THE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. 47.—No. 43. NOME, ALASKA, APRIL 14, 1944. PER COPY—15c
INVASION
1 PARTIES ARE
ENCOUNTERED
NEW DELHI, India, Apr. 14.—
<AP)—Japanese invasion parties
have been encountered in the vi
cinity of Bishenpore-Silcher jun
gle track southwest of Imphal,
further threatening isolation to
both the Manipur plain, and the
advanced ailled bases at Assam,
the communique from Lord
Mounbatten said today.
A Domei broadcast from Tokyo
said: “We have closed the last
escape gap. out of the Imphal ba
sin.”
British Indian Fourth- 'Army
Corps were cut off by a flying
Japanese column, which took the
height on the Imphal-Whaoching
t highway, 20 miles northwest of
Imphal. Elsewhere on the Assam
front however, the Jap invasion
forces made no progress.
To the north around Koh'.ma,
the communique said allied, oper
ations were clearing the road be
tween Imphal and Dimapur on the
Bengal-Assam railway, the life
line to the progressing Japanese
who were previously rpeorted
penetrating west of the road,
both north and south of Imphal.
but have not been encountered be
fore on the road leading to Sil
char, 70 miles west of Imphal and
terminus of a spur i ne from the
Bengal-Assam railway.
Lord Mountbatten himself, pqid
a visit to the Imphal front to get
first-hand information on the
• confused situation, where the
, British are figh'ing infiltration
tactics of the enemy.
Meanwhile, ‘here was a new
outbreak on the Arakan front in
which the Japs suffered 700 killed
' irt a wdek of fighting around
• , Buthedaung and made slight
penetrations but were • counter
attacked wi*h allied success.
Steady, but slow progress was
made by Gen. Stillwell’s Chinese
Americans in North Burma, with
Brig. Gen. Merrill’s marauders
plunging south and capturing an
important sector in the moun‘ains
east of the Mogaung Valley, about
34 miles north on the Mandalay
Myitkyina railway, against bitter
ly resisting Japanese.
In New Delhi, the British-own
ed Bombay Times declared, ‘‘It
appears that the publicity side of
the Japanese offensive against
Imphal has not been happily
handled," and urged the allied
military leaders to give the pub
lic a realistic picture of the enemy
invasion of India.
The paper add:
‘‘It is true that one southeast
Asia communique described it as
a major offensive, but since then
the tendency has been to treat the
attack as an irresponsible opera
tion.
The new Moslem organ ‘‘Dawn”
published a somewhat similar edi
torial comment, declaring, “The
enemy advances in Assam are a
confession of weakness so that the
Japanese must offeir further token
of invasion.”
•/ \t it' ' *
---j
REBEKAHS MEET LAST
WEDNESDAY EVENING
Wednesday evening the Rebek
ahs met in the Odd Fellows Hall
in their regular meeting, after
which cards were played and the
following were the winnfe.’s: Mrs.
S. David Mazen, Mrs. Emma Rowe
and Mrs. Helen Bockman. The
committee for the party and re
freshments were Mesdames Nord
lind, McDonald and Jenks.
: ; 1 «*' * V •
( _ PjD L I S H WACS TO'JR-Reps. John Lefcimfci (D. M»cK>. rimer.** fordo® <T> XIU. Alvin
, CKwiski iR. \Yi* at Jalt »h«nr Palish HAC? -».J err.lt»,y numhen Ik*- iUMs v,f Wuhlnjtoa.
' -*•• -
SEVASTOPOL
BESIEGED
BY RUSSIANS
MOSCOW, Apr. 14.—<AP>—The
: prospect of the fall of Sevastopol
to the Red army today, the Rus
sian Or'hodox Good Friday, grip
ped the imagination of the Rus
sian people, as the Soviet army
slashed through the disorganized
remnants of Germans and Ru
manians, many of whom were
! surrendering by battalions.
The Red Si,ar correspondent,
Major Vasily Ignatiev, said: ‘‘The
enemy is cracked at the-seams.’'
