THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME. ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
$1.50 PER MONTH . $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, March 22, 1950
IN THE NICK OF TIME
([TRAINING I /]
\|CAMp
LENGTHY TRIALS A FARCE
The trial of Henry R. Bridges, charged with perjury
and conspiracy in connection with his alleged Commun
ist Party membership in obtaining his American citizen
ship in 1945, approaches its end.
When the testimony was completed, on the sixty-eighth
court day, there had been put into the record 7,500
pages, or about 1,750,000 words.
It is unbelievable that this mass of testimony was
necessary in t he trial of the charges against the labor
leader. Obviously, the attorneys involved have gone far
afield in the legal marathon.
The length of time consumed in the trial of such cases
as the one referred to and that of the Communists in
New York indicates the necessity for corrective action
to confine trials to a limited time. The processes of jus
tice are slow enough without permitting attorneys to
use the courts as arenas for dramatc and spectacular
propaganda.
BOMB TO SAVE LIVES AT SEA!
The Navy has developed a small bomb, weighing from
one to four pounds, whch represents the wonders of
electronics as applied to the saving of human life at sea.
The little bomb, dropped by a plane or ship in dis
tress, transmits underwater sound waves which may go
as far as two thousand miles. These will be received at
listening stations and the position of the wreck can be
determined within a few miles. Naval officials assert
that rescue can be effected in eight hours, even in the
Pacific Ocean.
The device, of course, represents the application of
well known principles to the service of a particular
need. The triangulation of signals has been of great
value in the theory of navigation and the new process
is only a new application of a thoroughly tested method.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2000 A. D.
The wise men who look into the future and tell us
what to expect come up with some predictions that look
far-fetched although, occasionally, some of the unex
pected things actually occur.
Recently Dr. Gerald Wendt, who was science director
of the New York World’s Fair, predicted that, by 2000
A. D., interplanetary travel will be available, electronic
thinking machines will work for people and there will
Sea Otters To Be
Transplanted
Along Alaska Coast
(Part II)
(Continued from Monday)
About all that the Federal agen
cies charged with protection of
the sea otters could do for the ani
mals during the early part of the
century was to maintain secrecy
about the location of small groups
in isolated parts of the coast, since
the agencies concerned did not
have the necessary funds for
much patrolling of the areas.
During the 1930’s the Navy and
Coast Guard gathered evidence
that Japanese “fishing” craft
might be netting sea otters ille
gally in Alaskan waters. From
these reports, Congress became
aware of the need for 'more ade
quate protection. This eventually
enabled Federal agencies to sta
tion personnel and patrol boats in
the Aleutians and elsewhere in
Alaska.
The Navy and Coast Guard re
ports did serve the immediate
purpose, however, of helping the
Bureau of Fisheries (then guard
ing the otters) to gather much
needed information and to do the
best possible job of otter manage
ment with the limited funds avail
able.
It was the sighting of a Japan
ese vessel, apparently netting sea
otters, in an inlet of Amchitka
Island that started the present
management program that has
proved so successful. There in the
inlet was a large sea-going ship
where no ship could possibly be
afloat—according to Navy charts.
The charts stated that the inlet
was filled with rocky reefs, and
! any ship venturing into the inlet
would surely be destroyed. On
sighting the Navy vessel, how
ever, the Japanese ship put on
steam and sailed away, right over
the “rocks.” Investigation soon
showed that the “rocks” were
really rip tides that created an il
lusion of reefs.
In the inlet thus inspected was
found a large group of rare sea
and pirates, the otter shad lived
otters. Hidden away from, hunters
and multiplied for many years.
The Bureau of Fisheries received
a , small appropriation from Con
gress for the establishment of a
sea otter station on Amchitka.
This sea otter protection was ma
terially assisted by the Navy and
Coast Guard’s alert watching on
prowling Japanese fishing craft.
When the Bureau of Fisheries
and the Biologgical Survey were
consolidated in 1940 to become the
j Fish and Wildlife Service of the
' Department of the Interior the sea
otter management program was
given impetus.
During the war years the sea
otters began to multiply in their
relative security. Now there are
about 4,000 sea otter on Amchitka
and about the same number scat
tered in small groups along other
islands and coastal areas.
This increase was in spite of the
fact that many soldiers stationed
in the Aleutians took a fancy at
j “potting” sea otters. Some of the
Armed Forces Day
Proclaimed May 20
Declaring that “no area in the
country is more vitally concerned
with defense than Alaska,” Gov.
Ernest Gruening^has issued a
proclamation procliming May 20
as Armed Forces Day throughout
the Territory.
His proclamation follows one
issued by President Harry Tru
man, calling upon all states and
Territories to mark the day in
honoring all branches of the na
tion’s armed forces and returned
veterans.
