Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. “The News of The Dav In Pictures” Member Of The Associated Press
the Nome nugget
. VOL. 43. No. 114. NOME, ALASKA, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1941. P*.- Copy iu
engers, Damaged
Seward Commences Rebuilding Burned District
Work Starts Immediately Rebuild
•>
Burned District Of Seward--Aid
Is Asked, And Government Loans
SEWARD, Nov. 25 (Seward'
Gateway) — Today Army bull
dozers and cats are clearing and
leveling off the burned cress on
Fourth Ave., getting ready for re
budding. Citizens are going at it
with vim and are determined to
make Seward better than ever. ;
The government was appealed!
to for granting of loans and to
assist in a planned order of a
shipload of 'umber.
All stores on the opposite side
of the street wore more damaged
them at first thought, by glass
breakage. Some were demolished,
as was the Osbos Electric Sup-;
plies which caught fire and the
roof and stocks demolished,
r
Mayor W. R Benson communi
cated to Governor Gruening the
dire need for aid in rbeuilding.1
The territorial government and
th Red Cross have indicated
they are lending full aid. Hous
ing is being taken care of gen
erally, as hundreds are homeless,
dr.ven from shelter.
An unidentified soldier was the
hero of the fire, throwing sticks
of dynamite with his naked
hands into burning buildings,
then running.
The A ask a Railroad is provid
ing dining cars as a substitute
for cafes burned out, and lodge
rooms have been turned into eat
ing spots. Lodgings and homes
are filled to capacity.
A smoking furnace at • the
B'wn and Hawkins Store eaus
P ed a fire alarm early this morn
ing and brought shivers but no
fire resulted.
The Seward Gateway will is
sue a mimeograph for a time un
til the pant is restored.
Streets are icy, the weather
cold, and a north wind is blast
ing.
Businessmen, officials, and or-1
ganizations are doing all possible
to alleviate conditions. Offers of
hep have come from various
quarters.
Army patrols are guarding the;
town, directing relief work, and
as.-isting in finding quarters for
many newcomers, and those
thrown out of clerkships and oth
er work by the fire, who are striv'
ing to leave. The oldtimers are
standing by, prepared as stated :
to rebuild the burned city.
—
Damage Estimated At
From $250,000 to $750,000
SEWARD. Nov. 26 (/P) — Ap
peals for federal grants and loans!
to rebuild Seward were made,
as first steps, to clear away de
bris left by Monday morning’s
disasterous fire, which wiped out
half the business district, were
taken. Army patrols guarded the
remaining business area as bull- i
dozers scraped at the wreckage;
in a chill north wind.
Permanent residents began lay j
ing plans for a new business dis
trict. The Governor’s Office was
notified by Mayor Benson of the
towns dire need, and appeals forj
federal grants and loans for re-1
building, are being made.
The Red Cross set to work on
the task of aiding the homeless
with sleeping accomodations.
Lodge halls and homes are fill
ed to capacity.
Unofficial estimates of the dam
age run from $250,000 to $750,000.
Citizens Prepare
Rebuild Burned
City of Seward
SEWARD, Nov. 26 f/Pi — A bit
ter northeast gale is blasting
ever the bleak burned area of
Seward today as catmen and bull
dozenr.en, muffled to the ears,
are clearing away h'e debris and
leveling eft in readiness for re- i
bui ding Dining ears and rail
way kitchens on the waterfont
tracts ar. doing a rushing busi
ness. The food and medical sit
uation are well in hand. The big
problem is to house the people
still occupying the halls, gym
nasiums and lodge rooms. Em
ergency'- feeding of the people has
been me temporarily.
All business men, burned out.
and representatives of the Red
Cross and Army met with the
city council Last night formulat
ing plans for rebuilding. All are
anxious to get started. Local fin
ances are inadequate to handle
the situation and RFC aid is be
ing sought with a request for
immediate priorities on a ship
ment of materials planned on a
transport with a full cargo of
materials, whi c the army aids
in the building sites being pre
pared.
The present water system is to
be supplemented with a aslt wa
ter system and other improve
metns which can be tied in, in
cluding improvement of 1'ghting
distribution in the burned area.