The fleeing Axis troops are out
of control and in great confusion
as Gen. Tolbukin’s Fourth Uk
rainian Army and General Yere- i
menko's Maritime Army bore
down on the naval base which had
resisted the German attack for
nine months in 1942
NORTH POLE
AREA TO BE i
CROSSROADS
- I
WASHINGTON, Apr 14.—I AP> |
—The regional North Pole may
become a virtual crossroads of,
the world, according to Repre-i
sentative Plumley of Vermont,
who told the House he was urging
the approval of the million dollar
appropriation for the exploration
| of the petroleum reserves in Alas-,
| ka.
Plumley said; ‘International
commerce of the future promises;
to depend on direct transport be
tween the United States, Canada,
Russia and China using the North
Pole region.”
He added:
‘‘There is convincing evidence
indigenious oil sources of great
value are awaiting only to be de
veloped."
The appropriation was included
in the 32 billion dollar naval sup
ply bill which is before the House.
INVASION
REPORTS ARE
UNFOUNDED
NEW YORK. Apr. 14.—<AP)—
There was a brief flurry of inva
sion rumors set off in Canada last
night as reports of a German
broadcast were claimed to have
been heard in three Toronto 3tu
•
tions.
The invasion was reported ! as
being on the coast of France,
sou'h of Calais, but is apparently
a garbled version of the Nazi
phrase, “We dare you,” a warning
mentioning the D.eppe landing in
1942.
In London, the broadcast was
branded as decidedly untrue from
beginning to end.
BOMBERS
STRIKE AGAIN
OVER BERLIN
LONDON, Apr. 14.—(APl-J^AF
Mosquito bombers struck Berlin
and western Germany last night,
to claim doubleheader assaults on
aircraft factories and rail targets.
Yesterday, nearly 3,000 U. S.
bombers and fighters attacked
Germany’s industrial centers, bag
ging 138 German planes, with a
loss of 44 American planes. 36
of the losses were bombers.
RAID KURILES
WITHOUT LOSS
PEARL HARBOH, Apr. 14.—
<AP)—The 11th Army Air Force
again raided the Kuriles without
loss to themselves.
The Ventura pilots who struck
Paramushiro before dawn, report
ed that their hits on the airfield
started the first light anti-aircraft
fire they have met in three days.
CARNIVAL TO
BE HELD HERE
SATURDAY EVE
The crowning of the Carnival
Queen will take place at midnight
Saturday, at the Arctic Club Car
nival, with pomp and ceremony,
after which the distribution of
prizes to the second and third
place winners with stamp cor
sages for the other girls who par
ticipated, and who will be consid
ered as maids of honor to the
queen.
The final votes will be gathered
around 11:00 p. m., but will be
announced sufficiently early to no
tify all contestants of the closing
of the contest so as to give the
judges time to finish the count of
the votes before midnight when
the crowning ceremony will take
place.
But, the Carnival is also a big
attraction in itself as entertain
ment and interesting concessions
and games will be in order
throughout th egala evening. The
greatest event of the season will
take place—don’t miss it!
The Queen Contest is certainly
stacking up tonight as Beverly
Morgan, the pride of the M. & M.
Bank, takes the lead, with Fran
ces Waldheim a close second, and
much interest is being shown in
the race.
The contest is getting warm, if
Dame Rumor can be depended
upon, so the girls in the show
hav emany assistants con
vassing their districts for votes
for their queen.
The 1943 queen, Eloise Beek
ham, says she is extremely pleased
with the interest taken in the
contest this year and will be hon
ored to place the crown on the
head of this year’s winner.
Today’s standing is as follows:
Beverly Morgan, 6000.
Frances Waldheim, 5100.
Alberta Schenck, 3400.
Pat Graham, 1300.
Dree Witt, 1000.
Julia Silverman, 900.
BORIC ACID
CAUSES DEATHS
OF INFANTS
NEW LONDON, Conn., Apr. 14.
—'AP>—Boric acid powder, mis
takenly substituted for dextrose
in the feeding formula, caused the
deaths of four babies, bom to na
val men’s wives in recent days,
in Lawrence Memorial Association
Hospital
The ins-itution disclosed all of
the victims were less than a week
old.
■‘Six other infants were serious
ly ill and one was in an extremely
critical cona tion," the hospital
administrator said.
He add: "The mistake was made
by a woman, a pharmacy school
graduate, who is now a pa’ient in
the hospital, suffering from a ner
vous collapse.”
