Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, December 24, 1941, Image 1

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Medford mail tribune., December 24, 1941, Page 1, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Text- Pull C Weath. Weather S;r"",,ort Forecast: Little chang ta temperature. Temperatora Htgtie-t v f 41 No Better Time Thtra may ba an uitwtr tm jam wanta ud (Mlm oa the Want 44 pats. Jnit a few minute of yonr lima mar ba profitably spent In (hacking these Ada, Na better time than tha preaent. Tribune FORD LowfC this Moral "r M Full Associated Press United Pint Thirty-sixth Year MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1941. NO. 237. A MhWIUI W OTAfflS W WIT fo) mm Med )IA News Behind The News By Paul Mallon Washington. Dec. 24. Herr Goebbels spoke of "the teme situation regarding textile sup- yj.aaia$.vwa olies" and lim ited nutrition" in encircled nazidom. H e did not tell the half of it. The other half can now be disclosed with the au thority and re straint of an official U. S. rani Malloa . commerce de partment report. This shows the ever widening cracks behind the lines in Germany. It reveals that the biggest crack (the one which is causing the condition which Goebbels admitted) is a shortage of manpower to keep the factories going. The news has been kept inside Germany, but Berlin knows of ficially the reich labor office has listed a demand for 1,500,000 workers at the end of each month since the beginning of the year. The ministry of labor admits officially the unemployed number no more than 10,000 (we had 3,500,000 out of work in the sensational boom year of 1929). The "tense situation" regard ing textiles, has been officially attributed to the transfer of women hosiery and garment workers to munitions Industries the past few months. The Ger man public has been officially informed the obvious labor pinch is due to the necessity of .calling up additional male reserves for fighting duty in the gruelling Russian campaign. SO far Der Fuehrer has been trying to muster civilian foreign- workers from conquered countries and drafting women. During August his labor offices called in 134,000 women to ask why they could not go to work (a gentle form of feminine con scription.) From 20 European states (mostly France and Cro- (Continued on Page 8U) RETAIN SCHOOL HEAD Salem, Dec. 24. OP) Frank B. Bennett, superintendent of Salem schools for 2V4 years, was given a new five-year contract last night. His salary will be $4,750 for the first year, and $5,000 for each succeeding year. Radio Highlights By Associated Press (Time is Pacific Standard) Christmas eve: 6, Red Cross hour, Eddie Cantor and others; 6, service from Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Va.; 8:30, Nut cracker Suite and Trinity church chimes; 9:30, Mistletoe and Magnolias, music.' CBS, 7:15, Dayton, Ohio, children's choir; 8, Eamon de Valera; 8:30, Monks of St Mein rad's Abbey, Ind.; 9:05, annual carol program. Sir Thomas Beecham directing. NBC-Blue, 6, drama, Found ing of Bethelhem, from Bethle hem, Pa., and New York; 7:30, greetings from U. S. service men. MBS, 8:15, 1941 birthday of Christ service; 9, Christmas eve mass, St. Patrick's Cathedral, N. Y. Christmas day: CBS, NBC, MBS, 6 a. m. King George; NBC-Red, 6:15 a. m. Christmas In Manhattan; 7 p. m., Lionel Barrymore in Dickens "Christ mas Carol." CBS 6:15 a. m., U. S. army children greet their fathers; 12:30 p. m. CBS and BBC, Lon don, exchange greetings: 7:20, William Saroyan play "There's Something I Got To Tell You;" 8, Christmas in new world. NBC-Blue, 7:30, British refu gee children's greetings; 8, all Angels Episcopal church serv ices, N. Y., "Birth of Christ;" 8:45, Russian Cathedral choir; 10 a. m.. Council for Democracy Hour; 11, American hospital in Britain celebrates Christmas. MBS, 5:00 a. m., "Absent Friends," British empire broad cast; 7, Mercersbury academy carilllon; 12:30 p. nv, Army Christmas program. ill SUBMARINE TAKES OWN SWEET TIE IN LEAVING SCENE McCormick Freighter Ab saroka 9th Attack Victim By Pig Boats In Pacific. Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 24. (JP) The McCormick freighter Ahsnrnka waa tornedoed but not sunk today by a submarine off the California coast ana at tempts were made quickly to tow it to a harbor. The submarine remained on the surface for some time after 4k. .ttar.lT nnrl anme observers from shore said it appeared to have been crippled. Jater, now ever, it disappeared. Naval Vionrinimrtera announc ed the torpedoing, but declined comment on reported damaging of the sub. First navy announce ment said the Absaroka had been abandoned in a slnxing condition. Vnm ahnre. several lifeboats could be seen around the vessel. Several hours after the torpedo ing, they had made no attempt waafh tVt hpnrh. The Absar- oka is 409 feet long, of 5,696 tons, built in 1918 and nas a normal complement of 39 men. Rosebank Safe Almost simultaneously with the attack, the navy announced that the Canadian freighter Rosebank, .2,410 tons, had "reached a safe port". It earlier had been listed as missing and probably sunk. The Absaroka,-- lumber freighter, was floundering bad lw mm ah WH helnc towed to ward shore. Shore onlookers said it appeared to be only two or three feet above water. Mrs. Grace Pederson, a shore watcher, said she saw a submar ine. "It had a hump in the cen ter and the periscope projected above the water," she said. "It headed toward the ship and then swung its nose out to sea and submerged." The torpedoing of the Absar oka was the ninth enemy sub n.,in. attnrk on American ves sels in Pacific waters since the outbreak of the war with japan Dec. 7. Three definitely were ...t .nnthar la lone over-due and the fate of another, which was struck by a torpedo, nas not been announced. Pelain Pessimistic In Christmas Word To Beaten Country Vlchv. Unoccupied France, Dec. 24. (JP) In a pessimistic Christmas message to his con quered nation, chief of state. Marshal Petaln declared today that peace is "farther off than ever" and said the families of France still were broken up by German detention of prisoners of war. He said in his message, which was addressed principally to those French prisoners, that the war had been extended by the outbreak of hostilities in the Far East between Japan and the United States and Britain. SIDE GLANCES BT TRIBUNE REPORTERS Bettv Purdin looking like the very spirit of Christmas with a sprig of holly In her hair. Kay Liggett doing a good deed o days before Christmas by sewing buttons on a sweater for a friend. Ginger Rogers and Mama Lela wiring a Merry Christmas to the Mail Tribune, this depart ment responding with wishes for Yuletide Joy and eternal happiness for them at their new southern Oregon home. Billy Bauman getting a steam bath by driving through a pud dle of water that covered the very hot exhaust pipe of his chariot Merry Christmas, tolksl Crisis Seen Near in Sunk by Submarine in Pacific Waters The navy department announced that the steamship Lahalna (above), was shelled and sunk by an enemy submarine. Dec. 11 on the way to San Francisco. Two of the crew were dead and two were mUslng. Thirty survivors landed in Hawaii. LPT. NSTANTLY KILLED B. F. Peart, 83-year-old Cen tral Point resident, met instant death about 11 p. m. Tuesday when he was struck by an auto mobile driven by Guy Simmons Compton of 324 North Front street on the Pacific highway two miles north of Medford and a quarter of a mile: south of the Beall lane intersection. Peart, according to Deputy Coroner Carlos W. Morris, died Instantly with a severl) crushed skull. The victim also suffered a broken right ankle and bruises about the body. Morris quoted Compton, local agent for a Portland newspaper. as explaining the pedestrian was a yard over the center line and directly in the path of his car when he was struck with the machine's front fender and k.nocked about 15 feet After the impact the aged man's head was on the shoulder of the high way and the rest of his body was on the pavement, Morris said. Compton told Morris that he was returning from Grants Pass end that a car pulled out of Beall lane in front of him and also headed south. Morris quo ted Compton as saying he check ed his speedometer at that time, and saw that it registered 35 miles an hour. Trailing the other automobile at a distance of about 300 yards, Compton a short distance fur ther on saw the lights of an ap proaching vehicle, he related to Morris. Suddenly, he was quoted by Morris, a man loomed direct ly in front of his car almost in the middle of the right-of-way. Compton swerved his car sharply to the left into the path of the oncoming vehicle, a freight truck, but was unable to avoid atriklna the southbound pedestrian, he explained to Morris. Compton wa barely able to Jerk his car, a Chevrolet coach, out of the path of the northbound truck, he told Mor ris. Morris said he learned that Peart had been suffering from a slight mental ailment for some time, and that he was prone to walk in the middle of streets and on the highway. Deputy (Continued on Pag Tnraa) F London, Dee. 24 (AP) Neth erlands official sources declared today that air and naval