Urged was a city ordnance to
provide concrete fire proof walls
on both sides of the sreet, and
also ta prohibit so-ca led meth
ods in safety flues.
Director McCoy' of the Anchor
age Red Cross formally took ov
er handling the situation of ad
minisering to the homeless.
An effort is made to discourage
others from coming to Seward at [
this time. Transportation is un-;
interrupted. There is no damage
to railroad or steamboat facil-'
ites for landing and departure.
The Alaska Seamship office in
the Arcade bui ding was a com
plete loss.
The fire proof building, Mc
Mullen’s Stor which halted tb.
fire northward inspired the plan
for complete fire proof construc
tion in the futue.
With few exceptions, apart
ment dwel’ens lost everything in
the fire. A newly wedded couple,
the Russell Painers, living in the
Arcade are broken hearted over
the loss of a great array of wed
ding presents.
J. W. Kehoe, District Attorney
was completely burned out, in
cluding a marvelous collection of
paintings, many of his own, cov
ering a life’s work.
Bob Trotter hardware man, at
the first intimatin that the Ar
cade mnght go, backed a laundry
car and threw in his household
ecects and saved everything. Top
floor dwellers gave full thought
to saving themselves and fam
ilies. One mother promptly wrap
ped her two babies with blankets
and a fireman seized the precious
bundle and escorted the family
out of the blazing building.
One restaurant, Sunday was at j
S3 Aleutian with
303 Passengers
Damages Bottom
SEATTLE. Nov. 26 (/Pi — The
North-bound Aleutian with 200
passengers aboard struck Ripple
Rock in Seymour Narrows early
today and received extensive
damage to her bottom. The Al
aska Steamship Co. reported that
the ship's pump kept the water
under control. The vessel turn
ed about and started back to Seal
tie under her own power.
The Aleutian sailed at 9 a.m.
yesterday end is ixpected here
sometime tonight.
A rr .-age from the Aleutian
said tile -swirling tide carried it
onto the rock and its entire
double bottom is damaged.
Navy Recruiting
Into Slump
WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (.-Pi —
Secretary Knox said the torpedo
ing of the Kearny and the Reub
en James, with a total loss of life
of 112 men, caused a decline of
15 ps re nt iti the rate of navy en
listments. The decline set in with
the Kearny incident on October
17th and speeded up with the tor
pedo sinking of the Reuben Jam
es on October 31, but Knox said
now the tendency is returning to
the old level of recruiting ten
to eleven thousand men a. month.
The rate is still about two or .
three thousand men a month
short of the Navy’s actual needs.
Wins Annullment
From “Squawman”
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26 <JP)
Mrs. Virginia Edwards object
ed, as a bride of a few hours, to
the idea of competing with an
Eskimo rival for her husband’s
affections, she testified in win
ning an annu lment of her mar
riage to M. E. Edwards, a miner,
;n Anchorage, in January, 1938.
The Eskimo rival showed up at
the wedding supper Mrs. Edward
told Judge Foley. She testified
'hat she left her husband ten
lays later when people started
pointing her out as the wife of a
“squawman.”
Red Cross Sends $2,000
Emergency Sund Seward
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26 (JP)
- The Red Cross authorized an
emergency grant of $2,000 to'
supply food, clothing and tem
porary shelter to the residents of
Seward. Keith McCoy reached
Seward by plane and reported
150 were homeless as a result of
the fire. j
the point of being sold and ev
erything was agreed excepting
he signing of formal papers
which was put og until Monday.
Edward T. Leary of Butte,
Montana, enlisted man, was the
hero who assisted three officers (
to plant dynamite charges. In
the Northern Bar he found a 4th i
charge left out and rushed to the
burning building and threw in
the charge with his bare hands,
running into great danger, in an
effort to demolish the structure
to halt the fire.
Seward is still under martial
control and all bars are closed,
a situation that may last for
some days.
