NEWS IN BRIEF
*
nFARL HARBOR. Dec. 31— (/P)
The toll of casualties aboard the
minesweeper USS Minivet which
struck a mine Saturday off Kyu
shu island of Japan is unknown,
as aircraft and surface ships
searched for missing crewmen.
The Navy announcement reported
“a moderate loss of life and in
jury” among the crew of nine offi
cers and eighty-two enlisted men.
The two hundred twenty foot ves
sel was engaged in minesweeping
operations in Tsushima Strait.
CLEVELAND, Dec. 31— </F)—
Four thousand employees of the
Pennsylvania Central Greyhound
lines, who have been on strike in
eighteen states since Nov. 1, will
return to work Thursday, pending
the preparation of the factfinding
report, Howard Colvin, assistant
director of the U. S. Conciliation
Service, announced.
SEATTLE, Dec. 31 — OP) — A
prominent Seattle grocer and res
taurant owner, J. N. Raybould, 69,
was found hacked to death near
his West Seattle supermarket this
morning. Garbage men made the
discovery. Detective Captain Rich
ard Mahoney said the man prob
ably was killed early last night.
Mahoney said robbery undoubted
ly was the motive.
SEATTLE, Dec. 31—(^—Offi
cials of the Typographical union,
AFL, announced that the union
membership had voted not to ac
cept the management’s latest wage
proposal, and to continue the
strike which has shut down Seat
tle’s three daily newspapers since
November 18. The terms of the
management’s proposal were not
disclosed. The printers are asking
for a two dollar ninety-five cents
a day increase.
TOKYO, Dec. 31—(/P)—Sources
close to General MacArthur re
ported the Big Three’s new con
trol plan for Japan has already
caused confusion among the Japs
and may cause the general to lose
face in a country where face is all
important. The control plan,
which General MacArthuc bluntly
stated yesterday, was made over
his protest and behind his back,
may result in a slackening of Jap
efforts to put into effect the direc
tives already issued, which they
have accepted only slowly and
grudgingly.
LONDON, Dec. 31—(/P)—Eng
land’s worst fog since 1925, com
plicated by freezing conditions,
brought death to at least four
children and three adults, and
crippled year end transport
Riroughout most of the country. A
thicK gray blanket, settling over
the country about 11:00 p.m. last
night, just before the closing hour
for night clubs, grounded planes,
halted channel shipping, which
slowed to a crawl at times. It com
pletely stopped bus service ancL
highway traffic.
RALPH KITZMILLER
SUFFERS HEART ATTACK
Saturday evening Ralph Kitz
miller suffered a heart attack and
was taken to the hospital in a
critical condition. Kitzmiller is
manager of the Nome Drug Store,
and a member of the City Coun
cil, and was attending a meeting
of the council Saturday evening
when he was overtaken.
Photos Tell The Story Of The/ M
Birth Of Atomic Bomb Is The
Top News Of 1945
Defeat Of Japan and Germany, Death Of President
Roosevelt, Cited As Outstanding In Poll Of (/P) Editors
By CHARLES HONCE. (/P) Newsfeatures Writer
The dropping of the atomic
bomb, ushering in the Atomic Age,
was the biggest news story of
1945. That is the opinion of (/P)
newspaper editors answering a
poll by (fP) Newsfeatures.
Although this represents a ma
jority opinion it likely will be
open to considerable individual
dispute. This is due to the fact
that 1945 was crowded with many
tremendous events worthy of con
sideration for top place on the list.
In addition to the atomic bomb,
there was the defeat of Japan,
bringing an end to World War II;
the overpowering of Germany, an
omen that the end was in sight;
and the death of President Roose
velt. All four ranked high in the
voting.
Illustrating the differences of
opinion, an upstate New York edi
tor, at a recent meeting of New
York Associated Press members,
said that his feelings and that of
his associates was that first choice
would lie between the death of
President Roosevelt and the end
of the war because in his estima
tion these had occasioned more
personal comment over a longer
period.
However, a vote is a vote, so
here goes:
1 The Atomic Age Opens (Au
gust 6). “The most terrible de
structive force ever harnessed by
man—atomic energy” was the de
scription of the weapon used
against the Japanese island base
of Hiroshima. President Truman
k told^ thetiZary to a stunned and
hard# Hmoprstanding world six
teen hours later. By the end of
the year the use of atomic energy,
either for good or for evil, had be
come the most written about news
subject probably of all time. As
1946 is about to dawn it remains
the world's greatest question mark.
2. Japan Surrenders (August
14). The second World War, his
tory’s greatest flood of death and
destruction, came to an end on this
date with Japan's unconditional
surrender. The only possible sur
prise element was the rapidity
with which Japan folded up after
Germany collapsed. Nippon’s
dream of a vast Co-prosperity
Sphere for East Asia was dissi
pated and the groundwork was
laid for the reduction of the grasp
ing empire of the Rising Sun to a
tenth rate agricultural country.
3. Germany Collapses (May 7)
and Hiller Dies (?). For centuries
Germanic tribes have been spill
ing out of their homeland on mis
sions of conquest. Modern days
and modern civilization brought
no change in this spirit of ruth
lessness. In the last eighty years
the Germans fought five wars, the
first three of them successful.
