__OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. L. No. 147 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1948 PER COPY—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
WRANGEL, </P) — The curfew
bell may sound at any time of day
here. It will give an hour’s ad
vance warning, an official city no
tice said, that the city water supply
is to be shut off.
FAIRBANKS. </P> — Presidents
of the 50 land grant colleges in the
United States will be invited to
attend University o*' Alaska corn
men cement ceremonies next
spring at which Dr. Charles E.
Bunnell, the school’s president, be
comes presdient emeritus.
Dr. Bunnell, who announced his
retirement last October after 24
years as the institution’s head, is
the senior president of the nation’s
51 land grant colleges. He became
president in 1921, before construc
tion of the University began.
ANCHORAGE UP)— It looks like
a cold winter, if November was a
sample. Fi*om Nov.' 12 through the
30th, Anchorage did not have a
single day of relief from sub-zero
weather.
The coldest was 20 below on the
27th. The average temperature
during the month was 14.2 de
grees, and the month was the third
coldest November here in the past
33 years.
SEATTLE, (JP) — Ivor James,
general passenger agent of the
Northland Transportation com
pany, yesteday was appointed
manager in Long Beach, Calif., for
the Pacific Cruise Lines, Ltd.,
which operated the former J. P.
Morgan yacht Corsair.
James was with the Pacific
Steamship company from 1919 un
til 1935 and 11 years with the
Northland Tran^jortation com
pany.
SEATTLE, {i*P)—William Semar,
manager of the Northland Trans
portation company, ane one of
Seattle’s most widely known ship
ping executives, will retire from
the steamship business December
31 and devote his time to other
interests, he said yesterday.
SEATTLE, </P)—John Anderson,
55, a Ketchikan fisherman, died
yesterday from a head injury suf
fered Nov. 23 when he was hit by
an automobile on a Seattle street.
Anderson succumbed shortly after
an operation.
SEATTLE, (/P) — Funeral serv
ices were planned today for Henry
Nunan. for 27 years district man
ager at Ketchikan for the New
England Fish company. He died
Sunday. Nunan had lived at Ever
ett since his retirement three
years ago. Survivors include his
widow, Mary; two daughters, a
stepdaughter and two grandchil
dren.
KODIAK, (/P)—A. A. Owen, Jr.,
has left for Anchorage to become
executive secretary of the AFL
United Fishermen of Cook Inlet.
His wife and three of their chil
dren will joyi him later.
SPOKANE, (;P) — Ten B-29’s j
are scheduled to land Friday at
the Spokane air force base from
Okinawa.
They will be returning to their
home base after extended maneu
vers in the Pacific.
Internationa News
At A Glance —
—
Tuesday, December 7. 1948
Fresh disaster befell China to- j
day w hen communist armies, mov
ing forward encircled groups of
100.000 men defending Nanking.
A fourlh army group previously
had been trapped. The bag was
from the Suchow' garrison which
waited too long to leave that
guardian city.
In North China, nationalists
abandoned towns 30 and 40 miles
northeast of Peiping without a
fight. A supply of much needed
government aviation gasoline and
munitions went up in the smoke
of an explosion at Peiping’s south
field.
In the face of such disasters,
Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek seemed to
face an insuperable task in Wash
ington to pry out three billion dol
lars more aid from the United
States. Too many doubters in
Washington wanted to know what
part of the millions the U. S. al
ready has donated has actually
gone into the Chinese war effort.
The United States asked the
United Nations to protect the
South Korean republic from
threats of violence and terror from
the regime Russia formed in North
Korea. The Russians among other
things, have armed and trained an
army of 200,000 in North Korea.
It would oppose a force only half
as strong should the U. S. quit its
occupation in the souht.
The U. N. decided to adjourn its
I Paris meeting Saturday or Sunday
and reconvene the general assem
bly in New York April 1.
