VOL. LIII No. 61 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, MONDAY, DEC. 14, 1942
Weather
Slightly Calder
PI ICE FIVE CENTS
Blaze
Kills
110
In
rvicemen's
Hostel
Briftish
'!. .
Drive
Rommel
From
El
Agheila
" ---
____
U.S. Navy
Sinks Jap
Destroyer
Enemy Airfield Near
Guadalcanal Is Heavily
Bombed in Powerful
Army Air Offensive
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.- (A)-
American dive-bombers and warships
sank one Japanese destroyer, dam-
aged at least four others, and pre-
sumably killed hundreds of enemy
troops, the Navy reported today, when
the Japs undertook last week another
desperate sally to strengthen their
forces on Guadalcanal Island.
One United States torpedo boat was
lost.
Further, a communique disclosed,
army Flying Fortresses stepped up
their offensive against Japan's new
Munda 'Wfield 6n'Ne v Georgia' Is-
land, only 150 miles from Guadal-
canal.
In two days the big planes splat-
tered the enemy base with more than
27,500 pounds of bombs, including
four 1,000-pounders that hit squarely
on the flight strip.
The outburst of intense activity
around Guadalcanal-unusual since
Japan's greatest bid to reconquer the
island was smashed in mid-November
-began Friday (Solomon Islands
Time). At the same time there was a
brief flurry of action in the winter-
locked north Pacific. The communi-
que said three Army medium bombers
(Martin B-26s) bombed an already
damaged enemy ship aground at Kis-
ka Island and bombed and strafed
shore installations.
The main fighting of the two-day
period in the Solomons began at 6
p.m. Friday when the Japanese task
force, consisting of 11 destroyers, was
drawing close to Guadalcanal. Nor-
mally the Japs load each destroyer on
such a mission with about 150 men
plus supplies, Reports made no men-
tion of transports, and the Japs evi-
dently expected as many ships as
possible to fight their way through
on their own if necessary.
Dutch Traitor
Named Head
of Netherlands
Former Nazi Party
Leader Given Control
LONDON, Dec. 13.- 0)- Anton
Mussert, diminutive 48 - year - old
Quisling who for 11 years led the in-
effective Dutch Nazi Party, has been
recognized by Adolf Hitler as the
"leader of the Netherlands people,"
the Germans announced today.
Mussert's new position, however, is
short of the status of puppet premier
and apparently is more in the nature
of a probationary leader to see if he
can bring the Netherlands people
nearer to wholehearted Nazism.
Some observers predicted that one
of Mussert's first tasks would be to
raise a Dutch Army to fight for the
Axis. The Russian News Agency Tass
reported from Stockholm that Hitler,
when he received Mussert to invest
him with his new powers, demanded
the mobilization of 250,000 Dutchmen
fnr the Gprman Arm.
LABOR PIRATES:
WLI Fixes
Wage Ceilings
in 6 Counties
Tool and Die Workers
Are Affected by Order
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.-()-In
a move designed to prevent labor
pirating, the National War Labor
Board today established maximum
wage rates for the more than 50,000
tool and die workers in all jobbing
and manufacturing plants in six
Michigan counties, including the cit-
ies of Detroit, Flint and. Pontiac.
The board also established a special
commission in the area to interpret
and enforce the order and to rule on
disputes over minimum wage rates in
individual plant cases. No minimum
rates were established by the order.
Benjamin Aaron, WLB mediation
officer who has represented the board
in tool anti die cases in the ietriOit
area several months, was named to
head the commission.
The board announced that public
hearings.will be held shortly at which
employers in five other Michigan
counties may appear to show cause
why the blanket order should not be
extendedtto them.
Counties covered by the present
order are Wayne, Oakland, Macomb,
Monroe, Washtenaw and Genesee,
which also embrace the cities of Mon-
roe, Ypsilanti and Mt. Clemens.
Reds Repulse
Strong Nazi
Counter Blows
Russian Offensives
Knock Out 250,000
Germans in 25 Days
MOSCOW, Dec. 14. (Monday)-
VP)- Powerful and repeated counter-
attacks by a "considerable force" of
Axis soldiers south of Stalingrad were
hurled back yesterday, the Russians
announced early today as the Red
Army drove forward its twin winter
offensives which in 25 days have cost
the Axis nearly 250,000 men killed or
captured.
Northwest of Stalingrad, where ap-
proximately 300,000 German soldiers:
are now reported trapped by the Sov-
iets, the Russians said their men have'
captured "several important strate-
gic heights."
On the central front, the midnight
communique acknowledged a German
battalion in the Velikie Luki area had
pressed the Red Army back "slightly"
but said that the enemy was sur-
rounded by a skillful maneuver and
"fighting now is proceeding for its
annihilation."
West of Rzhev, the Russians said,
three counterattacks by a German
regiment with a large group of tanks
were hurled back and 400 of the en-
emy were killed.
Thus the Russians, with the excep-
tion of the slight German advance in
the Velikie Luki area, continued their
victorious reports in the tone of a
special communique yesterday telling
of vast German and Axis losses in
men and material.
