 34 Hours Ending 1:00 pm Today 0
Higrest temp — 37 Lowest temp — 30 Precipitation — 0.02
Total precip this month 0.34 Total since Jan. 1 1940, 2.28
Temp. Humidity Wind Weather
12 Midnight ..-.- - 31 90 NW-7 Snow
8am ..—-- 33 81 W-7 Snow
12:30 p m _ —.. . _ 33 86 SW-6 Snow
One Year Ago Today
Highest temp — 46 Lowest temp — 30 Precipitation — T
Tomorrow: Sunrise 2:08 p. m. Sunset 9:48 p. m.
The. Peninsula: Temp. Wind ..Weather
I Deering ........ ................ ........ ........
Council ........ ........ ....... ....... 35 Calm Cloudy
Golovm ........ ........ ........ ........ ........
Kotzebue ........ ....... ........ ........ ........ 39 SE_10 Cloudy
Solomon . 36 SW-2 Cloudy
Teller __ —.—- - -33 E-2 Snow
Wales .....—. ....... ...... ....... ........ .... 35 SE~5 Cloudy
Weather Elsewhere: 1:00 am Nome Time *
Temp. Wind Weather Precip.
; Anchorage .— - - — 39 SSE-6 Pt Cldy 0
I Bethel ..-.-..— 38 Calm Cloudy 0
! Cordova .- .— _ 43 N-2 Cloudy 0.08
I Dutch Harbor .. . 41 NW-2 Cloudy 0
| Fairbanks .. —._.. 45 W-6 Rain 0.02
Juneau..... 43 SE-10 Rain 0.13
Pt. Barrow . ... 21 NE-15 Cloudy 0
WEATHER SYNOPSIS AND GENERAL
Indications are for fair and somewhat warmer weather Sunday
j with gentle to moderate northeast winds.