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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1941)
Hows? Yes! r - 'Kadlo stations may go ff the lr, II g h'-t s may b -blacked -out, -but Statesman news workers g on through the oixht, brinting yon the newt . you want on . your 'doorstep la the morning-. WcalHcr ..By federal 'erder, all . weather data ul fareeasts for Oregon sad - WasJdajtea , are dJseontlnsed mrntH fnr tber aoUee. FOUNDEII?. 1651 NINETY-FIRST TEAR Salem, Oroon. Saturday Morning, December. 13, 1941 Prico 3a Ntwwtand 5e No. ill Defenders of MamA w At Bay II ' . ' . M. - - US Battleship Arizona Reported Sunk By Japanese Off Hawaii v Defense - Workers On Alert Headquarters at Armory; Parley . At West Salem An army in business and working garb worked and slept at the Salem armory r Friday night as the Marion County Civilian Defense council opened a 24-hour-a- day headquarters there and various units for protection of the community recruited volunteers throughout the building. In West Salem more than 300 residents gathered at the high school gymnasium to become familiar with plans for their defense. The meeting, called by Mayor Guy Newgent, vice-chairman of the Polk coun- V SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 12-(Jfy- Lieut General John L. De Witt, commander of the 4th army, was placed la full com mand of all military forces la the eight western states and Alaska Friday In a move imi-. fylng military operations la the area under the western defease command, T ty civilian defense organization, served to introduce members of the West Salem defense commit tee and wardens of the city's four defense districts. Grateful for the probability of a night without blackout, Marion county defense workers planned devices to darken the armory upon call, answered myriad tele phone calls over new headquar ters phone 3349, and continued work on the defense manual which has been in the making for several weeks. Notice of the cessation .of blackouts in western Washing ton and Oregon until farther no tice and of the return of radio stations to the air In this area came to county defense head quarters late Friday afternoon while they were still located la in the courthouse. - Announcing the 2nd interceptor command's order, County Co- While lights biased out from Marion county farms, resi dences and business houses early Saturday morning in the first all-night period of non precautionary blackout since Monday, air raid observers la the district kept to their posts, civilian defense authorities la Salem said. ordinator Bryan H. Conley urged all persons in the county, parti cu y"" larly air raid wardens not to be caught napping should three blasts of the siren be sounded to call for immediate blackout Elsewhere in the building mem bers of the uniformed Oregon Wo men's Ambulance corps, who have been organized and studying since October, 1940, in preparation for an emergency, interviewed 25 ap plicants for the 1 training course they have heen offering to 30 other women. , ' ' ' The ambulance corps and the SI aow la training, comprise the county motor corps of women, prepared, they declare, to serve as drivers, roadside mechanics, a signal corps, ambulance work ers or first aid squad. A class la chemical warfare Is to be of fered the group Monday night at . (Turn to Page 2, CoL 4) s. , i ... - "u Salem's Own it? 3Jf 0 4 ttUs8 x:.-.. -,.;i.. I - 1 V Truck Company Second Unit of New State Guard Eighty Men, Sixty Vehicles to Comprise Transportation Detail; Volunteers to Sign for Service Tonight at Armory Recruiting of a capital city truck company as Salem's second unit of the new state guard continues today at the armory. Capt. Ray Betzer, retired US marine lieutenant who was Friday or dered to organize the company, Young Salem Woman Safe At Honolulu Dr. Floyd Utter, 44Oakvstreet, said Friday night that he had re ceived a clipper letter from his daughter, Florence, stating that she was safe and well in Hono lulu and had survived the Japa nese air raids without mishap. Miss Utter went to the Ha waiian islands earlier this year as an employe of the federal in- come tax bureau and is stationed in Honolulu. The letter contained no specific details concerning the island sit uation. v; Radio Off For Long Period PORTLAND, Dec. 12-(ff)-Port- land radio stations returned to the airi at 1:45 pm Friday after a 23 -hour silent period ordered