32 NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBEE ASSOCIATED PRJESS_
VOL. HI. No. 6NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 1950Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
-
ANCHORAGE, (/P) — Alaska is
merely a way-stop for the latest
“gold rush.”
A New York customs official re
vealed Saturday that huge ship
ments of Siamese gold — in bar
form — are moving through here
for underground storage at Fort
Knox, Ky.
It reportedly is from the Bank
of Thailand, but total value of all
shipments was not disclosed. The
gold is moved—100 bars at a time
—aboard C-47 planes by Trans
oceanic Airlines.
WASHINGTON (#*)—'The White
House said today that President
Truman’s special tax message to
Congress may be delayed for a
few days.
Presidential secretary Charles
G. Ross told reporters it likely
would not be ready until “toward
the end. of the week.”
NEW YORK, <;P)—'The annual
March of Dimes, seekig a record
S52,000,000, began today.
Today was proclaimed “M-Day
—mobilization against polio—in an
ABC network radio talk yester
day by Basil O’Connor, president
of the National Foundation for In
fantile paralysis.
Appealing for funds in the two
week campaign, O’Connor stress
ed the record-high total of 42,375
persons stricken with polio last
year.
The 1949 epidemic, he said, cre
ated “a state of emergency the
like of which has never existed
before in the entire history of this
country’s fight against infantile
paralysis.”
Withdrawal
Does Not Mean
Abandonment”
Says Gen, Twining
"Announcement of the with*
drawal of the Air Force from
Nome, Alaska, should not be in*
terpreted to mean abandonment
of the defense of that area" it was
stated Saturday by Lt. Gen. Na
than F. Twining, Commander-in
Chief, Alaska. Tentative plans are
for civilian government agencies
to maintain the air field at Nome,
j
and communications facilities in
connection with it.
At least a small contingent, of
military personnel will also re
main indefinitely.
Activity at Nome will be in1
creased rather than decreased
next summer despite the closing
order for later in the year, pro
jects now in the planning stage
and sure to be carried out will
bring heightened military activi
ties ih the Nome area of Alaska.
"The military regards Nome as
one of its main forward air bases
and it will be so considered in our
plans for the defense of the Terri
tory," Gen. Twining said. "It will
continue to be used for training of
the Armed Forces throughout the
year."
Miners Refuse To
Obey Lewis” Back
To Work Order
PITTSBURGH, UP)—Nearly 60,
000 soft coal miners in six states
refused to obey John L. Lewis’
suggestion they return to work to
day after a one-week strike.
Western Pennsylvania led the
walkout with 45,000 miners idle
out of 56,000. Alabama operators
said 5,500 miners refused to work
in that state.
About 4,000 Ohio miners stayed
at home, and another 2,500 were
out in West Virginia, the nation’s
number one producing state with
some 110,000 miners.
But in southwest Virginia, coal
production was virtually in full
swing, with only about 200 of the
area’s 15,000 miners choosing not
to work.
1
Last Monday, 69,000 miners in
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio,
Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama and
(Continued on Page Four)
. -— .. — ■ r~. ——
Gen. ‘Hap’ Arnold
Dies At 63
|
SONOMA, Cali. (JP)—-Gen. Hen
ry (Hap) Arnold, America’s rank
ing airman of world war II and a
pioneer of U. S. military aviation, j
is dead at 63.
I
The nation’s first general of the
air force succumbed suddenly to
a long ailing heart Sunday at his
ranch home 40 miles north of San
Francisco. He retired to that quiet
valley of the moon June 30, 1946,
after periodic heart attacks for
two years.
Arnold’s physician, Dr. Russell
V. Lee of Palo Alto, said the gen
eral should rave retired after his
first heart attack in 1944, “but
things were hot then and he deci
ded to take his chances with the
rest of the soldiers and went back
to duty.”
The wartime chief of the air j
force will be buried in Arlington,'
cemetery, Washington, D.C. The
funeral is set for Thursday after-1
(Continued on Page Five)
Disastrous Blizzard
Rages Across
Northwest U. S.
■
SEATTLE, (/P)—Biting cold and i
deep drifting snow locked the Pa
cific Northwest and northern Cal
ifornia tight Saturday in the wake
of the region’s worst blizzard of
the century.
At least seven deaths were caus
ed by the storm. Destruction was
widespread. Most highways were
closed and motorists were warned
( against using passable routes ex
cept in case of emergencies.
Air traffic was groun ded .
Trains ran behind schedule. Buses
cancelled many trips.
Upwards of lgOOO cars were re
ported marooned In various parts
of Washington and Oregon, but
all occupants were believed to
have made their way to safety.