Two thirds of the office staff of
l -the power company of blockaded
Berlin left the Russian sector and
reported for duty at a new office j
, in western Berlin. i
Communist politicians, stunned
by the 1,330,820 votes cast Sunday
in Western Berlin against them, j
talked of their own election in the
Russian sector. The Russians in
both Berlin and Moscow denounc
ed the western balloting. The So
cial Demorcats, who have aims
like the British Labor party, got
about two thirds of the vote and j
prepared to install a reformed I
communist, Ernst Reuter, as
mayor.
The industrial boom in western I
Germany began levelling off at 46 I
per cent above levels of June. The
American and British zones deliv
ered $62,000,000 of exports last
month, a new record.
Russian planes flew in all the
Allied airlift corridors but stop
ped no deliveries of food and coal.
Palestine mediator Ralph
Bunche asserted peace is not far
off in Israel.
The U. N. security council mem
bership committee ended its study
of Israel’s application but made
no recommendation.
Wednesday, Decamber 8, 1948
A dozen communist columns
tightened their noose today
around 250,000 trapped Chinese
national troops in the crucial bat
tle for Nanking.
Elements of yet another trapped
100,000—the 12th army group—
(Continued on Page Two)
Bartlett Confident
Of Statehood
For Alaska in 1949
_
*
WASHINGTON, UP)—Delegate :
Bartlett of Alaska expressed con
fidence today that Congress will
vote Statehood to Alaska next
year. “It seems to me.” fiartlett
said “that the Alaska statehood I
bill is set for passage at the first
session of the new Congress.
“The President favors it, the
Democratic platform favored it, j
the House public lands committee
approved it last session and the ]
entire setup indicating its passage
is better htan ever before.”
Bartlett said he would introduce
the bill as soon as the 81st Con
gress mee‘s.
He said he hoped the new House
public lands committee would not
hold hearings but would adopt the
unanimous report of this year’s
public lands group which urged
passage of the bill.
The bill was held up in the
rules committee and never reached
to House.
“I hope,” Bartlett told a report
(Continued on Page Eight)
Alaska Schools
Need $8,000,000
JUNEAU, (/P) — Every single
school in Alaska has some particu
lar needs and at least eight million
dollars should be spent on a build
ing program, Dr. James C. Ryan,
Territorial commissioner of edu
cation, believes.
He estimates the cost pe child
per year for the Territory’s 10,000
school children as approximately
$300. Both Anchorage and Fair
banks are now on a double shift
program, with students taking
only half-day instruction, and
other cities face the same prob
lem, he said.
“Little Federal aid can be ex
pected, and it’s up to Alaskans to
finance the cost,” he added.
Try To Head Off
Railroad Strike
SAN FRANCISCO, (JP)—A fed
eral mediator hastened here today
in an attempt to head off a strike
which could shut down the South
ern Pacific Railroad system in
seven states next Wednesday.
The brotherhood of locomotive
firemen and enginemen last night
called a strike for 6 a.m. Wednes
day. The union called it the “only
method” to settle 296 points of
grievance. There was no general
wage demands at issue.
C. W. Moffitt, western general
chairman for the brotherhood,
said 3,500 members would strike
in California, Arizona. New Mex
ico, Texas, Nevada, Utah and Ore
gon unless agreement is reached
before the deadline. He added,
however, there was a chance prog
ress in mediation might postpone
the strike date.
Southern Pacific said in a state
ment that the issues have been un
der negotiation “and now are be
ing handled under the orderly
processes of the national media
tion board.”
Budget Board
Approves All
Budget Estimates
JUNEAU, f/P>—The Territorial
budget board announced today it
has approved estimates of all Ter
ritorial departments and boards
totaling over $17,000,000 for the
1949-50 biennial.
This is nearly $10,750,000 above
expected revenues for the period
and it does not take into account
the estimated general fund short
ages and about $2,250,000 suspend
ed appropriations for school con
structions, road repairs and simi- '
lar projects. These appropriations
were made by the 1947 legislature
and frozen by the Territorial
board of administration for lack
of funds.
