22 NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. XLVIII. No. 98. NOME. ALASKA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1046. PER COPY — 15c
1
Entertain guoup
Six Members Of
Sec’y Krug's Party
Wednesday evening 150 guests
gathered at the Officers Club on
the Nome Air Base to welcome
Julius A. Krug, Secretary of the
Interior. However, the plane,
a C-54, in which he was flying
was unable to land. The second
Diane of the party, was piloted
^>y Bob Rice, veteran pilot of the
Wien Alaska Airlines, had no dif
ficulty in making a landing with
six members of the Secretary's
party.
The dinner was held up until
8 o’clock in hopes that the plane
would return as the field cleared
shortly afterwards.
Following the dinner, which was
served by a very capable staff,
*the program was carried on as
planned and the record of all re
merks forwarded to the Secretary.
The entire program was broadcast
through the courtesy of WXLN.
Members of the Secretary’s par
ty who were present were Carolton
Skinner, Director of Information,
William Deke, of Pathe News,
w Wesley McCune of Time Magazine,
J. P. McKenzie of the New York
News, William Zimmerman, Ass
istant Commissioner of the Al
aska Native Service, and Robert
Sanford of the U. S. Bureau of
Mines.
Col. John Bodle, Commanding
Officer of the Nome Base, mas
ter of ceremonies, handled the
program graciously and skillfully
just as if the Secretary and Gov
ernor had been there.
All of the speakers on the pro
gram, who presented their prob
lems, showed they had planned
their short talks well and filled
them with interesting facts.
Chairman of the entertainment,
Antonio Polet, expressed the ap
preciation of the entire commun
ity for the fine cooperation of
!■ Col. Bodle and his aides who pre
pared housing for the party, and
arranged the banquet for the oc
casion.
Mr. Skinner, speaking for Sec
retary Krug, expressed regrets
tha<t the plane was unable to land
and that the Secretary could not
be present, but that the Secre
tary has a keen interest in Alas
ka and its development, is strong
ly in favor of statehood for the
Terr Horry, and wil listen to any
and all suggestions for betterment
* of Alaska.
The plane left about 10 o’clock
Thursday morning with the six
members to Join their party in
Anchorage.
ANNAPOLIS FROM THE AIR—A photographer aboard a Navy blimp made this
picture of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Bancroft Hall is in the center.
PanAni Gets Go
To South Africa
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16—i/P)—
The Civil Aeronautics Board to
day authorized Pan American Air
ways to establish commercial air
service between the United States
and South Africa.
The Board issued a certificate
for a period of ten years authoriz
ing service between Newr York
City and the co-terminal points
of Johannesburg and Capetown.
Intermediate points on the
route will be the Azores, Dakar,
Monrovia, Accra and Leopold
ville.
40 Cases Diphtheria
In Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, Aug. 16, — There
are now 40 positive cases of diph
theria in Anchorage and many
positive throat cultures have been
taken. As a precaution no one
can leave Anchorage by train,
boat or plane without a throat
culture and no public gatherings
are being allowed.
The Engineers were unable to
hold the hearings on harbor dev
elopments because of these re
strictions.
Public Land
In Alaska
Is Released
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16— </P)—
The government is releasing 18,
640,000 acres of public land in
Alaska for private development
under federal mining and leasing
laws, the Interior Department an
nounced today.
The action, the Department said,
is being announced also in Alaska
by Secretary of the Interior J. A.
Krug, who is making his first of
ficial visit to the Territory. A
statement by Krug released here
said:
“I am particularly glad to an
nounce the restoration of these
land areas to public use because
it affords complete refutation of
the charge that the federal gov
ernment is seeking to prevent the
development of Alaska by pri
vate enterprise. The restoration
of these large areas to the public
domain status, coupled with the
program for the release of more
than 18,000,000 acres of land along
the Alaska Highway for private
development clearly shows the
trend of government policy with
respect to home rule in Alaska.”
The land included 15,600,000
•
Krug In Anchorage
Program Curtailed
O
ANCHORAGE, Aug. 16, — The
program for the entertainment of
Secretary Krug and his party
was somewhat curtailed in Anch
orage due to the epidemic of diph
theria. The Secretary and his
party will be guests at the Fort
Richardson Air Base near here.
Round table discussions were held
with a very restricted group of
citizens.
The party planned to do a little
fishing while near Seward before
they go to Matanuska.
acres in the Katalla-Wakatago re
gion.
These lands, together with about
48,800,000 acres in Northern Alas
ka, were withdrawn from public
use in January, 1943, as part of
the government’s program for the
development of possible petrol
eum supplies for the armed forces
in that territory. The land in
northern Alaska is not being re
leased at this time for public dev
elopment. Krug said oil explor
ation work being carried out there
warrants the retention of restric
tions in that zone.
SAN FRANCISCO. Aug. 16, — i/F)
—In an atmosphere of nostalgia
and tail-tales, the International
Sourdoughs of the Klondike gath
ered yesterday for a four-day re
union—their first since 1942 in
Seattle.
Approximately 1500 persons
directly or indirectly connected
with the gold rush to Alaska half
a century ago are in attendance.
Old-timer D. E. Griffith of Se
attle is one of those who feels
keenly about this first post-war
get-together.
In a prepared written state
ment he said:
“We Sourdoughs have been
homesick for this reunion for four
I long years. We feel like apolo
gizing for turning back the pages
of history 50 years, but we enjoy
getting away, even for a day or
two, from the swamps of selfish
ness and greed—from the wild
erness of political strife."
Griffith drove a dog team be
tween Skagwav and Nome in
1900.
“We’re glad to reach back into
the land of human sunshine." he
went on, “where a man's word was
his bond; where his greeting was
genuine—where you didn't nave
to count your fingers after a hand
shake and where a man received
the full benefit of his initial ve.”
“Up there in the north.” he
reminisced, “we were not fogged
in political duplicity. We were
a free lot of men and women
! who fought their way out of a
world of economic depression to
a land of golden opportunity. And
we didn’t thumb our way—we
went the hard way.”
"Now we’re here to swap yams
and relive the robust days of vir
ile youth and renew never-to-be
forgotten friendships.”
If there are any “whoppers”
told at the convention, he added,
“you must bear with us, for while
we are growing old and may be
childish, -we glory in the fact we
can still laugh and sing and drink
and be ready for the next big
stampede.”
Pres. Truman
Winds Up Work
Of 79th Congress
WASHINGTON, Aug 16—(**)—
President Truman wound up work
of the 79th Congress today by
decreeing death for the last meas
ure it sent him.
This bill would have abolished
the Parker Wildlife Refuge in
(Continued on Page Five)