1918 brought one stunning defeat,
but it wasn’t enough a new Caesar
—bearing the prosaic name of
Adolf Hitler—made a final try at
world conquest. He and the nation
that sheepishly followed him went
down to such utter and devastat
ing defeat before a world coalition
that the earth is likely to be freed
forever from the German urge of
conquest. Hitler, himself, a broken
and gibbering wreck of a man is
presumed to have died in his
Chancellery with his body de
stroyed by fire. His successors
surrendered what little was left
of a broken Germany at 2:41 a.m.
French time, Monday, May 7.
4. A Chieftain Diet (April 12).
“I have a terrific headache,” Pres
ident Franklin D. Roosevelt said
to Commander Harold Burenn,
Naval physician. The scene was
Warm Springs, Georgia. A few
hours later the Commander-in
Chief in America’s greatest war
was dead of a cerebral hemorrhage
and Harry S. Truman was Presi
dent. The tragic passing of Roose
velt in the early months of his un
precedented fourth term came al
most at the end of a conflict which
had taxed his enormous strength
to the final breaking point.
5. Labor Stirs In A Postwar
World. The end of the war brought
many pressing problems, none
more attention compelling than
that facing labor and management
«
in reconversion to a peacetime
economy. A strike in the vast Gen
eral Motors empire and a threat
ened strike in the great steel in
, dustry, and also a threatened
strike in the great electrical in
dustry, highlighted the problem
! as government and leaders sought
; peace formulas.
6. The United Nations Set Up
Housekeeping (April). At San
i Francisco on April 25 peace-lov
ing nations of the world met to set
up an organization by which they
hoped to maintain global accord
forever. The San Francisco nego
tiations followed a lengthy series
of gatherings designed to iron out
the world’s economic and political
ills. Organization stress and strain
still were a source of concern at
the year’s end, with virtually all
problems carrying over into 1946.
7. Britain Swings To The Left
(July 26). A pudgy little man, for
ever smoking a long black cigar,
wearing an airplane suit whenever
the spirit moved him, and smiling
like some cherub out of a Christ
mas fantasy, epitomized the Brit
ish Commonwealth through most
of the war. Came victory and Brit
ish voters relegated him and h>s
party to a back seat as a labor
government took over in a land
slide election on July 5. When the
vote finally was counted three
weeks later, Winston Churchill re
signed as premier. England’s labor
government under Clement R.
Attlee brought in a socialist pro
gram for national reconstruction,
but it soon was noted that regard
less of who is in power, Britain’s
foreign relations program never
changes.
8. Spotlight On Pearl Harbor.
“Remember Pearl Harbor” was
America’s battle cry during the
Pacific war. With the end of war,
however, Pearl Harbor was more
in the news than ever. Prelimin
ary reports on the Japanese at
tacks on our Hawaiian Naval Base
were made during the conflict.
Now the whole story is coming
out in Washington through a Con
gressional inquiry. This was
touched off on August 29 when
President Truman made public re
ports of Army and Navy investi
gators on the sneak Japanese at
tack.
9. Nazi Top Criminals Go On
Trial (November 20). The scene is
Nuernberg, Germany, probably
the most devastated of all German
cities. It once was the scene of
Nazi pomp and splendor. On this
day of November .20, however, a
strangely assorted score of gloomy
Nazis sat dejectedly before an In
ternational Military tribunal to
hear themselves accused of mur
der, plunder, horror, and torture,
Corpulent Hermann Goering, wil^
Rudolf Hess, defiant Marshal Wil
helm Keitel and their co-defend
ants thus were brought to book in
the final chapter of the bloody
Nazi story.
10. Postwar Upheavals Plague
The World. When the armistice
was signed on November 11, 1918,
bringing to a conclusion the fir$t
world conflict, the peace was
hailed everywhere as the end of
wars forever. A statistician latex
made a check and^ came to the
conclusion that some conflict oi
other was in progress some place
in the world right down to the
outbreak of World War II. The
story is much the same today
There still are sore spots in Eu
rope; Java is in revolt, the situa
tion in Indo-China is obscure*
China is in ferment, India is un
satisfied, and the Arab world is
astir over Palestine. The picture
is clouded. The agenda for 1946
is a long and torturous document
but maybe the new year will fine
solutions for all the ailments this
year hasn’t resolved.
Famous Firsts
Of 1945 *
(i*P) Newsfeatures
This old year of 1945 should be
a well-remembered one in history
for it saw a number of momen
tous, first-time happenings. Among
them:
For the first time, a Presidenl
was inaugurated for a fourth teAi
- - . For the first time, a Presidenl
died in the midst of war . . . For
the first time, a Prseident assumed
office while the country was al
war.
For the first time, atomic en
ergy was successfully utilized .
a conquering army landed on the
Japanese homeland. . . Britain
turned a prime minister out of of
fice on the eve of victory in wai
... a non-stop flight was made
from Japan to the United SUfes,
. . . French women voted
international tribunal was’set" t£2
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