by the second interceptor com mand, t The command , explained that the lengthy shutdown was ordered because of cloudy weather, under conditions which . might permit enemy planes to use radio beams as guides in reaching their ob jectives. Knox Radio ' talk Halted NEW TOSK, Dee. U -(Sst- mrday) - NBC early today announced., cancellation of broadcast by : US - Secretary of the' Navy Knox, from Honolulu, -which had been scheduled for 1 a. EST, NBC said atmospheric condi tions were unfavorable. - State Guard Unit Musters T V W said after 47 men had crowded into his temporary office to sign application blanks that mustering is scheduled tonight after 7:30 o'clock. Eighty men are to comprise the transportation company, Betser said, and 60 trucks are to be provided by the state highway department for emerg ency use in transporting guard companies, evacuees or supplies within the state. That membership In the state guard does not subject recruits to call to federal services was em phasized Friday by the captain, who declared the purpose of the state guard was home defense in the absence of younger men of the community who have been or will be called to serve in the regu lar armed forces of the country. No age limits have been set; the physical requirements will not be so stringent as those for army, navy or marines, and al though trucking experience is requested, men who register (Turn to Page 2, Col. 3) Polk-Benton Cantonment Plans Told Contractors . 4. mm Wl. SAW i'HAfiuaw, lhx. struction jobs are yet to be done the Associated General Contractors of America annual conven tion was told Friday, These . jobs are cantonments housing 33,000 men each at Marys- ville, Calif., and . Medford and Corvallis, Ore. .--,, ... This , statement, was made to the -contractors by Lt . Coloneltr Harold D. Stetson, assistant con- ' strncting Qnartermastev ninth sone of the army, at a session -in which the army; navy and state Joined with the contract-. ors for a discussion of national . .and civil defense needs.; . CoL' Stetson in an earlier press dispatch from San Francisco Fri day night was indicated as say ing that "Washington has granted approval for the three canton ments. 'Whether he meant that Above, 62 men are mustered as original members of Company ' K, Salem rifle unit in the new : state guard before Capt. Charles L. TJnruh, standing-, and 2nd LL L. T. Graves, seated. Below, Harry Williams, Salem, veteran, wearer of the PurpleHeart, the ; Silver Star citation for bravery and the French Croix de Guerre, signs as a recruit. Pictured with him. are CoL Ralph P. Cowgill, . left, state guard executive offl- ; cer, and Brig-. Gen Alvin C. Baker, right, state commander. Williams was wounded la the ' Soissons defensive, received his medals for the ' smgle-ha'nded :-y captureof four Germans. ' . , ' Council Held By DeMolays Youth Takes Over Gty For Day; Government Problems Learned (See Pictures on Pace 3) Seriously considering the prob lems of a city during a war emer gency, DeMolays who were Sa lem officials Friday, conducted a council business or varying un portance during a brief night ses I sion. Youths who had learned duties issues of elected officers argued with facts and figures. im innrnvMl the conn- Issues approved by the conn cil the final action included placing of stop lifhts at Court and Capitol, Center and Cap itol, Front and Center streets. Changing or the city hall roof from bricht orange to dull rray was approved, although sugges tion was made to camouflage the entire building. Construction of an air raid shelter, for city officials was re ferred to the public for a vote. The measure was approved by the council, for, they asked, "What good are officials without a city?" Issue of an elevator for the city hall and of protecting the city water supply were referred to committees. Hardest bill to pass was the year's "farce," the building of a wall of paper three feet thick around the city to protect it against invasion and to buy the (Turn to Page 2, CoL 6) o r rm i I -v-- inree mure majw to- on the west coast for the armyJjninistry of interior, specified that construction of the "Corvallis' cantonment, which would strad dle; toe PolK-Benton county line, had been authorized and funds provided, or, merely, that.it had been-approved by the; war-department for possible construction in the future, could not be ascer- tained. ' : -. t . ;. ; ; ; Plans fer