- 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.