The proclamation states that
Lieut Gen. Nathan F. Twining,
commander-in-chief of the Alaska
Command, has declared a slogan
for the day of “Teamed for De
fense.” He extends an invitation
to all organizations in Alaska to
visit military posts in the north
that day and see at first hand the
military “team.”
Gruening calls upon all ciitzens,
with particular mention of the
American Legion and Veterans of
Foreign Wars, to take an active
part in the day, with particular re
quest to the Alaska National
Guard to take appropriate steps to
participate fully.
The proclamation terms Alaska
“America’s most strategically vi
tal area,” and that those living
here should “have a complete un
derstanding of the importance of
defense, and should keep constant
ly abreast of its needs and devel
opments.”
He also pointed out that mili
tary equipment and personnel
‘commensurate with the primary
mission of defense to cities
throughout Alaska (the Armed
Forces) will accomplish the pur
i pose for which this specific day
has been designated.”
Hospital News
_
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Griener of
Moses Point are the parents of a
daughter, Linda Bernice who was
born yesterday and weighed seven
pounds 13 ounces.
Martin Richards and Calvin
Moore were admitted to the hos
pital.
—
Legal Blanks at The Nugget ofr’ce
I
men tried to take home sea otter
souvenirs — still worth several
hundred dollars each in some of
the world’s markets—but Fish and
Wildlife game management agents
“discouraged” the practice. To
even possess a sea otter skin
make sa person subject to prose
cution. Finally, the killing of sea
otters by soldiers and the smug
gling of pelts to Europe by pilots
was stopped with the Army’s co
operation.
Now, an Army biologist on Am
chitka has been working for some
time with the Fish and Wildlife
Service in studying sea otters. In
addition to this help, the army
has loaned jeeps and other equip
ment to refuge personnel and has
otherwise been of assistance.
(To be concluded)
be plenty of free time for everybody to fill with culture,
recreation and sports.
So far, we can follow the doctor within measureable
distances but when he assures us of an era of easy
money, average incomes of $12,000 yearly and a life
span of 85 to 90 years, we just pause long enough to
i wonder what difference it will make to us, in the year
| 2000 A. D.
i _
Your purchase of Easter Seals will help some crippled
person to fight hard and overcome the handicap. .
Court Of Appeals
Upholds Employee
Loyalty Program
WASHINGTON (/P), The United
States Court of Appeals today up
held the constituionality of the
government’s employee loyal t y
program.
The three-man tribunal ruled
that any government worker may
be fired by a loyalty board acting
under an executive order from
President Truman.
The decision was handed down
in the cast of Dorothy Bailey, a
former $8,000-a-year employee of
the Federal Security Agency.
Miss Bailey was suspended
from her job in November, 1948,
on grounds her loyalty was ques
tionable. In February, 1949, she
was dismissed.
She sued for reinstatement to
her job, raising among other
points, the contention that the
whole loyalty program was un
constitutional.
The program, ordered by Presi
dent Truman, calls for the inves
tigation of every government em
ployee and the dismissal of any
whose continued emplo y m e n t
might be a risk to the security of
the United States.
At the time Miss Bailey came
under investigation she was presi
dent of Local No. 10 of the CIO
government workers union. She
denied any communist party
membership of affiliation.
In the U. S. district court, Judge
Alexander Holtzoff ruled the pro
gram is constitutional and that he
lacked authority to set aside fed
eral loyalty board findings. Miss
Bailey appealed.
In its 2-1 decision, the appeals
court’s majority said:
“It is our clear opinion that the
president may remove from gov
ernment service any person of
whose loyalty he is not complete
ly convinced.”
Committee Cuts
Alaska Public
1 _
Works Program
I _
• Continued from Page One)
mittee to slow down the progress
of this program until full consid
eration can be given as to its de
sirability, value and the ability
of the communities where the
construction is to be performed to
repay 50 per cent of the total
costs.
“The committee has grave
doubts that many of the commun
ities will be able to meet obliga
tions which they may assume un
der the construction program.”
The committee said it is “of the
opinion that many of the construc
tion projects contemplated are not
practical from a financial stand
point and that the burden would
be too great for the Territory to
assume.”
Under a provision put in the
bill by the committee before a
project can be approved it must
be certified by the secretary of de
fense as being of value to the de
fense program.
The program under the Gener
al Services Administration con
templates construction of $70,000,
000 worth of public works by lo
cal communities in the Territory
over a five year period and re
quires that cities, towns and the
territory must repay 50 per cent
of the total cost.
For the current year the GSA
has $1,000,000 cash and $4,000,
000,000 contract authorization to
| inaugurate the program.