British Expect
Lengthy Struggle
■ _
UNDATED, Nov. 26 i/P> -Axis
front line dispatches declared
that British troops south of Re
zegh, scene of a three-day battle
of massed tanks, were encircled
•n ! "annihilated," and more than
5.0,>0 prisoners captured. German
m: lit ary quarters asserted flatly
that the Libyan desert campaign
■ ;ild no longer be regarded as a
IV' ish offensive. Rez gh is 10
miles south of Tobruk.
The British M ddle East head
quarters said the Germans rush
:l up reinforcements to Rezegh,
ind a big battle is expected there
momentarily.
A Cairo bu’lot-in reported that
t’r> British Tobruk garrison
smashed deeper into the Axis
siege lines and declared that
strong British tank reinforce
ments, previously held in reserve
are now moving forward into the
battle zones to bolster other Im
perial armored columns, reorgan
zing for a new attack in the
Rezegh area. Other dispatches
indicated that the British expect
ed a lengthy struggle.
On the Russo-German war
front, the Russians admitted ser
ions new German gains on the
northern and southern flanks of
the Moscow defense arc, but de
clared Red Army counter at
tacks in the Ukraine have thrown
the Nazis bank six more miles
north-wist of Rostov, in a sector
where the Germans have already ,
lost 37 to 60 miles.
The Vichy radio, quoting “Ger
man front reports," said Nazi
mechanized forces slashed thru!
the Red defenses at a point with
in less than 16 miles of Moscow,
the closest approach since Hitler
started His huge scale drive on!
October 2. The radio said Ger
man spearheads have broken
through southeast of Kalinin, 50
miles northest of Moscow. There
was no confirmation of the re
port elsewhere, however.
Anti-Comintern
Pact Is Renewed
New Signatories
—
BERLIN, Nov. 25 <JP) — The
Anti-Comintern Pact, sponsored
by Germany, was renewed for
five years and broadened to in
clude thirteen signatories. In a
festive ceremony, in which Von
Ribbentrop declared that the
western democracies have be
come “assistants to world com
munism," concluded the ceremon
ies in the Chancellory where the
pact was hailed as a demonstra
tion of continental solidarity ag
ainst Moscow, London and Wash
ington.
Ribbentrop declared the signa
tories will “never rest” until the
destruction of world communism.
Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland,
Croatia, Rumania and Slovakia
were officially signed up by their
representatives.
Von Ribbentrop read a tele
gram from Foreign Minister
Tsuim Yee of the Japanese-spon
sored Nanking regime of China,
that his government also joined.
_
•SOURDOUGH”
STATIONERY
At Nugget Office
Placer Mines (>et
A-10 OPM Rating
■
The following wire was receiv
ed by the Nugget from B. D. Stc
war Emergency Coordinator of
Mires Priorities, at Anchorage:
Have received by wire from
Administrator of Mines Priorit
ies. OPM. Washington. D. C.. con
firmation that all mines not cover
eel by serial numbers under pre
ference rating order P-56, are
cover-■() by order P 22. This in
c udes gold placer mines and
gives an A-10 rating on materials
required f r maintenance, repairs
and operating supplies.
Small British Patrol
Lands on French Coast
—
UNDATED, Nov. 25 (/Pi— Mass
es of British and Axis tanks
swirled in a chaotic battle on the
sands of North Africa, as Rus
sia’s Red armies fought to stem
the German onslaught within 50
miles of Moscow.
Berlin tersely reported a Brit
ish attempt to land troops, Sun
day night, on the coast of France.
Brit sh front ine dispatches,
claiming a victory over the Ger
mans in at least one sector in
the Rezegh battle zone. 10 miles
sou'h of Tobruk, s-id the Nazis
were gradually cut -’ll' from sup
plies by Imperial columns driv
ng westward to the Mediter
ranean coast. Cairo reports said
the great three day battle of
Rezegh has begun to die down
as a re-ult of heavy losses to
both sides but British infantry
reinforcements are pouring into
lighting bases in the east and
south.
As pictured by the British. Ger
man General Rommels’ tank fore
es are badly crippled but there
is no indication that fresh Ger
man troops were sent into action.
