March 4, 1942: In what must surely be a classic example of war hysteria, The Times publishes a master map of land owned or leased by “enemy aliens” that constitutes ideal locations to conduct espionage, operate signaling outposts and stage the sabotage of railways, defense plants, power lines, water supplies, tunnels and highways.
And you thought it was just remote farmland. Ha!
How’s this for paranoia?
“They farm near dams, oil refineries and tank farms, bridges, aircraft plants and other defense factories. Their holdings extend from Ft. MacArthur to Malibu, from Santa Monica to the Antelope Valley.”
You want more?
Northwest of Lancaster in the Antelope Valley is approximately a square mile of Japanese-controlled property which authorities feel might be converted into an isolated air base.
The map and a list of farmers was compiled by county Agricultural Commissioner Harold J. Ryan and county Assessor John R. Quinn, with county Surveyor Alfred Jones and Dist. Atty. John F. Dockweiler.
Acting under orders from Atty. Gen. Earl Warren, Dockweiler and Assistant Dist. Atty. Clyde C. Shoemaker used the information “as the basis of immediate prosecutions,” The Times said.
“The master map looks like a primer for sabotage,” The Times says.
“Johnny Eager” is opening at Grauman’s Chinese and Loew’s State.
Hedda Hopper hosts a party for Wendell Willkie (remember, The Times was a staunchly Republican paper). “It must have been pretty flattering to him to have beauties like Loretta Young, Myrna Loy, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Mrs. Jack Warner and Mrs. Gary Cooper and scads of others hang on his every word,” Hopper says.
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The photos are Adams in his documentary mode and are not like the bravura images of Half Dome for which he is famous. The pictures document workers leaving the Lockheed plant and people’s daily lives in a trailer park.
ladailymirror.com 