THE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. 47.—No. 44 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1944 PER COPY—15c
1 I
.
Ladd Field Team
Wins Dog Race
With a heavy trail and the mer
cury at 60 degrees, the dog team
races were run yesterday.
Through the courtesy of the ar
my the people of Nome were
transported to the ski lodge, and
quite a number of the citizens
took advantage of this opportun
ity, as it was a beautiful day and
ideal for the trip and for picture
adicts. . . .
Following is the official score:
Joe Michael, USA - 7 dogs, time
2 hrs 16 min. 8 sec.:
Harlan Dickson, USA - 9 dogs,
2:04:07:
Leo Kobak, USA - 9 dogs 1:38:15
Ted Amarok 6 dogs 1:28:03
Ladd Field - Andrew Cook 7
dogs 1:18:33.
Elsie Bahnke, 5 dogs 1:40:37.
The course was south from the
army ski lodge, then to the east
around the mountain toward Os
borne Creek, thenc eup Nome Riv
er to Dexter, then swinging south
again over the divide over Dex
ter hill and down to the ski lodge.
The winners of the other events
which were handled by the army
were not available at the time of
going to press but will be released
in time for the Wednesday edit
- ton.
ALASKA STEAMSHIP
TO HAVE EARLY SAILING
Word has been received from
the Alaska Steamship Company,
that they will have a passenger
boat to Nome early in June.
This news should be most wel
come to the many Nomeites who
have been-.vyaiting for the familiar
mode of travel. It also indica'es
that the danger which threatened
last year, has gone west.
Mr. Fairweather will return to
assume his duties here for the
company.
JOHN MANDERS UNABLE
TO REACH NOME
The Nugget is in receipt of a
telegram from Mr. John Manders,
candidate for Delegate to Congress
on the Republican ticket, stating
that he will be unable to come'
here as he had planned.
Mr. Manders was very anxious
to visit here and regrets that due
to travel conditions and delays
must postpone his trip until after
the Primaries. Manders said he
hoped that Nomites would be able,
to hear his broadcast over KFAR, |
Saturday evening.
RED CROSS CANTEEN
; HAS SMALL FIRE
The firesiren sounded about
11:00 AM Saturday in answer to
a call from the club, and the fire
was immediately extinguished by
the Fire Department. The only
damage was to the roof, where,
about six shingles which will be!
replaced.
HASKINS
COLUMNIST
PASSES AWAY
WASHINGTON, April 24, (AP>—
Frederick J. Haskin. 70, whose col
umn has appeared covering gen
eral information, and was publish
ed in more than a hundred papers,
died last night after a prolonged
illness.
W: -35MS&Y: •-••• >SKn> fl—lll — »wkwh i » *
B Y W AY OF COMPARISC N—This photo, made in England, shows comparative sizes of
the various bombs that are falling with almost clock! ke regularity on (German soil.
CAPTAIN GOES
DOWN WITH
SHIP AT SEA
SEATTLE, April 24th <APt—The
Navy approved Liberty ship JOHN
STRAUB, northbound with ex
plosives as i*s cargo, bl*oke in two
and sank at 5:30 Wednesday morn
ing 21 miles south of Sanak, island,
Mr E. Murphy, superintendent for
the Alaska Steamship Co. announ
ced.
~ifteen survivors of the 30 men
aboard were taken to the Army
hospital at Cold Bay. and it is pre
sumed that all officers and 40 sea
men and 14 navy crew were lost
along with the cargo and security
officer.
The ship was making its third
voyage for the Alaska Steamship
Co. It parted aft of the engine
room bulkhead. The forward
.
section sank immediately while
the after section floated for 14
hours. All lifeboats and rafts
ave one, are accounted for, leaving
small hope of other survivors. ,
The only names of survivors
available were ab.seaman Bruce
Spang, of Tacoma, and Kenneth
Baker, address unknown.
The master of the ship, Captain.
A. W. Westerholm, aveteran of
26 years service with the Alaska
line is well known to many Nome- j
ites, as he has been on the Bering;
Sea route for many years and has
become a familiar and well liked
•kipper. He has had several ships j
go down or were wrecked, but
was known to be an excellent cap
tain, and his loss will be deeply,
regretted.
RUSSIANS
HALF WAY
TO BERLIN
MOSCOW April 24 <AP)—The
Russians who in ten months lifted
the siege of Leningrad, struck into
Rumania and smashed half way
to Berlin in a 500 mile march
from Kursk in central European
Russia.
NAVY GIVES !
DAILY SERVICE j
ALEUTIANS
NAVAI. AIR TRANSPORT
SEATTLE, April 24, (AP)—Daily
freight and passenger runs frorfi
Seattle to Alaska have been oper
ating by the Naval Air Service
Squadron 5. for the past two years
the thirteen’h Naval District re
vealed. The service was installed
in July 1942 while the Japs were
still on Kiska.
When the first six thousand mile
round trip was made to At*u, the
pilots simply flew unarmed cargo
planes around them.
More than half of the planes
used were two-engined ships, but
the workhorses of the flight were
the big four-engined Douglases,
officially known as <R 5 D>, but
affectionally called, from the Ad
miral on down, as a clunk
Flight cargos average from 5 to
8 thousand pounds, with totals
ranging up to 450,000 pounds of
freight, 170,000 pounds of mail
and 3,500 passengers, mostly mil
itary.
Casualties are rare. In August
1942, Lt. Commander Jerome Spar
bo and his crew disappeared be
tween Yakatat and Whitehorse
and no trace of them was found.
This tragedy occasioned the reg
ulation requiring two alternate
fields open, before the plane leaves
the ground, in this land where fog
blankets fields in a matter of min
utes.