On the Ukraine front, Soviet
dispatches reported a powerful
Russian counter offensive, west
of Rostov on the Don. hurled the
Germans back 62 miles. The in
vaders are rushing new troops to;
the threatened arc-a. Nazi losses
were described as ‘‘enormous.’’
The sixteenth German tank divi
sion was “almost completely
smashed.”
The German command Satur
day claimed the capture of Ros
tov, northern gateway to the Cau
casus oil fields, but the Russians |
reported Sunday that a fierce I
tank and machine gun battle isj
still raging in the city’s streets.
Today’s dispatches indicated that
the Russians are making a new
furious attempt to recapture Ros
tov after breaking the initial Gerj
man drive beyond the strategic
Don river nort.
A bullemn from Hitler’s head-1
quarters gave this brief account
of the purported British thrust
across the channel: “A British at
tempt to effect a landing on the
French channel coast in some
boats but they were repulsed;
with heavy losses by German
coastal defenses.”
In London, the ministry of in
formation said “A small British
patrol” landed on the Normandy
coast Sunday night, with a lone
casualty, a man struck on the
arm with a machine gun bullet.
The ministry added “The enemy
is betraying his anxiety about
our intentions as regards the
coast of occupied territory and
hopes by making exaggerated
claims to e’icit the information
which we have withheld from
him.”
Given Free Hand Anti
Strike Legislation
WASHINGTON. Nov. 25 i,P> —
The President told Congress to
start writing its own ticket on
strike curbing legislation. He con
ferred for more than two hours
last night with key members of
the House, Rs publicans as well
as Democrats, who reported he
appeared in favor of suggestions
f a co ling o(T period of eompul
>ry arbitration when strike calls
threat, n defense production. The
scope of the leg siation. and de
tails of the bill are apparently
1 'ft strict y uo to the la .'.makers,
alth ugh R sevelt said he made
it clear he thought it time for
Congress to act.
Speaker Rayburn announced
yesterday that the long discussed
labor i- ue will be brought be
fore the House immediately after
disposition of the pending price
control bill. That, he said, will
mean early next week.
Declares U. S. Cannot
Prevent Axis Triumph
BERLIN. Nov. 26 UP> — Von
R bi atrop declared even if the
United States entered the war
against the Axis it couldn't pre
vent the triumph of Germany
and her allies.. He told signator
i--s of the Anti-Comintern Pact
that Germany has already won
her campaign against Russia and
said the war now lines up as a
fight was Britain and her "trans
flantic helpers." and* t. .• Ameri
can people will pay dearly for
Roosevelt’s policies. Ribbentrop
declared "I believe- the American
catastrophe of 1P29 will be
child's play in comparison. I be
lieve the day is coming when the
American people will call the
President ar.d his Jewish coirneel
lors to account.”
Germany Preparing
To Raze Belgrade
WASHINGTON, Nev. 26 (TP) —
The White House disclosed that
the government intelligence ser
vice reported that Germany is
preparing to raze Belgrade, cap
ital of conquered Yugoslavia, be
cause the Nazis are convinced
the Chetniks, Serbian guerillas,
are using it as a base of opera
tions. Stephen Early said the re
port came in last night
/Asked the purpose of disclos
ing the military intelligi nee, he
said they expected to see the re
port printed. Early said, accord
ing to the declaration of a high
German ofllciai “The bombard
ment to which Bt igrade has been
subjected will be nothing to
what is now in store for the city.”
Troops to Dutch Guina
Meets Senate Approval
WASHINGTON. Nov. 25 tTPi —
The dispatch of a protective
force of United States troops to
Dutch Guina won much com
mendation in the Senate. There
was a general disposition to link
the move with the critical status
of French-American relations.
Several Senators, speaking of the
Dutch colony’s rich bauxite min
es, said the President obviously
intended to forestall any threat
to tthis vital supply source which
furnishes more than 60 percent
of the bauxite ore required by
this country's rapidly expanding
aluminum industry.
Some thought President Roose
velt may have acted in concern
lest Germany occupy Dakar,
France’s strategic base on the
western hump of Africa, then try
later to move into French Guina
which borders the Dutch colony,
on the northeast coast of South
America.