the- Polk-Benton cantonment were completed late last month and the engineering 'offices of the quartermaster de- " partment at Albany closed n December 4. , ." . . - " 'Army press ; releases last vfall estimated cost - of , the big project at $22,800,000. - Congress Ready On Draft Law Measure Would Take 19 to 44 For Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (AP) Congress leaders sig nalled Friday for swift action on legislation to require the registration of all men from 18 to- 64, inclusive, with a view of making those from 19 to 44, inclusive, liable for military training and service. Chairman May (D-Ky.) of the house military committee introduced the bill immediate ly after a conference of house leaders with Secretary of War Stimson and other war depart ment officials. He announced that that hearings would start Satur day and predicted the measure would be approved in two hours. Speaker Rayburn of the house said the new registration was "necessary to get an overall pic ture of the manpower of the coun try" and General Lewis- B. Her- shey, selective service director, agreed that such a precautionary step should be taken quickly. Hershey said that the new registrations, of course, would tot apply-to men. from 21 Jo 3V Inclusive,- who'' have registered previously. He took occasion, too, to deny that the war depart ment has any Immediate plans for the registration of women, a step which had been reported after Hershey held a press con ference Thursday. While. the new bill obviously was resigned to tap the vast res ervoir of men from 19 to 21 and possibly train them for combat service, there was no indication of the disposition that might be made of men 45 to 64, inclusive, who would register but, under the (Turn to Page 2, Col. 6) Oregon Leads Defense Says T7,. T JT F lTSl JUaQy ' PORTLAND, Dec. 12-VMrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt said here Friday that "Oregon apparently is ahead of most of the other states in its defense preparations. The comment came after Gov ernor sprague reported on the progress of the state in the war emergency. 'Most of the states and cities have wonderful organizations set up on paper," Mrs. Roosevelt con tinued, "but did not get around to doing, anything toward, organizing their programs until the attack on Hawaii aroused them to a realiza tion that what is happening in Europe might happen here too." Nazis Launch Yank Roundup BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 12-JP)- An Argentine press dispatch from Berlin Friday night said an North Americans over 15 years of age in Germany or German-acquired territory must present themselves at the nearest police station with- This decree, -by the German the North Americans could' leave their homes -only with special permission. Children must V be listed by. their legal represents-1 tives. Sprague Books Defense Talk - - Civilian, defense measures al ready taken In ''. Oregon - and those contemplated In the near . f ntnre will . be outlined te - the publle ; by Gov. - Charles A. Sprame at 3:39 Vdeck this af ternoon -in a TSdlo broadcast t from his office at the eapitoL . The address will be released i through KSLM, Salem, to all radio networks serving the state. M ilitary Reveal On Wake and Midway Fleet Chief Says Jap Navy Fled From Action; Pincers Attack On Manila Refuted Russ, British Pound Germans On Two Fronts Nazi Peace Offers Mocked by Soviet Who Slash Enemy By The Associated Press While the far eastern strug gle was turning in America's favor" and Japanese jiaval units had -iled from- lhelr.1 first -en-1 counter with ships of the T7S Asiatic fleet in Philippine wat ers, word of tremendous vic tories over Hitler's gray col umns came from the Libyan wastes and from the bleak vastness of the soviet union. The Russians, replying with mockery to German peace feel- era and pursuing a terrible' re- venge for Hitler's assault upon them, declared that they had de feated a dissolving German army of 750,000 men on the central soviet front, breaking both the upper and lower arms of what had been a nazi maneuver of en circlement upon Moscow. Ac counts from British quarters also ; pictured some nazi forces as in retreat in the Crimea far to the south. On the Moscow front, said a special soviet communique, 85,000 Germans had been killed in con- turning operations and za oi an initial 51 invading nazi divisions had been beaten, dispersed, iso