action of Dutch East Indies forces, culmi nating in the sinking of three Japanese transports and a tanker off Borneo, had "wiped out with serious losses of men and ma terial" the entire enemy supply fleet which had attacked Miri. Miri was one of two closely spaced Japanese landings in Sar awak, on the north coast of the island of Borneo, close to the frontier between Sarawak and British north. Borneo proper. Gaunt, Exhausted Survivors Of Sea Attack Reach Hawaii Honolulu, Dec. 24. W) Thirty gaunt and exhausted sur vivors of the freighter Lahalna, sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Pacific Dec. 11, reached a .Hawaiian beach in a 20-foot lifeboat after nine and one-half days at sea, it became known today. When they approached the . shore at Spreckelsville, Maul isl- and, at dawn last Monday they were mistaken for an enemy landing party until they made their identity known. Two of the crew died aboard 'he crowded lifeboat from ex posure and exhaustion and two others leaped overboard. One seaman died a few hours after the ' boat made land. ' ' . The B, 646-ton Matson freight er was 800 miles out of Ahuklnl, Kauai Island, when she was shelled and left afire and sink ing. Captain Hanso Matthlesen said the submarine, described as about 200 feet long, fired from 2,000 yards and then again from 300 yards. He estimated 12 of 25 shots fired struck the La halna. NO HOLIDAY FOR Seattle. Dec. 24. (AP) A strict holiday vigil has been or dered for Interceptor units oper ating in the Pacific northwest in view of the fact "Christmas and New Year's eve are deeply sig nificant holidays not observed by some of our enemies." The order, Issued by the sec ond interceptor command, ad vised: "All commanders will Insure that there is not the slightest re laxation in their preparation for combat and vigilance to prevent sabotage on these days. All com manders will endeavor to pro vide superior meals and allot necessary rest periods for their men on these days, while keea ing them under their Immediate ! control, NICE FAT PRESENT GIVEN WL0YERS . Salem, Dec. 24. (JP) Oregon employers got a nice fat Christ mas present today when the state unemployment eompensa tion commission announced that the employers probably would not have to pay penalty unem ployment taxes on their payrolls during the next year. The commission said that its reserve fund probably will re main above the 14,373.JUU mark during the entire year. which means that the payroll tax rate will range from 1 to 2.7 per cent. If the fund falls below that mark, the rates will be from 1 to 4 per cent January tax payments prob ably will boost the fund to 118, 000.000, while a $20,000,000 to tal later in the year is possible. GOLDFISH THIEF Portland, Dec. 24. W Who ever stole the 10 goldfish from William Bissett's pond last night wanted them badly enough to spoon out 50 gallons of water with the top oX garbage eta, FREE MATINEE IS G. E The George A. Hunt theatres and the Mail Tribune will play Santa Claus to the kiddles of Medford and vicinity tomorrow when the doors of the Craterlan theatre are thrown open to re ceive happy youngsters attend ing the annual free Christmas matinee starting at 10 a.m. sharp. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello will be featured in the scream ingly hilarious show, "Buck Pri vates", and in addition there will be two cartoon hits designed to please the children. Hundreds of kiddies are en tertained by the matinee every Christmas morning, and this year's program is expected to meet with their approval more than ever before. Abbott and Costello are two of the screen's funniest comedians and the Mall Tribune and George A. Hunt theatres are certain the young folks will be more than satis fied with the film. Remember, kiddles, It starts at 10 o'clock sharp in the morn ing, and it s entirely free. All youngsters are cordially invited. DOINO HIS BEST New Haven, Conn., Dec. 24. (JP) A Cheshire man, rejected several times by the navy be cause of a slight eye defect, fl nally passed and in his excite ment developed a pulse beat that was so fast the examining phy- sician rejected him again. He was told to coma back In a week, however. Faithful Climb Hills of Judea to Pray for Peace on Christmas Eve By the Associated Press The faithful climbed the dark ened Judean hills to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem late today to utter their prayers for peace in a world at war. As men fought ana aiea on distant continents and far-away Pacific islands and bombers droned over blacked-out lands. Pope Pius XII in Vatican City