The Red army is massing a new
campaign according to front line
dispatches, as relative calm pre
vailed along the entire front for
the second straight day
The rearguard forces are being
moved forward as new bases are
required following the winter ad
vance The pause is expected to
be short-lived although the lull
last Spring continued through
July 5th when the Germans laun
ched their illfated offensive on
Kursk, and were subsepuently
routed westward.
The weather is not regarded as
the primary cause of the lull as
the mud dried up several days
ago in the southern sectors.
A military spokesman said the
halt in the offensive was normal
and exceptionally important to the
advance.
AMI KING
PLEAS FOR
LARGE NAVY
WASHINGOhf, Apr 1 24, (AP'—Ad
miral King telling how the United
State navy was caught short at
Pearl Harbor, urges that the fleet
never again be permitted to dwin-;
die to its comparative weakness'
of prewar days. His plea appears
with his firs* official report on the
progress of the war.
He recounts the heroic measures
by which the navy has built up
its present stature as the greatest
in the world. He says *hat nowi
the fleet is ready to travel far and
fast to victory, and that encircle
ment of the enemy is in sight.
The Pacific thea're presents a
situation which must be as dark
and threatening to Japan as it is
full of promise to us. The Ad
miral also gives credit to the im
situation in 4he Pacific to the dar
ing American submariner.
These submersibles played a
major part in the early days of
fighting a delaying action against
the advancing forces in the south
and southwest Pacific.
I
CHIEF—Lt. Gen. Walter
Bedell Smith (above) hi chief of
staff to Gen. Dwlfht D. Eisen.'
bower in the European theatre
Of operations. He was with
EUenhower in North Africa.
AMERICAN TROOPS TAKE OVER
HUNDRED FIFTY MILES MORE OF
NEW GUINEA COASTLINE
If S PLANES
IN RAID ON
GERMANY j
LONDON. April 24. <AP>—The US
sky force approaching 2000 heavy
bombers and fighters, smashed at
plane factory and assembly plants
and other war plants in the Fried
rich-sheffen area and nearby air
fields, also airfields near Munich.
The German radio told of simul
taneous blows by the allies on
Rumanian objectives, indicating
perhaps the heaviest coordinated
attack of the war. The assaults
on German objectives were carried
out in good weather, and while it
gave the bombardiers a better
chance to lay ‘heir explosives, it
also gave the Germans a better
challenge to these latest blows, in
the history making campaign.
The German radio said that *he
American bombers and fighters
were engaged by Nazi defenders
even before they crossed the bor
der, in fierce battles which were
fought all the way acre™ southern
Germany. Berlin radio also said
that Dalian based bombers pen
etrated Rumania, and declared that
they also were met by German and
Rumanian planes over Serbia.
Glider Borne
Commandos
Based in Burma
KANDY, Ceylon April 24, iAP>—
A unit of glider-borne guerilla
fighters, employing new and fan
tastic allied tactics of infiltration
by air, established a defense base
squarely across the railroad both
north and south of the enemy lines
in Burma.
Headquarters announced this
latest strike, to cut off the Jap1
supply lines to Myitkyina. which
is the chief enemy base in north
Burma.
Substantial allied forces were
flown in to reinforce the Chindits
who were already operating om
that front for more than a hundred I
miles into Burma. Meanwhile
the old-style Japanese infiltration
tadtiss through the jungle was
meeting a check in the invasion
of India.
The announcement said that the
Kohima-Dimapur road was cleared
and relief of the Kohima garrison
completed, thereby dissipating the
enemy threat to the Bengal-Assam
railway which feeds the American
Air Forces in China.
Lean jungle trained Scots, Irish
and British have been flown in |
with pack mules and supplies for
the American Air Commando force
gliders, in the latest invasion deep
inside Burma.
A dispatch from the US glider
base stated that from the latest
reports of the Jap movements
they are still confused at the new
landings and had not yet defected
where the main force was concen
trated.
Heavy fighting continued in
scattered positions around Imphal
plains and in eastern India.
NEW GUINEA, April 24 (API
Powerful army forces are gaining
ground on a front both sides of
Hollandia covering 500 miles of the
New Guinea coast General Mac
Arthur watched the operations
from a bombarding cruiser An
other group in a third assault, un
opposed, made a landing 150 miles
southeast of Aitape airdrome. The
operations were covered by a car
rier task force which helped to
isolate 140,000 Japs from the Sol
omons to New' Guinea.
The Americans landed with
slight losses, on the west and east
of Hollandia and have driven to
Tanamerah Bay on the east and
Humbolt Bay on the west. The
main objectives were the airfields
This is the first reconquest of
Dutch territory which the Axis
overran in 1942. Troops going
ashore found no landmines and
few obstacles to interfere with
the r rapid establishment on the
three beachheads.
Driving inland the Americans
shock troops met weak resistance
and quickly wiped it out.
Leaving forces to finish the .job
of neutralizing the forces in pill
boxes with amphibious blows, they
by-passed the bulk of the 18th
Japanese army of about 60,000 men
and continued to tighten the en
velopment of 8,000 more in New
Britain, New Ireland in the north
ern Solomons.
The Japs are caught in a trap
as Hollands's bays provide the
only escape outlet to the coast.
The Japanese must either fall back
from their coastal defenses or be
smothered under the heaviest
weight of warship and carrier
launched metal to be poured on
any enemy objective south of the
Marshalls. The defenders are
powerless to stem or hold back
even temporarily, the tide of thou
sands of heavily armed American
troops, tanks and artillery which
have gone ashore.
Not a single vessel has been lost
or damaged.
K E Y E S—Cinema Actress Kv
elyrt Keyes (above) takes time
out between movie sequences to
pose for this stiJl photo.
Advertise it in The Nugget.