Oldest xNevvspaper In Alaska. "The .News of The Dav In Pictures” Member Of Hie Associated Press
VOL. 44. No. 20. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEB. 16, 1942. Per Copy is*
*11
pi
Churchill Acknowledges Gravely In
Far East Cnt Sees Hope in The U. S.
LONDON, Feb. 15 (AP)—Prime Minister Churchil
announced grimly tonight the fall of Singapore, and
frankly acknowledged it was a “heavy and far-reach- ;
ing military defeat,” and in a stirring plea for the;
very life of his government, declared pointedly that i
now that the United States is in the war, we are no i
longer alone. He answered a rising clamor against his j
regime with a declaration of policies based on the Unit
ed States’ entry into the conflict.
“It was as I have dreamed of, aimed at, and worked
for, and now it has come to pass. When I survey and
compute the power of the United States and its vast j
resources and feel they are now in it with us, the Brit
ish Commonwealth of Nations, all together, however
long it will last, until victory or death, 1 cannot be
lieve there is any other factor in the whole world which
can compare with that,” he said.
Praising the Russian unity in their most dire peril
he exhorted Allied people the word over to follow
their example. He said: “The Russian people did not
fall to bickering among themselves, instead they stood
together, worked and fought harded, and did not lose
their trust in their leaders. They did not try to break
up their government. Hitler hoped to find Quislings
and fifth columnis among the unhappy masses which
fell to his power. He looked for them, searched for
them, but found none.”
Rate Hearing Recesses For Two Davs
r ;
Seattle, Feb. 11 — A two-day recess today was or
dered in the federal hearing on the shipping rate in
crease by ships in the Alaska Service at the request
of the Alaska S.S. Company. The company’s request
was made after James Curtin, representative of the
Office of Price Administration, had introduced tonnage
revenue figures in support of his contention that com
panies operating in Alaska waters in 1941 had earned
an adequate income and that rates on food cargoes
were too high.
The recess was asked by the Alaska Line to prepare
rebuttal testimony. It was granted over the objection
of Paul Page, Jr., soicitor general for the Federal
Maritime Commission. He contended a delay of the
hearing was unnecessary.
* ■■■■ —. . 1
PRICE BOARD OPPOSED TO RATE BOOST
Seattle, Feb. 10 — The Office of Price Administra
tion is ossposed to the increased rates for Alaska ship
ping which steamship companies assert required in
creases incident to the war, a bill of particulars sub
mitted to the Maritime Commission hearing said. The
bill, submitted by Attorney Robert Jones, quoted the
OPA as asserting the rates on fodstuffs are so much
higher than heavy cargo as to be “unjust and un
reasonable.” The OPA stated that while the shippers
should be give na fare return, their rates should be
equitable without placing undue burden on any class
of shipper.
MARITIME BOARD —Frank Graham, North Caro
lina University president, and Rear Admiral Emory S. Land
(right), chairman of U.S. Maritime Commission, were nominated
by F.D.R. to a war emergency board to settle differences between
sea personnel and vessel operators. Not shown is John R. Steel
man, another nominee.
U. S. June.au,
Newest Cruiser
Is Commissioned
New York. Feb. 14 (AP)
The H-million dollar light
cruiser Juneau. 6.000 tons,
the sister ship of the Atlan
ta wh'ch was commission-;
! ?d in December, joined Un
j cle Sam's fleet in eommis
uoning ceremonies here.
The first ship ever to start I
[active service in warpaint,
i the Navy said “reveals the
i fine art to which camou
flage has advanced.” The
first naval vessel to bear
the name of an Alaska city
or town “embodies some of
the most advanced designs
brought out in recent war
operations.”
Her commander is Cap
tain L. K. Swenson, a na
tive of Utah, and the exec-:
utive officer is Commander
W. E. Moore of Los An
geles.
_
Committee To
Probe Synthetic
Rubber Situation
_
AKRON, Feb. 14 (AP)
The Truman Committee,
next Tuesday, “will launch
an investigation that will
tear the lid off the rubber
situation in this country."
Senator Ralph Brewster,
committee member, de
clared ‘“I know Donald Nel
son and his associates on;
the War Production Board,
are far from satisfied with
the way Jesse Jones handl
ed the synthetic rubber sit
uation.”
