r H E N O M E N U G G E T
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MEMBER OF ASSOCLATED PRESS
WAKING UP?
Under the heading, "Our Neglected Possession,” an;
article appeared in a recent Saturday Evening Post
discussing Alaska with relation to using at is a spring
board for attacking the enemy and as an area whose;
military value to the Unted States has too long been
overlooked. We are glad to see that the writer of the
article is aiding to bring before the American public;
the regretable neglect that has been shown for the:
Territory in this respect. To date, there is no tangible j
evidence to show that officials in Washington are go
ing to do anything about it in spite of the fact that
our representatives there have constantly brought the,
subject out in the open.
We quote from the article:
"Suddenly we discover that what may be, or mayj
well become the strategic center of the world belongs
to us and we have no road to it. Many Americans know
it ony by legend, by picture, by post card and by name.
The name is Alaska. There are three reasons why now j
we become aware of its extreme military importance—
the basic geographc theme of this total world war, the
battle of the Pacfic, and the rise of air power.
“Actually, Alaska is on the way to the Orient. The
shortest distance between Chicago and Tokyo is a circle
passing through the center of Alaska. The shortest
way from San Francisco to Tokyo is not bv way of;
Honolulu, as you might suppose, but again a circle al
most touching Dutch Harbor, which is 2.000 nautical
miles north of Honolulu. From Dutch Harbor to Tovko
the distance is only 2,500 miles—half the distance from
San Francisco—but at the extreme end of the Aleutian
island chain lies Attu, also belonging to us, and from
Attu to the heart of the Japanese Empire the distance
is only 1,700 miles.
"With Alaska, the peninsula and the Aleutian Is
lands, we have a front of nearly 2,000 miles across the
top of the Pacific Ocean, on water that never freezes,
because it is warmed by the Kuroshio Current, some
thing like the Gulf Stream—and many excellent nat
ural harbors. You do not have to be a strategist to
realize what it would mean to have a series of power
ful rvaval and air bases, like stepping stones, over the
top of the North Pacific.”
VN INCREDIBLE LAND
Some idea of the magnitude of the Philippine Islands
now in the spotlight of interest with MacArthur’s
brave defense, may be realized by the fact that the
archipelago has more than 70 dialects scattered
throughout the major provinces. The principal divi
sions include these apportionments; Chinese, 11.722;
Japanese, 27,450 (not includng the army horde now
in invasion); Iloko, 2.262,000; Basaye-Cebuans, 3,620,
444; Biscaya-Panay, 1,951,000; Bicol, 1,287.005; Basaya
Samar, Leyte, 980,000; Pampangan, 639.99 ; Pangasi
nan, 580,000; Bisaya, 400,000. The races are divided be
tween: white, 20,000: brown, 15,760,000; yellow, 141,
000; negritos (or little Negroes) 29,000; mixed, 50,000.
The total population is more than 16,000,000. The re
ligious faiths, with Catholics in the majority, are:
Catholics, 12,608,000; Aglipayan or Independent Fili
pino Church, 1,573,000; Mohamrpedans, 677.000 (most
ly among the Moros); Protestants, 392,000; Buddhists,
47,000: Shintoist (all Japanese), 13,000; pagan, 528,000,
and about 77,000 difficult to describe, including the
head-hunters. There are more than 4,000,000 Tagalogs,
4,219,000 English-speaking people, and 415,000 Span
ish. It is a revelation of the polygot, and one hears
different dialects in a day’s journey. An incredible
land is that distant outpost of Uncle Sam. j
NENANA ICE POOL
WELL ORGANIZED
The Nenana Ice I ool organiza
tion has started functioning in
prepaartion for the great annual
spring event. Tickets can be had
at the Nome Drug Store, Polar
Bar, the Navada saloon and at
Jack Solomon’s.
Rules governing the 1942 Ice
Pool contest are:
Nenana Ice Pool closes April 4,
1942, midnight.
No refunds for rejected tickets.
No silent partners will be re
cognized as winners.
Key ticket—Name of combina
tion signed on front of ticket,
placing as many names as con
venient on back; making your
combination list as follows:
Key ticket Serial No.
Name of Combination
Names
ICE MOVED AT NENANA
l -.
1917— -April 30 11:30 A.M.
1918— May 11 9:33 A.M.
1919— May 3 2:33 P.M
| 1920—May 11 10:48 A.M.
1921—May 11 6:42 A.M.
j 1922—-May 12 . 1:20 P.M.
1923— May 9 2:00 P.M.
1924— Mav 11 .. .3:10 P.M.
; 1925—May 7 . 6:32 P.M.
1926- -April 26 . 4:03 P.M.
, 1927—May 13 .5:42 A.M.
1928--May 6 . 4:25 P.M.
1929 -May 5 . 3:41 P.M.
1030 May 8 . 7:03 P.M.
1931 -May 10 ....9:23 A.M.
1032 M y 1 ... 10:15 A.M.
1933- May « .7:30 P.M.
1034—April 30 2:07 P.M.
1935— May 15 1:32 P.M.
1936— April 30 12:58 P.M.
1937— (May 12 8:04 P.M.
1938— May 6 .8:14 P.M.
1939— April 29 .1:26 P.M.
1940— April 20 . 3:27 P.M.
1941.-May 3 . 1:50 A.M
Washington Current Comment
It does not seem so long ago, as time runs, that Wash
ingtonians overwhelmed the trolley line to Fort Meyer
to have a look at a flying machine. The craft ran up an
incline, took a dive into the air, and went up, rather
than down, to the relief of the spectators. The flight
lasted an hour and three quarters, establshing a world
| record.