_
“Combined School
I Satisfactory*’
Says Educators
! SEATTLE, i/P)—'Two Alaska ed
j ucators agreed today the consoli
! dation of Territorial and Native
schools had proven satisfactory.
“There was a great to-do about
mixing the children in the same
school when the plan was propos
ed,” said Dr. James A. Ryan, Ter
ritorial director of education.
“We can say now the fears were
not justified.”
He and Dr. George Dale of the
Alaska Native Service paused here
en route to a convention of the
Northwst association of secondary
and high schools at Spokane. With
them is Max W. Penrod, principal
of Mt. Edgecumbe high school at
Sitka.
Until last year Indian, Eskimo
and Aleut children usually attend
ed schools of the Alaska Native
Service. So far 17 A.N.S. schools
have been consolidated with Ter
ritorial schools. Proposals to have
the Territory admini s t e r all;
schools have been frowned upon
because, said Dr. Dale, "there is
no guarantee Alaska would con
tinue to receive an appropriation
from Congress every year.”
“The answer is statehood for
Alaska,” said Dr. Ryan. “Once we
have two Senators in Washington
instead of a voteless Delegate,
Alaska will be in a position to bar
gain for its rightful share of the
national budget.”
I
Princess Refuses to.
Have Fortune Told
LONDON, (jP) — Princess Mar
garet blushed and changed her
mind about having her fortune
told when she went dancing with
the 22-year-old Marquis of Bland
ford.
Blandford, mentioned in London
gossip columns as one of the most
eligible of the bachelors who
“date” 18-year-old Margaret, was
told some “rather startling things"
about romance when his palm was
read, the London Star reported.
Then Princes Margaret, who
called for the fortune teller at a
nurses’ benefit ball the couple was
attending, pulled her hand bac .
lili Rescued From
Crashed Plane In
Mid-Pacific
(By Lief Erickson)
HONOLULU, (/Pi—A navy air
craft carrier Monday night rescued
33 exhausted survivors of a mid
Pacific plane crash, ending a dra
matic 40-hour air-sea search.
The air force men were picked
up in shark-infested waters from
;wo overcrowded life rafts.
Four others were given up as
dead.
Yesterday the navy issued a list
of the 33 men picked up by the
escort carrier Rendova in rolling
seas. It did not include the names
of the four men, previously listed
as among the 37 passengers on the
ill-fated air. force C-54 transport.
The survivors were all in an ad
vanced state of exhaustion from
40 hours on or clinging to the life
rafts. Two were unconscious and
had to be hoisted aboard the car
rier in a boat. Almost all the oth
ers had to be helped aboard the
Rendova.
All 33 wee crammed on or
aboard two life rafts, each built
! to accommodate only seven men.
Those two rafts were all they
could find and inflate after the
plane “ran out of oil and altitude”
and crashed into the ocean 1,200
miles southwest of Honolulu in the
early darkness last Sunday morn
ing.
The two rafts were lashed to
gether, Lt. Col. William R. Cal
houn of Birmingham, Ala., the
plane’s pliot, reported in a radio
• Continued on Page Nine)
Roof Garden Committees
Report Unusual Public
Interest In Event
The various committees report,
that from their discussions with
groups and individuals in the com
munity, it is safe to forecast that
this, the 40th Annual Roof Garden
bids fair to be the biggest and best
patronized of any that has yet
been held.
Gus. Steinwandel says his com
mittee is meeting with great suc
cess in its effort to provide the
best talent obtainable. No expenes
is being spared including import
ing professionals. In addition he
ha sa group of local amateurs re
hearsing regularly, and you will
be treated to a diversified pro
gram including impersonations;
readings, vocal and instrumental
numbers, old and new, etc., as well
as an orchestra that will respond
to your wishes with dance music
that will tempt even the most con
(Continued on Page Seven)
SHOPPING DAYS
TIU CHRISTMAS *