I k I I V ■ ' > ’ - "
= NUGGET
__ OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. XLIX. No. 85 NOMErALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1947 PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF j
SEATTLE, (/P)—The navy tug
Potawatomi sped from # Kodiak,
Alaska, to a native village on the
island of Afog'rTak, about 25 miles
to the north, to rescue 11 crewmen
of the fishing boat, Rainbow III,
which ran aground near there.
Thirteenth naval district bead
quarters here said word had been,
received from Kodiak that all men
aboard the fishing vessel gained
safety on the island beach without
injury. They will be returned to
Kodiak.
The navy made no further in
formation on the accident.
LONDON (>P)—The overwhelm
ingly conservative House of Lords
passed the Labor government’s
inland transport nationalization
bill today, but sent it back to the
House of Commons with a dozen
amendments approved over gov
ernment protests.
The bill would bring Britain’s
railroads, bus lines and long dis
tance truckers under government
* ownership by next January and
would involve an estimated $4 - j
250.000. 000 government expendi
ture to purchase the facilities.
- - -
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President i
Truman yesterday signed legis-;
lation extending export-import j
controls over scarce commodities
until next Feb. 29 and said some1
foreign trade supervision will be j
needed even after then.
These controls, embodied in the j
second war powers act, originally j
expired June 30, but were extend
ed for 15 days by a stop-gap Con- j
gressional resolution.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—A bill to |
permit the agriculture department;
to sell timber from lands in the |
Tongas National Forest, Alaska,
was passed Tuesday by the House
and sent to the Senate. The mea
sure also validates timber sale;
contracts previously made by the i
government with private lumber
men.
- I
WASHINGTON, (/P) — The
treasury reported today that
money in circulation at the start
of this month totaled $28,292,230,
031, an average of $196.38 each
for a population estimated at
140.066.000. The average amount
was down 11 cents from the start
of June.
SALT LAKE CITY, (JP) — The
resolutions committee of the na
tional governors’ conference was
reported today to have approved
a resolution favoring admission of
the Territory of Alaska to state
hood. The conference will act on
the resolution before final ad
journment late today.
ANCHORAGE, (/P)—Fifteen Ta
coma businessmen, led by Mayor
C. Val Fawcett, arrived yesterday
on a goodwill tour of the Terri
tory.
"Our stake in Alaska is as great
as you believe it to be,” said a
spokesman for the group. "We
want to be helpful, so that we may
report to our .leaders in business
and our state and Congressional
representatives.”
HERMIT HAVEN — Anybody who really wants to be alone has an Ideal spot In this remote
and yale-swept Aleutian observation tower built by Navy Seabees. *
“Coal Contract
Will Retard
Inflation”
WASHINGTON, </P) — George
M.. Humphrey, Pittsburgh coal
and steel executive, said yesterday
the new coal wage contract “will
do more to stabilize the economy
and retard inflation” than settle
ment of any controversy in the
industry in several years.
Humphrey, who played a major
role in negotiation of the agree
ment with John L. Lewis’s united
mine workers, told the join tCon
gressional committee on the eco
nomic report that the contract will
spur the output of coal, and add
ed:
“Production, and only produc
tion which creates a balance of
supply and demand is the only
sure cure for the increasing wage
and price spiral.”
Humphrey said the contract re
tards inflation “by avoiding a
strike and all the resulting dam
age that would surely follow from
a deadlock.
Humphrey testified after Earl
Bunting, president of the national
association of manufacturers, told
the committee that the nation
should be able to absorb this
year’s "second round” wage with
out going on an inflationary spree.
The NAM head also declared
the key to continued economic
growth and prosperity is a united
effort for greater production, plus
tax cuts to provide “venture cap
ital” for expansion of industry by
600,000 new jobs a year.
FAIRBANKS, (iP)--Overcrowd
ed Fairbanks, which was hard
pressed to find accommodations
for 15 members of a Tacoma good
will tour, provided spacious quar
ters for 10 other Tacoma travel
lers. They were holstein heifers
shipped from a Tacoma farm to
bolster the herd of George Bent
ley, Fairbanks dairyman.
(U. S. Prosperous;
Alaska Broke; Why
1 Asks Sundborg
! ANCHORAGE, </P) — George
Sundborg, former chief of the
i Alaska Development Board, said
1 yesterday it was hard for him to
understand why, in a period of
unprecedented prosperity, Alaska
was in “economic chaos.”
Addressing the chamber of com
merce, he said that all Territorial
activity, from road construction
to school operation, was likely to
come to a “grinding halt.”
"I see no way to alleviate the
problem,” he said. “Alaska can’t
borrow like a State, as it is not al-!
lowed to assume debts; There is
no room for economy in govern
mental salaries—as the legislature
| learned; there is no means to ac-1
quire sufficient revenue to carry!
on government.”
