m NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. XLIX. No. 150 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER J5, 1947 PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
•
CLERMONT-FERRAND, France
i/P)—A switching error killed 17
persons and injured 20 others,
some of them critically, when a
fast interurban diesel train met a
freight and passenger train headon
In the outskirts of Riom Friday
night.
Both trains were running far be
hind schedule. The diesel train,
carrying 40 passengers, burst into1
flames after the collsion. Most of
the fatalities were caused by 1he
flames.
—
TSINAN. China. (/P)—A govern
ment official Saturday described
China's civil war as "an interna
tional struggle preceding a third
world war."
The official, minister of econo
mic affairs Chen Chi-Tien. added
that the Chinese Communists were
"backed by a sinister power which
is creating greater problems for
the world than Japan ever was
able to do.v *
Chen spoke at a dinner in this
Shantung capital celebrating the
arrival of the first train over the
Pukow-Tsinan line since it was
cleared of Communists.
WASHINGTON, (£>)—'The navy
disclosed today it has a new jet
fighter, the Gruman F9F Panther,
which combines a top speed of
more than 600 miles an hour with
the quick takeoffs and slow land
ings needed for aircraft carrier op
erations.
STOCKTON, Calif. (/P> — Five
persons perished yesterday in a
cottage fire with heat so intense
neighbors could only s and asirle
and hear three dying children cry:1
“Mommy . . . mommy I’’
The dead were: Mrs. Earline
Cott, 27; her daughters, Beverly (
Ann, 7, Glenda Marlene, 5, and;
Brenda Fay, 3; and Mrs. Scott’s
sister Lamoine Mays, 14.
—
SEATTLE, (TP)—Funeral serv-1
ices for Mrs. Virginia T. Davey, |
29, of Anchorage, who died Thurs
day in Rochester, Minn.- were to
be held here today followed by,
burial in Acacia cemetery.
Born in Anchorage and employ-1
ed there by the Alaska Railroad
Mrs. Davey had gone to Rochester j
for medical attention.
Surviving are the husband, j
Richard; her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Schodde, and a sister,1
Mrs. Ray Peterson, all of Anchor
age.
FAIRBANKS, (/P)—The Associ-!
ated students of the University of
Alaska voted at a mass meeting
Saturday to write Congressional1
leaders and protest the threatened
closing of America’s most north-;
ern college before the school j
year’s end because of lack of,
funds. The 322 students include
173 veterans representing 32 states J
and the District of Columbia.
CHICAGO, (JP)—Three gunmen,,
described by police as “mad dog
killers” killed three men and|
wounded two others before one of J
the gunmen was slain by police
machine-gun bullets Saturday.
Police seized one of the gunmen
and hunted for a third after the
9
Italian Premier
Denies Communist
“Victory” Claim ,
ROME, (/P)—The government of
Premier Alcide de Gasperi de
nounced Saturday as “without
foundation” Communist claims of
victory in the 48-hour general
strike which ended at midnight.
The Communists asserted they
had squeezed an additional 7,700,
000,000 lire <$13,547,974) in un
employment relief funds out of
the government with the strike,
which ended after a steely show
of government might.
A communique from the office
of the Christian Democrat premier
said the Communist clairfi was
unfounded and that the strike end
ed where it began.
The situation in Rome was back
to normal Saturday morning with
the ending of the strike. Jeep
loads of riot police circulated
through the city but found nc
trouble.
The Commumst-do minated
chamber of labor of Rome pro
vince, which ordered the work
stoppage Wednesday night and
called it off Friday night, effec
tive at midnight, used only one
word in its daily news bulletin
Saturday morning: “Victory.”
De Gasperi, on the other hand,
declared that large scale public
works projects already were in
the mill and told reporters that the
agreement which ended the strike
could have been reached before t
began.
V
He implied what other members
of his party and his party’s news
paper sa d in plain words: That
the strike was called for 'political
purposes only. Leftists have been
galled ever since De Gasperi toss
ed them out of his cabinet last
May.