Students Join Varsity I
Axis Forces Flee West from
Fast-Moving Allied Advance
American Flying Fortresses Sink Ship, Set Fire
to Tunisian Warehouses in Great Aerial Assault
CAIRO, Dec. 14. (Monday)-(P)- " LONDON, Dec. 13.-(JP)-American
The British Eighth Army has re- Flying Fortresses and Billy Mitchell
sumed its big western offensive and bombers in the greatest aerial assault
driven 'Jarshal Erwin Rommel from of the North African campaign sank
his striongly-held bastion at El Aghe- one ship and set roaring fires amidst
ila, and, the Axis forces in Libya are the docks and warehouses of the
in flight to the west, it was officially three main Tunisian harbors of Bi-
annduneed today. ' zerte, Tunis and Sousse today, a dis-
The British, smashing toward Trip- patch from North Africa said tonight.
oli and Tunisia td meet- Allied forces The terrific aerial battering given
driving eastward from Algeria, thus the three ports apparently was a
for the first time in the fluctualing quick follow-up of a smashing as-
campaigns' in Libya have pushed be- sault by Flying Fortresses yesterday
yond El Agheila. The Axis twice be- of Bizerte and Tunis, with Sousse
fore has halted -its headlong flight added today in the scope of the
there,= rested, and thrown back the American aerial offensive.
British. The force today was the largest
-The official announcement wasthe ever to participate in a raid on the
first British confirmation of German Axis in Tunisia.
broadcasts yesterday that the British German Infiltration
Eighth 'Army had begun its expected German infiltration attempts on
offensive against Rommel at El both the north and south sides.of
Agheila ' Medjez-E-Bab, 35 milessouthwest
Berlin Reports of Tunis, were turned back by Bait-
Later the Berlin radio reported ish and American defenders, and
that the British had penetrated posi- British submarines also entered the
tions "far to the south" in the El attack on the Axis shuttle system
Agheila line, across the Sicilian Straits.
Rommel thus was fleeing once Four enemy supply ships were sunk
more from the stand he had taken in the Mediterranean and inside Lib-
last month after being; pushed back yan anchorages, and a convoy was hit
700 miles from his deepest thrust with three torpedoes only 30 miles
into Egypt atAEl Alamein. from Naples by the submarines, the
"The first intimation of the British Admiralty announced.
offensive which began' in October and London sources estimated that'
cracked the Alamein positions came Gen. Walther Nehring, the German
from the Germans, as did the first commander in Tunisia, had lost about
intimation of -the new British move half his mechanized force employed
against El Agheila. in 'twin thrusts at Medjez-El-Bab and
The British Eighth Army struck farther north Friday. Allied casual-
against Rommel while the British ties were said to be "comparatively,
First Army and its American allies low."
were repulsing German tank and in- But Reuters, British news agency,
fantry attacks Saturday in northern reported from North Africa that a
Tunisia; new battle for Medjez-El-Bab was
The Agheila battlefront, from the "expected to be joined at any mo-
coast of the Gulf of Sirte to impass- ment."
able salt marshes, is less than 400
miles 'from Rommel's main base at Mountains along Road
Tripoli. The mountains along the road
'from that place to Mateur were re-
Passable Ground ported spotted thick with German
The passable ground in the Agheila machine-guns.
area funnels down to a 40-mile defile Naples was bombed anew Friday
between the marshes and the sea night by British Liberators flying
and the next defensible position, re- under U.S. command through smoke
ports have said, probably is Misurata, left by explosions from U.S. bombers
only about 100 miles east of Tripoli. ,riday afternoon.
The German reports broadcastA
Saturday said that Gen. Sir Bernard Other Allied bombers attacked
L. Montgomery, commanding the Tripoli, the railway station and other
British in the field, attacked Satur- targets at Gabes, on the east coast
day morning with two tank divisions of Tunisia, and the docks at Palermo,
and two infantry divisions, strongly in Sicily.
supported by planes, at Mersa El The submarine successes were in
Brega on the Gulf of Sirte coast, and addition to those announced Satur-
at another point further inland just day, when the pigboats sank at least
east of El Agheila. two ships, scored torpedo hits on four
The British were repulsed in the others and shelled the Italian coast
south around noon, the Germans damaging oil tanks, a factory and
added,, lut renewed the battle late two railway trains.
Saturday afternoon and threw an One of the new victims was an
entire fresh tank division into the armed merchant cruiser, sunk by a
fight. torpedo. Another was a tanker.
He's Looking at You-Goodfellow
* * * ',' *
EVERYONE DOES HISPART:
Goodfellow Dailies to Be Sold
by Student Army, 300 Strong
By HANK PETERSEN
Fully armed with Goodfellow Dai-
lies and firm determination to make
the 1942 Goodfellow Drive the most
successful in Ann Arbor history, a
300-student army of salesmen hit the
streets at 7:45 a.m. today beginning
a nine hour campaign to raise funds
for local charity groups.
