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
•t Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, October 10, 1949 _
FIRE PREVENTION WEEK
This week is being observed all over the nation as
Fire Prevention Week and every one is urged to give
some thought to the subject.
It is estimated that fires burn up $2,000,000 in pro
perty and take approximately thirty lives every twen-;
ty-four hours. Not all of this could be prevented but!
much of it is the result of negligence, carelessness and
plain foolishness.
The purpose of fire Prevention Week is to call to the
of every one the danger of fire hazards and to urge ev
ery one to inspect their premises for the purpose of
making them less likely to encourage fire.
Oct. 9th is the anniversary of the Chicago fire of 1871
and bringing it closer to home 15 years ago Nome was
in ruins and awaiting relief ships to start rebuilding.
The University of Alaska Extension Service classifies
fires into three classe: A—Fires involve wood trash, pa
per and combustile materials and can be fought with
water, sand and soda acid type of fire extinguisher. B—
Firecs include gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. They
should be smothered with ordinary baking soda, or car
bon dioxide or foam approved extinguishers. C—Fires
are electrical fires, motors, generators, etc., and can be
smothered with ordinary baking soda, carbon dioxide or
other extinguishers approved for this type of fire.
According to records 4 out of every 10 businesses
which suffer serious fires never re-open their doors.
Let’s strive to have a good record of few fires this
year.
NEW ALASKA VITAL STATISTICS PROGRAM
A uniform vital statistics program for Alaska took
another step forward with approval ,of rules and regula
tions by the Board of Health in Juneau recently.
These regulations will go into effect within thirty
days. Goal of the program is complete and accurate
registration of all births, deaths, stillbirths, and adop
tions, and to make these available to properly concerned
individuals. Steps toward this goal will include prepar
ation of instruction manuals and field work with com
missioners, community leaders and the public.
At public hearings representaives of veterans groups
pointed out the need for free copies of records for veter
an’s claims. Allowance was granted by the Board of
Health for furnishing copies directly to the agency con
cerned.
Dr. C. Earl Albrecht, Commissioner of Health and
Registrar of Vital Statistics, said that detailed statistics
will be on great help to the guidance and evaluation of
the Territory’s public health program. For example, if
statistics from one town shows a high number of infant
deaths, concentrated efforts can be made to investigate
the problem.
The newly-formed Bureau of Vital Statistics is under
the direction of Francis E. Kester, consultant on loan
from the National Office of Vital Statistics. Mimeo
graphed copies of vital statistics regulations will soon
be sent to all commissioners, and individual copies may
be obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, Box
1931 at Juneau.
DEATH AND TAXES
Waynesboro (Ga.) True Citizen
All The Livelong Day: Henry Suburban reaches out
at 7 a.m., of a bright morning to turn off the alarm clock
(price $5, tax, $1). Accompanied by the trebling of
birds, he climbs wearily out of bed (price: $195; annual
personal property tax, 75c), walks across the floor of
his $8,000 house (annual general property tax, $2f4QX%;
and switches on the electricity PU h1$ $1$
monthly bill) which lights the bulb (price 20c;
^^jnusir from a hAdroom radio (price: $30; tax, $3),
AFL Plans To Steal
CIO Members
ST. PAUL, Minn. </P)—'The AFL
Satrday embarked on a plan to
carve huge membership chunks
from the CIO toward achieving a
figured 1,000,000-member gain in
1950.
Key officials of the American
Federation of Labor said privately
they expect to pick up big parts of
CIO unions, when the factional
scrap in the CIO comes to a head,
as may happen soon.
A showdown between the CIO’s
left wing and the right wing ele
ments is shaping up for the CIO
convention at Cleveland later this
month. CIO president Philip Mur
ray has threatened his left wing
union leaders with expulsion.
Labor circles expect the result
to be a splintering up of the CIO’s
major unions, with the CIO trying
to salvage as many members as
possnble and repudiated left wing
leaders trying to drag large mem
bership groups from the CIO.
BPOE Grand Ruler
To Ketchikan
Seattle, op)—Emmett a. An- (
derson, grand exalted ruler of the
Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks is leading a group of Elks j
which sailed on the Aleutian to
Ketchikan Saturday. He will offi-1
date at the ceremonies dedicating
a new $160,000 Elks club building
in Ketchikan.
His wife is accompanying him.
Past grand exalted ruler, Judge
Frank T. Lonergan of the Oregon
State circuit court and Mrs. Lon
ergan are in the party. Judge Lon
ergan will make the main speech
of the conclave which is expected
to attract club members from all
sections of Alaska.
The Coastal Monarch, last boat
of the season is reported to be ar-1
riving in St. Michaels on Oct. 15th
and in Nome on Oct. 20th, accord
ing to advises received by Bill ’
Wood, local agent of Alaska 1
Steamship Co.
Henry shaves with his electric (see above) razor. As a
radio newscaster reports that Henry’s state is preparing
to increase income taxes and impose a general sales tax
on everything anyone buys, Henry slaps across his jowls
a handful of bay rum (price: $1.30: tax, 21c).