Dems. Stop GOP
Anti-Inflation Bill
WASHINGTON, (Ah — Voting
solidly, House Democrats today
smashed a Republican drive for
sudden passage of a GOP anti-in
flation bill. Majority leaders
promptly predicted it now will be
“impossible” to pass any cost-of
living legislation in the special ses
sion.
Immediately after the vote was
announced in the House chamber,
a “limited price recontrol bill”
sponsored by four cabinet mem
bers was made public by Rep. Pat
man (D.-Tex.).
wild shooting spree by the trio
Friday night and early Saturday.
Police Lt. John McNamara said
that the shootings started after
three gunmen appeared at a gar
age Friday night and argued with
the proprietor, John Kuesis, over
an automobile repair bill.
WASHINGTON, (tf>) — Legisla
tion increasing by $750,000,000 the
authorization of the federal hous
ing administration to insure mort
gages on new residential construc
tion passed the House today 390
to 4.
Lewis’ U.M.W. Out
Of A. F. L.
WASHINGTON, </P) — John L.
Lewis has divorced his 600,000 j
miners from the AFL again in a
move viewed by some labor men
as a sign that he intends to play
independent in the 1948 Presiden
tial election.
The 67-year-old Lewis had had
his hat in his hand ever since the
last AFL convention, when the ex
ecutive council refused to go along
with him in an all-out fight
against the non-Communist provi
sion of the Taft-Hartley act.
The formal break came Friday
night with a typical Lewis gesture
of contempt and a typical five
sylable word which fell like an
epithet—“disaffiliate.”
i “Green AFL — we disaffiliate.
Lewis. 12/12/47.”
These words, scrawled in green
crayon on a torn-off half sheet of
cheap paper, were all the notice
Lewis sent President William
Green of the AFL.
K. C. Adams, editor of the UMW
Journal, told reporters there has
been “no deal” with any labor or
I ganization to combine forces for
1 the election campaign.
_
CHARLESTON, W. Va., (A’)—
Following John L. Lewis’ “disaf
filiation” of the United Mine
Workers from the American Fed
eration of Labor, district officers
of the UMW in West Virginia are
pulling out of the AFL-state fed
eration of labor.
A number of UMW officials
( were named to SFL posts when
the mine workers returned to the
fold last September after an ab
sence of 12 years. The UMW men
; appear to be resigining such posi
| tions as fast as they can get let
ters in the mail.
, Saturday, the day after Lewis
announced his withdrawal from
| the AFL, all officials of the UMW
; District 17, resigned state federa
| tion posts and District 17 president
I William Blizzard said payment of
dues to the SFL would cease “im
1 mediately.”
State federation officials, who
saw membership in their organiza
tion jump from 50,000 to nearly
: 150,000 with the return of the
miners to the SFL last year, had
no comment immediately on the
. situation.
—
Many Die In
Collapse of Bridge
—
BOGOTA, Colombia, (/P) — At
least 50 persons died when the
| Pauna bridge over Onybyio Mi
nero in Boyaca department col
lapsed Saturday. An eye witness
list of missing persons contains
only 37 names.
Jose Maria Villareal, governor
of the department, who was swim
ming in the river when the acci
1 dent occurred, said:
! “I was about 20 paces from the
i bridge when th.e cable which held
I it broke. Of at least 200 people on
j the bridge, many fell on the rocks
j or were carried away by the tur
bulent current. I believe at least
' 50 people died.’*
I The bridge was a hanging type
Bombs And Riots
In Jerusalem’s
Communal War
JERUSALEM, OP)—Bombs kill
ed 12 Arabs and wounded 81 in
Jerusalem and Jaffa attacks Sat
urday.
* Two anti-personnel bombs were
tossed into the teeming Arab mar
ket place before Jerusalem’s an
cient Damascus Gate, killing six
• •
A bomb tossed from a speeding
truck at a coffeehouse in all-Arab
Jaffa killed six more Arabs and
injured 40 others.
The Holy Land death toll in
Jewish-Arab fighting since the
United Nations decision to parti
tion Palestine rose to 210.
Eye-witnesses at Jaffa said the
bomb was thrown from an army
truck driven by Jews who entered
from the direction of all-Jewish
Tel Aviv.