lated or put to flight All this, it was added, was the cumulative result te date of the red army's response U a second aeneral German affen- sive begun on Nov. 16. Now, the Russians said, division after German division was be Id eat off and left behind to be en taced later on. In addition to the tremendous German casualties thus claimed, these incomplete nazi losses were reported: 1434 tanks, 5416 trucks, 675 guns and hundreds of lesser arms. And the Russians sardonically warned the invader who of lr'e has complained of the weather that real winter was still to come. This German defeat at the Ru-- sian center seemed even mere (Turn to Page 2, CoL 8) ' First Jap Battleship Sunk by US Bomber - . s- - , ... t ... . - - . :. . - v - : t -: r: ,';- t; " - , - -v - - 7 ' .... ' . ---s r .'. -. . -J ' V - " - - ' - ... . . . ,. - .JT"", .; ' .''jVv: - ' -'j . :', - . ." .:":'.:: .-.v v : ' ,. ' .. ' ' . , v. ... . ' . i -r - i - ill T "" ' i I i i in" i , . .w,..,,, ,. , : Alnr of the 2M0-Un Japanese battleship Carmna off the ntrtfccra eoasi ef Lbsm ay three direct Ml; by an army air. corps bomber has been announced by Secretary of War Henry I SUmsoa. The Amerf - can plane drapped three bombs en the warship's deck and two mere alengslde, leavtng It In flames. . . - Co: Heroic Bulletins LONDON, Sat, Dec 13 (AP) Reuters today quoted a Japanese commu nique broadcast from To kyo as saying that the 32,600 -ton United States battleship Arizona had been sunk in action at Hawaii. The communique said the Arizona was the third American battleship to be sunk .bj Japanese forces since -the outbrefy of the war" lrl tKePacHit: - (The Arizona was launched in 1915 and its normal complement is about .1358 men.) MAN1LA, Sat, Dec 13 (11:30 am local time) ( AP) Lieut.- Gen.. Douglas MacArthur an nounced today the Japanese (Turn to Page 2, Col. 5) Planes Heard Over Bay City San Francisco Under Total Blackout Two Honrs; AP Silenced SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. VL-W) -San Francisco underwent a weird war-time blackout Friday night and unidentified airplants roar ed over the city during the two hours and 34 . minutes of total darkness. Unverified reports said flares were dropped in the financial dis trict and into the ocean, but po lice were inclined to discount them. Teople were running- aroaad like wild," declared Elmer Combs, booking steward at Cen tral exnerrency heapltaL "A let f people came In that we couldn't even begin te handle. "There were accidents from all kinds of things autos, street :ars, street cars sliding down hills. Some people blew their tops." The alarm sounded at 7:24 p m. PST and there was an almost universal sigh of relief when the (Turn to Page 2, CoL 7) immpiques Actions Russ Position In Far East Still Unknown China Leader Offers All Aid in Fight For World Freedom WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (AP) The heroic defender of Wake and Midway, tlaj Pacific bleta, r cealin4 - U hold the Japanese at bay late Friday, while on the principal Philippine island of Luzon, American land, sea and air forces joined in a terrific struggle to smash repeated Japanese attacks. This was the gist of the latest United States navv and army communiques, issued late Friday. The army communique said at tempted Japanese landings were -repulsed south of Vigan and north of San Fernando, cities on the west coast of Luzon. However, a previous communique indicated that the Japanese not only had succeeded in landing at Vigan, but were augmenting their forces there. It was believed here that the principal Japanese attacks were being made on the west coast of Luzon because there are good communication lines from there to Manila. The communique acknowledged that some enemy troops had been landed near LegaspL in the ex treme southern portion of Luzon island, as claimed by the Japa nese imperial headquarters. Bat the capital discounted the Japanese claim that the laad tnr at LegaspL and alia at AparrL hi the far Berth of the Island, placed the enemy troops in position U carry est a pincers attack on Manila. In military ctrclesrtt was said that nn taln and estaary barriers std in the way of a pincers tnvve ment from those twe ftholda. By some, the Japanese blews at Aparrl and Legaspl were re garded simply as diversions. The view that the real attack was being made on the west coast of Luzon was strengthened (Turn to Page 2, CoL 1) -I 3 . -i