Artillery Duels
Being Fought
On Batan Pen.
Washington, Feb. 14 (AP)j
— The War Dept, reported
heavy artillery dueling on'
Batan Penisnula and re-'
I sumption of the Jap siege, i
firing on Corregidor forti
fications. Jap war planes
! were active but there was
| no material change in the
situation.
Singapor’s Water
Was Taken First
BATAVIA, Feb. 14 (AP)
—The Singapore radio said
(tonight that the reservoirs!
I of Singapore Island are j
still in British hands. Sin-!
| gapore communiques on
positions of battle lines
had indicated that at least
j part of these central basins
| of fresh water were under
i Japan control.
Wearing a bulldogish expression and smoking a big cigar. Prime Minister Win
ston Churchll was met by his wife upon returning to London after his epochal
visit tg the United States and Canada, Picture cabled from London to New York.
Jap Parachute
Troops Strike
At Sumatra
Undated, Feb. 14 (AP) —
Jap parachute troops
struck into southern Sum
atra in a menacing thrust
toward Java, heart of the
rich Dutch East Indies,
while in the siege of Singa
pore, Jap troops are report
' ed to have captured the
150 million dollar naval
base. Simultaneously the
| Australian radio reported
that Australian and other
j British imperial troops
landed at Batavia “taking
up positions for the de
fense of Java.” Dispatches
from Batavia, capital of
Java, said parachutists
dropped near Palemang,
and swiftly launched a big
scale attack on that vital
Sumatra oil center, only
250 miles from Batavia.
The communique said de
1 fense forces are putting up
| a furious resistance, killing
Japs by the dozens. More
'than a hundred Jap trans
| port planes and fighters op
jened the attack.
A special bulletin at 3:30
ja.m. Pacific War Time, in
dicated the fight is still on.
It is the first land invasion
of 1,000-mile-long island of
Sumatra, with a thrust in
to lower Sumatra.
The Japs now have their
'gun muzzles pointed direct
| ly on the near Indies on an
i arc extending thru Band
jermasin in southern Bor
neo, to Macassar, chief
port of southern Celebes is
land.
Buy Defense Bonds and Stamps
Tokyo Announces Unconditional
Surrender of British In Singapore
—
TOKYO, Feb. 15 (AP) — Broadcasts said the Jap
anese Army headquarters in Malaya announced that
the British army had accepted unconditional Japan
ese terms for the surrender of Singapore, hostilities to
cease at 10 p.m., equalling 6 a.m. Pacific war time.
Lieutenant General Percival and Lieutenant General
Yamashita signed the terms at 7 p.m. at the Ford Motor
plant at the foot of Sukit Mimah, scene of some of
the bloodiest fighting northwest of the city after three
columns of Nipponese tore through the British lines to
capture the water reservoirs, and advanced on a six
mile front to the northern suburbs.
Japs Gain Foothold on Island of
Sumatra For The Assault on Java
MacArthur May Soon Be Pressed
UNDATED, Feb. 16 (AP) — The Japanese, already
victors at Singapore, gained another stepping stone
for a southward offensive, Palambang, in southern Sum
atra, but the United Nations are exacting a frightful
price for this gain on the approach to Java. U. S.,
British and Dutch planes, furrowing Bangka Strait
with their bombs, scored direct hits on two Japanese
j cruisers and five crowded transports. One cruiser was
set afire. The United Nations’ command, from its Java
headquarters announced that fighters and bombers
caused “great devastation among Japanese moving into
1 the Palembank region. The smoke of the Dutch “scorch
ed earth” policy hung over the great oil refining center.
The damage was estimated at a hundred million dol
lars and was said to be the greatest piece of deliberate
destruction bv man to his own property.
Consolidation of the Japanese victory at Singapore
will undoubtedly permit increased pressure on Mac
Arthur’s forces on Batan Peninsula. Today’s War Dept,
communique reported “heavy enemy artillery fire on
Batan Penisula in the past 24 hours,” and intermittent
i infantry fighting in several sectors.
In Australia, Prime Minister Curtin called for the
mobilization of “everything we have” in the Common
wealth’s fight for life, now that Singapore, long proud
ly called the British Empire’s Gibraltar of the Orient,
is reduced to a shell of ruins and a prison for the Em
pire troops who survived the ill-starred fight.