broadcast his third war-time Christmas appeal for peace. In most warring lands tra ditional Christmas lights flick ered behind closed shutters. Rations and other restrictions made this Christmas a subdued affair. The main exception was the United States, where black-outs were only trial affairs and where stores were piled high with goods. i Ailer Madias bU personal Fi.",ht for Philippines CAPTURE OF WAKE Palmyra Islands Subs- arid Johnston Shelled By Jap -No Casualties. Washington, Dec. 24. (AP) The navy department made pub lic today what may be the final chapter in the heroic defense of Wake island, announcing that radio communication with the tiny far-Pacific outpost had been severed, that "the capture of the island is probable," but added that the marine corps defenders accounted for two enemy de stroyers in the final Japanese landing operations. At the same time, the navy an nounced that Palmyra island and Johnston island, both in the mid- Pacific, had been shelled by enemy submarines with no cas ualties resulting. Damage at Palmyra island was negligible, the navy said, and there was no damage to material at Johnston island. No new developments were re ported in either the Atlantic or far eastern theaters and the Ha waiian area was reported quiet. Announcement of the probable capture of Wake Island, 2,320 miles west of Honolulu, came after its small marine garrison had been subjected to 14 attacks by air and sea and during which the defenders destroyed one light cruiser and three destroyers. (More about Wake on Page 4) London, Dec. 24 (JP) Forced back to Hongkong's mountain ous strongholds, British defend ers of the besieged Crown .col ony off the China coast were re ported to have won local suc cesses in counter thrusts against the Japanese on the southern part of the island. Reports which trickled ' out through Hongkong's crippled communications facilities de clared that civilians and British administrative officers were helping the defense by holding out in armed stands at isolated points where repeated Japanese onsets were repulsed. Although competent observers still gave the hard-pressed de fenders little chance of holding out unless aid could be gotten through to them, one source pointed out that their present positions . probably are well suited to their desperate stand. Portland, Dec. 24. (JP) U. S. district engineers estimated to day that $100,000 worth 'of pro perty damage was prevented by the Fern Ridge flood control dam last week. greetings to the armed forces In which he expressed confi dence of a triumph "on all fronts against the forces of evil which are arrayed against us," President Roosevelt planned the usual ceremony of lighting the national community Christmas tree on the White House grounds at dusk. Prime Minister Churchill of Britain will participate In the ceremony, and both leaders will broadcast Christmas messages to the world tonight. In Bethlehem Monslgnor Louis Barlassina, Latin patriarch, pre pared to gather with the faith ful in the Church of the Con vent of St. Catherine adjoining the Church of the NsUvity for midnight mass. Men who fled or were routed from their homelands were ex pected to assemble there. In BetUebem the uniforms ox War Bulletins Folkstone, Eng.. Dee. 24. (fl) German's Big cross-channel guns broke the peace of Christmas eve tonight by shell ing the Kentish coastal dis trict Berlin. Dec 24. (Of Heal Broadcast recorded by (JP)) The British aircraft carrier which a German submarine re ported last Tuesday to have sunk in the Atlantic was Iden tified today by the German high command as the Unicorn. At the same time the high command declared other un dersea boats had sent 23,500 tons of British shipping three merchant vessels and a large tankar to the bottom of the Atlantic between Gibraltar and England. Rumored Nazi Move To Invade Spain Is Scouted by British London, Dec. 24. (AP) A foreign office commentator la belled rumors of an impending German invasion of Spain a nazi ruse today and said there was nothing to confirm either such a move or a report that Marshal Petaln had resigned as French chief of state. His statement came amid spec ulation over Germany's next undertaking, spurred by Hitler's assumption of command of the Nazi armies and a Reuters report that Petaln had yielded his read ership to. Admiral Jean Darlan, vice premier, under intensified German pressure, presumably to get a French north African base or for other collaboration conces sions. The commentator said it seem ed evident that the Germans themselves were spreading ru mors of Nazi campaign in the Iberian