A great deal has happened to aviation since the days
when the Wright brothers were showmen and their
product a curiousity. The romantic scout, sneaking
through the underbrush to locate an army, exists main
ly in tales of old time adventure. The twenty thousand
ton battleship, once referred to as a “fighting machine,”
| at present is no more than a target, and a source of
I worry to its owner. Several hundred miles of interven
1 ing wa'ter give no assurance that an enemy remote at
I noon will not have the region desolated before sundown
These and other considerations put the Senate into
! rapid motion with respect to the appropriation which
! made more than eleven billion dollars available, for
the construction of thirty-three thousand planes. It
was all over in a half hour. The measure was describ
l ed in a phrase that has now become common, as “the
1 largest single appropriation ever presented to Con
! gress for the procurement of military equipment.” Prac
tically the only objection raised was that by voting
money long before the actual time for outlay arrived,
Congress was surrendering its power over federal
spending.
Little thought is required to reach the conclusion
that, next to reverses in Russia, the promise of an Am
erican expeditionary force, followed by the landing of
troops in Ireland, dsturbed the recesses of Hitler’s
mind more than anything else that has happened since’
the beginning of the war. Aside from the fact that the j
number and potency of his enemies have increased, the
Fuehrer may now note that the egging on of Japan by
Germany has not produced quite the result that was,
expected. The United States has worked to do in the j
Pacific, but the task is far from being large enough :
to keep her hands full. Nazi Germany k the establish
ed and primary foe. Japanese activity against this coun
try is no more than an engagement in a war against
Democracy that was under way long before Pearl
Harbor.
The murmur that we are fighting Europe’s battles
and leaving Gen. MacArthur to hoe his own row, of
course reached the ears of Seeretarv Knox. He answer
ed it, not by denying that wholesale aid was going ac
I ross the Atlantic, but by the statement that the Navy
i would be busy in any part of the globe where there was
need of its services. Coupled with this was the remark
that the Navy already was giving a good account of
i itself in the southern seas. Perhaps, as Mr. Knox ex
I plained, throwing all our growing strength into the
Pacific would amount to flying straight into Hitler’s net.
The papers refer to the
j conference at Rio as a suc
cess. Chile and Argentina,
it is true, fell short of giv
ing complete support, but
even they did not attack
, the wisdom of severing dip
: lomatic relations with thei
1 Axis powers, considered in
the abstract. A small leak
may sink a great ship. A
feeing of relief will pass;
over the Western Hemi
sphere if and when the
1 countries mentioned fall
1 into line. They will feel in
jan economic way, the re
l suits of being under sus
picion. They know, more-1
over, that if they play with
Nazi fire until their own
house is ignited, the Demo-j
cratic fire brigade may be
inclined to answer other
: alarms first.
i - -
I A statue of Commodore
: Metthew C. Perry, which j
, stands in a Japanese town, j
J will be torn down and brok;
I en to pieces. He is remem- j
bored chiefly as the man!
who concluded the treaty j
wherebf Japan was opened!
to the United States. Dur- j
ing the World War, a Washj
ington statue of Frederick
the Great was removed!
from its pedestal: not in or
der that it might be de
stroyed, but so that it could
be protected against mutil
ation by some misguided
nut. Almost anyone would
be uneasy if called upon to
define culture offhand, but
the two statue incident
seem to be connected with
it in some way.
TENTACLES OF JAP INVASION SPREAD OVER VAST AREA
-1
* * . ‘‘vT^JAVa
/NO)AH < a ±
* * r>
OC£AH ° S
j -
3_500
MILES ~
at equator _____________
Stretching roughly in an arc of some 5,000 miles from the Rangoon area of Bur
ma to islands east of New Guinea, the paths of numerous and multiple-headed Jap
anese invasion thiusts are indicated on this map as the war of the far western Pac
ific went into its third month with Japan still on the offensive on all of the many
batteronts on land and on sea.
PIONEER UNE
Bases At
NOME :• : FAIRBANKS
PASSENGER INSURANCE CARRIED
FREIGHT — EXPRESS — MAIL
WIEN ALASKA AIRLINES
Army Modifies
Physical Require
ments Selectees
_
New Army physical standards
which materially reduce dental
and eye requirements for Selec
tive Service inductees were an-!
nouneed to local boards by Na- j
tional Headquarters, Selective1
Service System.
More than 20 percent of the
men rejected for physical dis
ability under the old Army stand
ards were turned down because
of defective teeth. The new rul
ing. therefore, is expected to per
mit reclassification as Class 1-A,
or available for full military ser
vice, of many men now’ deferred
as well as to permit induction of
thousands of registrants w'ho,
heretofore, would have failed to
qualify for such classification.
Formerly, the Army required
that an inductee have a mini
mum of six masticating and six.
incisor teeth, all of which were
opposed. The new requirement
js that he be able to eat and di
gest Army “chow.” It states:
“For general military service
in all branches:
“Registrants who have no dis
qualifying physical defects ex
cept a lack of the required num
ber of teeth as set forth in para
graph 31a, Mobilization Regula
tions 1-!), August 31. 1940. when,
in the opinion of the examining
physician they are well nourish
ed. of good musculature, are free
of gross dental infections, and
have sufficient teeth (natural or
artificial) to subsist on the Army
ration.”
Eye requirements now read:
“For general military service
in all noncombatant branches:
“Registrants whose visual acu
ity is below 20-100 but not below
20-200 in each eye without glass
es if corrcctible to 20-40 in each
eye. (The actual possession of
suitable glasses by an individual
is not required for his acceptance
under these standards.)"
In its memoradum to local
boards, announcing these new
Army standards, National Head
quarters stated:
“It is. therefore, directed that
all local boards reopen and con
sider anew the classification of
! all registrants heretofore classi
fied in Class 1-B or Class 4-F by
reason of deficiencies in teeth or
i eyesight.”
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