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VOL. XL VIII. No. 67. NOME. ALASKA. WEDNESDAY, JUNK 5. 1946 PER COPY — 15c
22-Story Hotel In
Chicago’s Loop
Burns, Many Dead 1
CHICAGO, June 5, —</P)— At
least 57 pesons were killed and
many suffocated in their beds
without being awakened, in an
early morning fire which swept
through the 22-story LaSalle Ho
tel, in the heart of Chicago’s Loop
District.
Fire Department sources esti
mated about 200 persons were in
.lured.
The first alarm was turned in
at 12:35 a.m. after most of the
1,100 guests had retired for the
nigrht. Within ten minutes the
first three floors were engulfed
in flames making both main ex
its impassable.
Five extra alarms were sounded
and more than 300 firemen batt
led the blaze, bringing it under
control about 3:30 a.m..
♦Most of those burned were
housed on the third, fourht, fifth
and sixth floors. Above the sixth
floor smoke and panic claimed
victims as at least 10 died as
they leaped from their rooms and
fell to the street or courtway. 27
bodies are unidentified.
^ Fire Marshal Corrigan called
the fire one of the worst in his i
35 years as a fireman, and “one!
of the hardest tc explain.”
He said the firemen reported
several persons had heard three
explosions spaced about a min
ute and a half apart preceding
the fire in number five elevator
shaft pit.
• -
General Marshall
Makes Headway
With Chinese Peace
High government sources said to
day that Generalissimo Chiang
Kai Shek had agreed to a con
versation with U. S. General
George Marshall to halt the cen
tral government offensive in Man
churia, and to leave the way open
ior peace negotiations with the
Chinese communists.
This report came from usually
reliable source and said Chiang
further agreed to establish a
branch office of Peiping execu
tive or truce headquarters in
Changchun, capital of Manchuria,
to open negotiations.
General Marshall talked for
1%Purs yesterday with the Gener
alissimo and is understood to have
laid proposals before General
Chou El Lai chief negotiator for
the communists.
GIRL FARM WORKER S —German Kiris, pitchforks over their shoulders, set ready
for a day’s work in the field on one of the estates in Grosenheim.
Italy Votes
Republic
King Will Leave
ROME, Italy, June 5, —(/P)—Pie
tro Nenni, Socialist Vice Premier,
announced that a republic form
of government was voted in by
the Italian people and that King
Umberto will leave Italy Satur
day.
A government source announced
four hours earlier, the defeat of
the monarchy in the week-end
plebecite.
Queen Marie Jose, wife of the
King, and her four children, ar
rived at Capohdi Chino airport a
Naples suburb tonight by plane.
King Umberto was not with his
wife.
With some votes still to be
counted, Nenni said "the republic
polled roughly 12 million votes
against 10 million to continue the
monarchy.”
He said, “King Umberto will
leave immediately after the Sup
reme Court makes the formal an
nouncement Saturday,” Nenni ad
ded, "the king will probably go
to Egypt where his royal parents ^
are in exile.”
Britain's Atlee
Charges Russians
Seeds Of War
LONDON, June 5, —(/P)—Prime
Minister Atlee charged in Com
mons today, that Russia has dis
regarded the spirit in which,the
Allies entered the Potsdam agree
ment.
He spoke of the foreign affairs
debate, shortly after the Church
ill opposition.
The British leader declared,
“Seeds of a new world war are
being born” in Soviet dominated
areas of Eastern Europe.
Atlee said that Russia insisted
on imparting to the Potsdam ag
reement, a rigid but liberal in
terpretation, denying all flexi
bility to meet the changing situa
tion. Atlee also defended Bevin
in his policies, saying, the for
eign secretary showing that the
thing needed most at the present
time was patience and under
standing,” Atlee said, and contin
ued, “the misunderstanding is an
iron curtain, a curtain between
the minds.”
Ship Operators
Offer Compromise
Head Off Strike
—
WASHINGTON, June 5. ——
West coast ship operators today
j offered a new compromise pro
posal to the Marine Firemen’s Un
ion in a fresh attempt to head off
the threatened mid-June Maritime
! strike on all coasts.
This move brightened the pros
pects for settlement.
Conciliation director Warren an
nounced that he believed it to be
too early for the government to
step in with its own settlement pro
posal.
The Coast Guard as well as the
Navy counted its manpower as a
the big question about the strike
loomed over Washington. The
Coast Guard sent out ‘stop orders’
on discharges which it later ex
plained later, applied only to regu
lar personnel with overmanned
ratings who were allowed to ap
ply for discharge before their en
listments were up.
The order affects about two
thousand out of a total strength
of twenty-four thousand.
WASHINGTON, June 5, —(>P>—
A major step was taken to put
the atom to work for humanity
when the War Department an
nounced a contract with General
Electric Company for “extensive
research program,” in atomic en
ergy.
Under the contract General El
ectric will take over from E. I.
Dupont de Nemours, the opera
tion of the government’s $347,000
000, plant at Hanford, Washing
ton, about September 1st.
"It was the urgent request of
the government in time of the
national emergency for the Du
pont Company to undertake and
design of the Hanford works,”
it was announced, ‘‘the work was
undertaken with the understand
ing that the company would with
draw from the program as soon
after hostilities were over as con
sistent with the government’s
plans.
"This decision is based on the
fact that this program in peace
time aspects lies primarily in the
field of power gerenation and only
to a limited extent in the chem
ical field which Dupont normally
works. The Dupont company has
worked at the request of the army
and the contract was to run to
Dec. 31, 1946, but can be termin
ated earlier.”
The statement was made by
Charles E. Wilson, president of
General Electric, and he added
‘ The company accepts the respon
sibility because of its tremendous
importance to our national inter
est, that we maintain and develop
still further our country’s pre
eminence in the field of atomic
energy, having in mind both mil
itary applications as a power
source, and other beneficial ap
plications.”
President Says
Army -Navy Will
Unify Differences
WASHINGTON, June 5, —(/PI—
President Truman today notified
army and navy heads to resolve
the differences between them on
unification. This was reported
by the Whitehouse secretary,
Charles G. Ross, who said the
President had “a very construct
ive session” with the Secretary
of War, the Secretary of the Navy
and other top ranking officers
on ‘‘points of differences which
were taken under advisement by
the President who will render
I his decision upon them.