.36 GERMAN
PLANES AR
DESTROYED
NAPLES, Apr. 14 —'AP'—>36
Nazi planes were downed yester
day *6y the Mediterranean air
forces at a cost of 19 allied planes
including 16 heavy bombers, in
widespread operations, including
the attack on airplane factories
and fields in Hungary, headquar
ters announced today
On the Italian fronts artillery
was active in all sectors
PLANES AGAIN
HIT HOLLANDIA
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC,!
Apr. 14.—(AP>—American bomb
ers and fighters again hit at Hoi-1
landing, obliterating the airfields
and demolishing parts of the town I
and harbor, and sank a large ■
freighter and probably several
small vessels, with many others
burning.
The communique reported the ■
Monday Liberator attack on
Truk, destroying warehouses and
storage areas on Dublon Island.
Three allied raiders were lost as
against an equal score of enemy
planes downed.
FIVE JAPANESE
LEAVE JOBS
AFTER PROTEST
PHILADELPHIA, Apr. 14 —
fAP'—Sad, but resigned, five Jap
anese-Americans faced the pros
pect of becoming government
charges today.
Their New Jersey farm jobs are
gone because neighbors protested,
according to George Yamamoto,
spokesman for the group, said.
He added:
‘It looks as if we’ll have to go
back to letting the governm^git
feed us, as we have no money, and
no income, but these people did
not wrant us to earn our own liv
ing.” ,
They were brought here by
George Kowalick, 23, a farmer,
who employed them, after protest
signs posted on his shack and his
farm burned by neighbors who
held indignation meetings.
ODD FELLOWS
HALL BURNS
TO GROUND
At 2-30 a. m. Thursday morning
the fire department was called to
a fire at the Odd Fellows Hall.
The fire was of unknown origin.
Mrs. David Joe. going home
from work, saw the smoke pour
ing from beneath the building and
ran home to tell her husband,
who turned in the alarm, just as
Jack Henderson rushed into the
fire station to report the same
fire,
When the department arrived
at the fire, smoke was so thick
the fire could not be seen suf •
ficiently to fight it. The caretaker,
Robert Ledgerwood, 88, was sleep
ing in a room on the second floor
of the building, and was awaken
ed by coughing due to the excess
smoke. He arose and rushed
downstairs and succeeded in get
ting to the main floor, where ha
was discovered by George Mad
sen, who took him to the Mad
sen residence across the street.
At first the fire was confined
to a space beneath the building
directly below the boiler room,
but later it spread through the
floor and walls to other parts of
the building, which being old and
very dry, took fire immediately.
The building was so entirely fill
ed with thick smoke, that noth
ing could be saved, all equipment,
furniture and fixtures and lodge
regalia being lost.
Except for the lodge rooms on
the second floor, the building was
unused until recently, when the
R. J. Sommers Construction Com
pany leased it and began repairs
and renovating for a place for
their employees.
When it was learned the build
ing could not be sayed, th ewater
was used to protect nearby homes
and buildings from the terrific
heat of the flames which leaped,
at times, at least 500 feet into the
air.
The volunteer fire department
and the citizens of Nome who
went to the fire, worked for more
than four hours to keep the fire
from spreading beyond the limits
of the building, finally getting the
flames under control, and allowed
the rubble to burn itself out.
At the time of going to press to
day, 30 hours later, the charred
timbers are still smoking.
The passing of the Odd Fel
lows Hall from among the few
remaining landmarks of Old
Nome, causes a distinct handi
cap in the fraternal life of Nome,
as many lodges and orders used
the hall for their meetings.
The building was constructed
in 1903, and was dedicated as tho
Nome High School and public
school and was used as such un
til 1935 when the present Terri
torial school building was con
structed and dedicated, leaving
the old school building vacant.
The Odd Fellows purchased the
building from the city and re
modeled it into a lodge hall with
facilities for holding parties and
dances. The Odd Fellows were to
meet in the hall Friday night as
usual, but in view of the fact they
have no meeting place, the Ma
sons, through their worshipful
Master, Luther Dunbar, have of
fered their temple for use of the
Odd Fellows for the regular meet
ing tonight Friday at 8:00 p. m.
All Odd Fellows are requested to
attend this meeting.
Advertise it in The Nugget.