In Jerusalem’s old city police
fired machine guns over the head:
of the milling Arab crowd aftei
the explosions. Witnesses said the
bombs came from two Jewish
taxis. The blast damaged twc
' buses. Two of the Jerusalem dead
were women.
Outside the old city’s gate ar
Arab mob assaulted a British con
stable, who was slightly injured,
and fired on a uniformed Jewish
policeman. British armored cars
prowled the area.
With the Holy Land’s commun
al fighting in its 14th consecutive
day, the Arab communities count
ed 97 dead; the Jews, 104. In addi
tion, six Britons, two Armenians
and one Mauritian soldier have
been slain. Deaths in all the Mid
dle East totaled 326.
Pirates Loot
Dutch Vessel
HONG KONG, (/P)-Pirates
boarded the 4,552-ton Dutch pas
senger ship Van Heutz, robbed the
passengers of cash and jewelry
valued at hundreds of thousands
of Hong Kong dollars and escaped
in commandeered junks today af
ter temporarily hi lding the cap
tain hostage.
A. H. Elston, director of crim
inal investigation, announced that
the vessel was looted and controll
ed by the pirates for about 15
hours after it was about four
hours out of Hong Kong yesterday
on a trip to Swatow, Chinese port
about 180 miles northwest of here.
The vessel returned today to
Hong Kong and Elston questioned
crew members and passengers.
They estimated the pirates num
bered about 25.
Apparently some of the raiders
boarded the ship here disguised as
passengers and had a rendezvous
with confederates at Bias Bay.
They took over the ship at gun
point and searched it from bow to
stern, holding the captain and of
ficers in the ship’s motorboat. At
Chi Leng Point, the pirates left
the vessel in the junks and per
mitted the captain to row back to
the ship.
span bridge about 60 feet high. It
was some 100 feet long.
Molotov’s Blast
Deadlocks; Ends
Bijj 4 Conference
LONDON, (/Pi — The foreign
ministers’ session scheduled for
Saturday was postponed until to
day on British initiative, in order
to allow tempers to cool after Fri
day night’s violent argument.
The postponement was announc
ed by the conference secretariat.
A member of the U. S. delega
! tion said it was agreed that an
other session Saturday would only
result in quick tempers and con
fusion. The two day recess would
give the ministers time to plan a
course of action.
Molotov was understood to be
willing that the sessions continue,
i Some of Marshall’s advisers
I said privately they believed Molo
! tov’s attack Friday, when he de
nounced the whole range of the
i western powers’ policy in Ger
1' many, had killed all hope even for
' superficial big four agreements on
i Germany and that little if any
thing could be accomplished by
going on there.
Others contended Mar shall
might better avoid a move to end
i the conference immediately be
cause of the possibility of the up
setting effects throughout Europe
of such a formal big four break.
The speech in which, as some
western diplomats said, Molotov
“threw the book” at Marshall, Be
vin and Bidault came as a sur
j prise, because delegations of the
western powers went into yester
Continued on Page Three
i .
I
“Ike” Looms As
! Strong Darkliorse
(By Jack Bell)
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Political
; strategists for Governor Dewey
and Senator Taft said today they
have come to regard Gen. Dwight
D. Eisenhower as potentially the
hardest man to beat for the Re
j publican Presidential nomination.
1 Dewey supporters told a report
er the retiring army chief of staff
I may become the strongest sort of
a darkhorse contender if the New
York governor is unable to break
through the array of major candi
dates and favorite sons early in
i the convention. The Dewey forces
now concede privately this field
will block any first ballot nomin
ation at Philadelphia in June.
Similarly, a Taft strategist said
in a separate interview the Ohio
Senator’s backers think Eisen
hower, rather than any of the
other most frequently mentioned
candidates, may become the man
they have to beat to get the nom
ination.
This concentration on Eisen
hower, expected to retire early
next year to become president of
Columbia University on June 7,
I promises to have some effect on
the type of campaign conducted by
| the major candidates.
I All of them, including former
| Gov. Harold E. Stassen of Minne
| sota, are likely to exert every pos
i sible effort to force Eisenhower
Jout into the open and get him on
I the record on national issues as
I early as possible.