He charged there were two
groups in the last session, one of
which was “anti” — a group I
against nearly every ^ssue, like!
spoiled children. They voted only
against the Governor.”
Sundborg observed it was “up
to the’ steamship companies to
come down” in rates, for they are
“themselves driving trade away—
freight rates are higher in Alaska
than anywhere in the world.”
FATHER ANABLE
RETURNS TO NOME
Father Anable was a returning
passenger from Fairbanks where
he went last week. He was ac
companied by Father Paul Des
chout.
MRS. KENNETH.RANK BACK
FROM STATES VISIT
Mrs. Kenneth Rank who has
been in the States for several
months enjoying sunshine and vis
iting friends and relatives return
ed home yesterday with the Pan
American.
Truman Will Veto
Revised Income
Tax Cut Bill
WASHINGTON (/P), The White
House said that President Tru
man’s message vetoing the new
$4,000,000,000 income tax reduc
tion bill will be sent to Congress
this week—probably on Friday.
In advance of final Congression
al action on the Republican mea
sure, Mr. Truman had given no
tice that he intended to veto it as
he had a previous, similar bill. He
also gave assurances that the veto|
would be forthcoming prompt’yi
after he received the legislation, j
Press secretary Charles G. Ross,|
in discussing plans for the vefo
message, told reporters that the
bill is expected to reach the White
House some time during the day.
The possibility of putting the
bill into law over Mr. Truman’s
veto has virtually disappeared de
spite the 60 to 32 vote by which it
passed the Senate yesterday. A1
though this gave cut advocates a
28-vote margin, it fell two votes
shy of the two-thirds needed to
override Presidential rejection.
14-Year-Olds Are
Proud Parents
CHELSEA, Mass'. (j*P) — A 14
year-old youth yesterday anxious
ly awaited the first view of a
daughter born to his 14-year-old
bride in Chelsea memorial hospi
tal.
The proud father, Miller Mit
chell, will be just old enough to
meet the maternity ward’s age re
quirements. Visitors must be at
least 14.
Dr. Bartlett H. Rosenfield, who
delivered the six-pound ten-ounce
baby, said mother and daughter
were doing well.
Hospital attaches reported the
mother was one of the youngest
in the institutions history. The
couple were married more than a
year ago.
Forest Fire On
Kenai Peninsula
Moves Forward
ANCHORAGE, (^»)_The raging
Kenai peninsula forest fire moved
forward on a 70-mile front yester
day as weary fire fighters hoped
for a favorable wind to permit
backfiring at a hastily constructed
fire block four miles from the
threatened fishing village of
Kenai.
The tiny village stood only six
miles from the flames Monday af
ter the fire jumped a 4-foot pro
tective block Sunday.
Smoke from the fire hung over
Anchorage last night the heaviest
since the blaze began five weeks
ago. Planes were unable to land
and motorists were forced to use
headlights, although normally it is
light until midnight at this time
of year.
Kasilof, about 30 miles to the
south of Kenai, also lay in the
path of flames. Although the town
; itself is not believed in immedi
ate danger because of surrounding
swamps and cleared land, many
homes and much rich timber land
and wildlife were feared lost.
Army fire maps show 400 <pot
fires dotting the peninsula with
smoke towering 15,000 feet.
SEWARD, (£*)—A smoke cloud
darkens the sky over the Kenai
peninsula from Seward to An
chorage, but Dan Ralston of the
federal fish and wildlife service
said today the moose have become
so accustomed to fire that they
graze unconcernedly within 1,000
yards of the blaze which has rav
aged 300,000 peninsula acres.
Ralston said the fire, recently
reported to be within 5 miles of
(Continued on Page Five)
Non-Assessment
Work Law Applies
To Alaska Only
WASHINGTON, (&)—Fred W.
Johnson, director of the bureau of
land management, said today
many holders of U. S. mining
claims have misinterpreted a Con
gressional act in postponing as
sessment work on their holdings.
Johnson said public law 142 ap
proved by Congress June 30 mere
ly suspended the statutory re
quirements for all mining calims
in Alaska until July 1 next year.
Holders of claims in the United
States must perform a minimum
of $100 worth of labor on the prop
erty within the next 12 months to
retain ownership.
This is to prevent mine-holders
from retaining land year after
year without developing it.
The requirement of annual as
sessment work, written into the
1872 mining laws, was suspended
during the 1893-1894 depression,
the Spanish American war in
1898, the World War from 1917 to
1921, and much of the time from
1932 onward during the depression
and war years. However, the re
quirement ^gain became effective,
by Presidential proclamation, as
of July 1, this year—for all U. S.
claims except those in Alaska.