He dresses quickly, hurriedly fastening cuff links
(price $3.50; tax 7c) and tie clasp (price $1.50; tax 30c)
puts on his Swiss wrist watch (price $60; tax $12), and
rushes downstairs. Tucked under one arm is a leather
briefcase (price $18; tax, $3.60) which carries papers
from his real estate office, including one deed, property
valued at $3,000; stamp tax $3.30).
In the kitchen, he’s just in time to snatch two slices of
bread from the electric toaster (price $16; tax $3.20),
life his coffee from the gas stove (price $190; tax $19),
and grab a glass of fruit juice from the refrigerator
(price $300; tox $30).
A glance out of the window shows it’s raining, so he
calls to his wife (marriage license ,$2) to telephone
(monthly bill $12; tax $2.05), for a taxi. Too many other
people want taxis on a wet morning so Henry gets out
his own car (price $1800; tax, $195) and drives (opera
tor’s license, $1) to the railroad station.
Henry relaxes at the station with a cigarette (price
per pack 8c; Federal tax 7c), lit by a match (tax, 5'L*
per 1,000). Aboard the train. Henry gives the conductor
his ticket (price 85c; tax 13c) and settles down to a hand
of bridge with three cronies using, of course, a deck of
cards (price 40c; tax, 13c).
In the city on his way to the office, Henry stops to buy
a roll of camera film (price $20; tax, 5c) that he prom
ised his son (birth registration, $1) and the lipstick
(price $1; tax 20c) he promised his wife. Because there;
are friends coming to his house in the evening, he buys a
bottle of whiskey (price $2.30; tax, $2.60).
Arriving eventually at the office, Henry sighs (no
tax!) and settles to a day’s work (annual income $5,000;
Federal and state income tax, $510). If he works for the
rest of his life, he will be able to provide the government
with a handsome slice of inheritance tax. And if he dies
in a state that is fiscally tolerant, he can take comfort in
the thought that his casket, provided it costs less than
$100—will be exempt from any sales tax.
?
•now if you must smoke in bed
wgr —v,~"' nawowai *OAap or mt mommim |
Youngest Bishop
Tells Of Conditions
In Alaska
SAN FRANCISCO, {&>) — The
youngest bishop in the Protestant
Episcopal church, who pilots his
own plhne over his vast diocese in
Alaska, talks enthusiasti c a 11 y
about a job he finds both active
and exciting.
The Rt. Rev. William T. Gordon,
Bishop of Alaska, is 31 and built
like a football player. He had to
wait three months, after he was
adjudged prepared, to be conse
crated as a bishop, because church
cannons fixed 30 as the minimum
Rge.
His work covers 5,000 Indian,
Eskimo and white communicants,
two hospitals, 13 priests, numer
ous schools and lay workers. His
enemies are tuberculosis, the de
mon rum, and the unsettled state
of Alaska’s post-war population.
“Families of 10 to 12 keep house
in one-room igloos,” he said.
“With the crowding, the T.B. rate
is fantastic.
“Last year one of our doctors
and I flew all over the diocese,
trying out a new T.B. vaccine that
may save thousands of lives.”
He said there is nothing unusual
in his piloting his super Piper Cub
plane.
“Alaskans do more flying per
capita than anybody else," he ex
plained. “Besides, the dog team is
expensive and outmoded. I used
to travel 6.000 miles in a dog sled
when I was a priest at Pt. Hope,
400 miles north of Nome. But dogs
eat 5 pounds of meat a day.
“Winter filying is fine, but it’s
not good to venture out when the
temperature gets under thirty be
low.”
The Alaskan frontier needs the
church’s settling influence.” Bishop
Gordon declared.
"One of our hardest problems is
the influx of army and civilian
workers,” he said. “Away from
home, they tend to let down. There
is so little for them to do. No won
der every other building in Fair
banks, where my wife and I live
is a bar.”
Liquor is the greatest single
trouble-maker among Alaska’s set
tied Indians, in the bishop’s opin
ion.
“Unscrupulous traders peddle i
to the tribes, who can’t res;st
drink up their wages, and becorru
easy victims to tuberculosis,” sii(
he. “As for the Eskimos, they 1:vi
a borderlin existence, bound to th(
sea, in a struggle for survival.”
Bishop Gordon went to Alask.
from Virginia Seminary as
priest in 1943. He met his wife-to
be on the boat from Seattle. H
feels definitely settled in his pos
“Alaskans are real people—hap
py, free and easy,” he declare^
'“It’s hard to get them into churc
the first time, but once they’re i
they’re 100 per centers. No swan
Easter Sunday Christians there.
“I really love Alaska— it repr<
sents a tremendous challenge f(
our church. But we need volur
teers badly—footloose and fane
free young men who aren’t afrai
of hard work.”
WALRUS CLUB DANCE
WELL ATTENDED
The Walrus Club held the fir
of its winter dances last Saturde
evening at the Nevada Lounj
with a good crowd in attendanc
Splendid music is reported l
Phyllis Pugh, Woodbury Abbi
and Helen Cherry.
A full report of the party w
be given at the next meeting
the Walrus Club on Thursday ev
ning at the City Hall.