peninsula "probably with a view to producing another of those German nerve wars with which we have become so fa miliar." He declared "there Is no con firmation whatever of these re ports" and said that any similar crop of rumors about an imme diate Nazi thrust against Tur key should be treated with sim ilar reserve. FM EXTENDS YULE GREETINGS Washington, Dec. 24. (JP) President Roosevelt paused to day in a grave crisis in the na tion's history to extend Christ mas greetings to his country- men and declared that our strongest weapon in the war is "that conviction of the dignity and brotherhood of man which Christmas day signifies." He spoke from the south por tico of the White House to a throng assembled in the grounds to see him press a button light ing a national Christmas tree, Czechs, Free Frenchmen, Poles, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Americans and Britons mingled with the robes of Christian Arabs. Troops Jammed Jerusalem, buying olive-wood objects to send home, and the traditional holly and mistletoe were in abundance. On the active fighting fronts Christmas eve celebrations were scant or non-existanL In the Philippines the Amer ican and Filipino soldiers had ample Christmas provisions, and Manila's stores were Jammed with shoppers, but the nearness of the invading Japanese troops and frequent air alarms cut sharply into the festivities. In Germany there were no candles to burn. All available stocks were rushed to the Rus sian front, where the nazi armies were suffering severely la exposed dug-outs. ,. I GEN. M'ARTHUR TAKES PERSONAL! CHARGEJN FIELD Invaders Strike Toward Capital From Two Direc tions; Air Raid At Manila. Washington, Dec. 24 (IP) The war department said to day General Douglas MacAr thur had reported Japanese troops had landed in two ad ditional areas on the bland of Luson and consideration was being given to the with drawal of the commonwealth government and military for ces from Manila. Manila, Dec. 24. (JP) (5:50 P. M. 12:50 A. M. PST. De layed) General Douglas MacAr thur and his staff are taking the field at once in personal com mand of the fight against Jap anese invasion spearheads, the army headquarters announced today. The Philippine defense torcea were said to be outnumbered and hard pressed . north and south of the capital. The Japanese were striking from their foothold along the Gulf of Llngayen, some 120 miles north of Manila, and from a beachhead won by a new land ing in force at the little fishing village of Atlmonan, on. the east coast ox Xiuzon 78 miles south of Manila. Large forces of United State tanks roared between cheering crowds lining the streets of Manila and headed toward the battlefields. Manila had four air raid alarms during the day, and af ter the fourth, a nine-minute alarm which started at 5:21 p. m. (3:21 a. m. EST.) One of the biggest fires here since the be ginning of the war flared up in the Fort McKlnley area. Twenty United States fighter planes went Into the air at the first sign of the raid and pursued the Japanese bombers to the south. A communique issued from U. S. army headquarters at 4 p. m. (2 a. m. EST) said that Ameri can and Filipino troops were "resisting stubbornly" on both fronts, but added ominously: "The enemy continues to land reinforcements. "Forty transports are off the coast at Atlmonan," the com munique declared. "Fighting is very heavy. United States arm ed forces of the Far East troops are behaving very well but are greatly outnumbered. "There is very heavy fighting In the north. Our troops there are braving admirably against great odds." Word from Atlmonan by tele phone said several transport loads of Japanese landed under cover of heavy fire from the sea. As the new overland threat to Manila developed, army head quarters announced that military authorities were considering de claring the capital an open city to spare the population "any pos sible air or ground attacks." The announcement recalled that similar declarations were made with respect to Paris, Brussels. Athens, Rome, "and other capi tals" earlier In the war. All AinittiFftEst Clsar Tfcrcsjh P. 0. Airmail may no longer be accepted by employes around the Medford municipal airport for dispatch without clearing through the postofflce, Post master Frank DeSouza said to day. The new order is effective Immediately. - From now on airmail must be deposited at the postofflce or sub-station or in official mall boxes, Mr. DeSouza said. MO PAPER THURSDAY In order to permit em ployes to enjoy the Christ mas holiday, there will be no issue of the Mail Tribune) on Thursday.