Fraternity and sorority members
headed straight for campus posts
where they are to sell papers through-
out the day, while Manpower Corps
men made for the downtown Ann Ar-
bor district. Later in the day, these
salesmen will be supplemented by
residents of West Quadrangle dormi-
tories, selling papers within the quad-
rangle on a floor-by-floor basis in an
experiment this year to increase the
range of Goodfellow Daily sales.
Already mailed in or pledged from
campus fraternities, sororities and
cooperative houses are contributions
expected to raise at least a third of
the $1,600 total which has been set
as the goal of the drive.
Additional contributions are to be
solicited today from Ann Arbor bus-
iness and factory officials, and roving
Goodfellow Daily salesmen will carry
papers to the defense plant area to
give workers their chance to be a
Goodfellow.
Funds raised by Goodfellows this
year will be allocated to the Family
and Children's Service Bureau, out-
growth of the Family Welfare Bur-
eau, the Goodwill Fund and Textbook
Lending Fund.
Purpose of the Family and Chil-
dren's Service Bureau, chief recipient
of Goodfellow funds, is to make funds
available throughout the year to fam-
ilies whose incomes are insufficient
to meet economic emergencies. Mary
Hester, executive secretary of the
Bureau, has said that cases of such
need are numerous this year despite
prevalent high wages because accom-
panying high prices reduce buying
power of low income families more
than ever.
Council Plans
TIiown. Meeting'
for Tomorrow
Types of Post-War
Planning to Be Topic
Various plans for international or-
ganization will be presented, dis-
cussed and voted upon at the Post-
War Council's "Town Meeting" that
will be held at 8 p.m. tomorrow at
the Rackham Auditorium.
Having grown out of the interest
shown in specific plans at the Inter-
collegiate Post-War Conference held
here last week, the meeting will cen-
ter around four prominent types of
planning that have been suggested
for the world to come.
After an introductory talk by Mary
Borman, head of the University Man-
power Corps, Alan Brandt, '44, will
discuss Pax Victorum. He will be fol-
lowed in turn by Clifford Straehlev
102 More
Injured in
Holocaust
Frenzied Patrons Jam
Exits in Newfoundland
Fire; Is Compared
with Boston Disaster
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Dec.
13.-(P)--A roaring fire spreading
with incredible speed killed at least
110 persons and injured 102 more at
a barn dance in the Knights of Col-
umbus hostel late last night in scenes
of frenzy and panic like the Boston
night club holocaust exactly two
weeks before.
Dozens of persons were trampled
to death in a panicky rush to escape,
and bodies were found piled near the
exits just as in the Cocoanut Grove
blaze in Boston, which claimed nearly
500 lives.
Like Boston Disaster
As in the Boston disaster, many of
the victims among the 500 dancers
were servicemen, including some
Americans, and a large proportion
were women.
Shrieking men and women stam-
peded for the exits when the fire
sprang up again shortly after mid-
night, after first being reported under
control.
The hostel, operated for conveni-
ence of the services, drew men from
the armed forces of many of the
United Nations on Saturday nights.
The fire whipped through the
structure before firemen could get
into action, and flames scorched or
threatened several nearby, buildings.
Origin had not been determined
late tonight.
Public Halls
Public halls in St. John's became
temporary morgues and hospitals
when regular institutions became
crowded to capacity. Searchers still
combed the debris late today for more
bodies believed buried in the ruins.
Anguished relatives and friends
crowded the roped-off area and
awaited the results of attempts to
identify the charred bodies.
The identity of only a few of the
recovered bodies had been established
by this afternoon.
The first warning, of the blaze was
heard by townspeople at 11 p.m. last
night when a radio broadcast from
the hall said fire had broken out but
was under control.
Shortly After
Shortly after, however, the blaze
sprang up again and swept through
the structure with such speed that
by the time firemen arrived from
their station only 200 yards away the
whole building was a roaring mass of
flames.
Some of those who got away with
their lives did so by diving through
the windows.
The blaze was not extinguished un-
til 2 o'clock this morning by the fire-
men who battled in bitter cold.
Every ambulance in the city was
summoned to the scene and the crews
worked throughout the morning re-
moving the dead and injured to
morgues and hospitals.
Another Fire-This Time
Goodfellow Contributions Support
Student Aid Funds, Local Charities-
By STAN WALLACE
Where does the money contributed
in the Goodfellow Drive go? For what
purposes is it used?
These .are some of the questions
raised in connection with today's
Goodfellow campaign. They deserve
Dean Alice Lloyd have taken an active
part in administering the fund.
When ill health forces students to
give up board jobs, the Goodwill fund
steps into the breech to tide them
over their hard times. Money is do-
nated outright to students in such
nredicaments, and thev mav if they,
Needy families are provided with
clothing, food, shoes, and medical
supplies the year round. Said Miss
Mary, Hester, executive secretary of
the Bureau, ". . . the large portion (ofj
the money) is put in our fund for use
I thrnnhnut the vear. There are nther