Dozens of communities were iso
lated. Snowplows fought drifts up
to 12 feet deep to break through to
(Continued on Page Three)
NORTHWESTERN ALASKA
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Member of the Alaska Territorial Chamber of Commerce
Member of the United States Chamber of Commerce
NOME. ALASKA
Box 599
TO ALL WHO ARE CONCERNED
WITH THE DEFENSE OF ALASKA AND THE UNITED STATES:
ARE YOU AWARE THAT—
The defenses of Alaska are being drastically curtailed, jeopardizing the security
of the entire North American Continent.
General Billy Mitchell said: “The Nation that controls Alaska will control the
world.” The shortest air routes to the major industrial and population centers of the
world lie through Alaska.
Marks Air Force Base at Nome, Alaska, is the latest casualty in a short-sighted
and dangerous defense economy.
Geographically situated to be an ideal outpost for the protection of the main bases
of Alaska and the United States, and as an air warning installation in the outer per
imiter of our defense system, Marks Air Force Base is being abandoned.
Ideal for training purposes as typical Arctic terrain, due to its severe climatic con
ditions, representative of the terrain over which any Polar war might be fought, Marks
Air Force Base should be continued.
Marks Air Force Base was established as the last step in the Lend Lease air route
to Russia—will it become through false economy a stepping stone for ““Reverse” Lend
Lease, to be occupied by the enemy at will?
Established Air Bases in Siberia are hundreds of miles closer to Nome than are
the oniy two effective defense installations in Alaska, at Fairbanks and Anchorage.
A strong industrial and defense economy is being built up by the Russians under
like conditions across a body of water, in places, no wider than the English Channel.
Northwestern Alaska is an area well known to be rich in minerals, oil, coal and
hydro-electric power potential much desired by Russia in her military economy.
A sound and well established civilian economy is one of the best defenses a nation
can possess but unless adequate defenses are maintained a stable population will never
develop. Security must be assured to the populace or this area will revert to an inac
tive and impotent link in the chain of defense.
You cannot stop the Red Flag*by raising the White one!
You can help defend our nation by insisting on adequate defense measures for our
most vulnerable coast—the Bering Sea coast!
Act before it is too late!
Endorsed by
NORTHWESTERN ALASKA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
COMMON COUNCIL OF NOME
ARCTIC NATIVE BROTHERHOOD
PIONEERS OF ALASKA, IGLOO No. 1
ROTARY CLUB OF NOME, No. 6388
ARCTIC CLUB OF NOME
AMERICAN LEGION
WALRUS CLUB OF NOME
V. F. W. CLUB OF NOME
CIVIL AIR PATROL
Military Explains
“Defenseless
Alaska”
(By Elton C. Fay)
WASHINGTON, (JP) — Insuffi
cient housing is described as the
biggest but not the only problertk
in building up the defenses of
Alaska against any surprise attack
from Russian Siberia.
This was the explanation given
today by military men concerned
with Alaskan defenses when asked
about reports that the Territory
now is virtually defenseless. Gov
ernor Ernest Gruening, in a mass
meeting here last week, declared
that Alaska could be captured “by
a minor scale airborne invasion.”
A start has been made on
strengthening the Far North de
fenses—but it is only in the earli
est preliminary stages. The previ
ous session of Congress authorized
an expenditure of $96,000,000 for
building new barracks and houses
for garrison forces in Alaska. The
air force assigned $31,200,000 of
its funds for the current fiscal
I year to be used in speeding con
I struction of a radar aircraft warn
I ing and control system in Alaska.
Defense experts say some of the
(Continued on Page Six)
Glider Crash
Kills Thirteen
In Georgia
FORT BENNING, Ga., (/P) —
The unexplained crash of an air
force glider here brought death to
13 of Uncle Sam’s top-flight rough
and ready fighting men.
Five of the 17 men aboard the
glider survived Friday’s crash,
but one of the survivors died of
injuries early Saturday. Three of
the remaining four survivors are
in critical condiiton at the Lawson
Air Force Base hospital.
Among the victims were 11 stu
dent paratroopers ready for their
final exam—hitting the silk in one
! more jump, also killed were a ser
geant-instructor and the gilder’s
pilot, Second Lt. Robert D. Henley
of Columbia, Mo.
The crash—the cause of which
(Continued on Page Four)
LATE BULLETIN
(Special to The Nome Nugget)
WASHINGTON. (/P) — Delegate
Bartlett asked air secretary Sym
ington to reconsider his decision
to close Marks Field, and said he
understood the action was taken
to save money. Bartlett expressed
the belief that the saving would be
small and much harm would be
done to the prestige of the United
States among the Eskimos and
others adong the coast facing Si
beria. "I respectfully suggest the
department of national defense
could very well reverse the order."
...Bartlett said in a letter "It
stands there alone, unique, as a
symbol of the power and prestige
of the United States. Surely its
closing will be taken as a sign of
weakness on our part and will be
difficult to explain to the Eski>
i mos."