the ugget
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIV No. 18 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1952 Per Copy—15y~
DC-6 Crashes Into Elizabeth, N.J.
Third Air Disaster In Two Months
By GEORGE ORNELL «
and BERNARD BROWN
ELIZABETH, N* J., (/P) — A
crippled airliner roared down j
into this frightened, crash-plagued
city Monday, sliced into a big
apartment house and blew up—
the third major air disaster with
in the city in less than two
months.
There were 29 known dead, and
three persons unaccounted for,
making a possible death toll of 32.
At least 115 have perished in the!
three, successive residential dis
trict crackups.
The National Airlines DC-6,
disabled by engine trouble at a
thousand feet in a clear midnight
sky, nosed over—and like two
others before it—plunged into the
city, as residents cringed before
the familiar, oncoming scream.
The plane rammed into the 52- :
family dwelling, and exploded |
into flying fragments and fire.
Twenty-eight of the 63 persons
aboard the Miami-bound plane,
including three of the four-mem-|
ber crew, were dead or missing, at
least four apartment house resi
dents were killed. Forty persons,
most of them the plane’s surviv
ors, were injured.
The new tragedy forced a hasty
shutdown of air traffic at nearby
Newark airport, one of the ousi
>---——— -
est in the east.
A few moment before the four
engined airliner crashed, its pilot
messaged that two engines had
failed. Told to return to* the field,
he radioed a last frantic “Can't
make it.”
Then, the big plane plunged
downward like a meteor, stream
ing gasoline behind it. It knifed
through the top floor of the four
story apartment house, wiping out
one whole family of three. An
other resident died on the second
floor, screaming behind a wall of
flames.
The plane caromed off the
building, flinging wreckage for
hundreds of yards around. The
front of the fuselage catapulted
into the playground of a chil
dren’s home, burning fiercely,
while the rear section lit in a
treetop.
Unlike the other two crashes in
which all passengers and crew
were killed, 38 of those aboard,
most of them in the rear section,
miraculously escaped death.
On Dec. 16, a non-sked C-46
dropped in flames into the Eliza
beth River, killing all 56 aboard.
On Jan. 22, an American Airlines
Convair hurtled into a residential
district, killing all 23 aboard and
seven residents.
George M s Body
Returns to London
For Burial Service
LONDON, (/P) — King George
VI returned to his capital Mon
day for the last time. His mourn
ing subjects paid homeage as his
funeral cortege wound through
crowded, silent streets.
His train, bearing Queen Eliza
beth II and her family, edged
noiselessly into King’s Cross Sta
tion in a downpour of rain and
sleet after a private funeral ser
vice at the Sandringham estate
where he died Wednesday.
Despite a drenching, thousands
lined the three-mile route to his
tory - steeped Westminster Hall
where the body of the late mon
arch will lie in state until the
burial at Windsor on Friday.
The black-veiled young queen,
now the head of the royal family
at 25, stood by as Grenadier
Guardsmen lifted the oak coffin
from its black teak hearse coach.
She was pale and drawn but
hiding her grief. Queen Mother
Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, the
young queen’s husband, the Duke
of Edinburgh, and the king’s bro
ther, the Duke of Glouster, rode
from Sandringham to London
with the queen.
J ust before the royal party
stepped from the train, a royal at
tendant in top hat climbed into
the hearse coach and placed the
imperial crown with its 3,094
jewels worth approximately
$804,000 on the king’s casket.
The queen and women of her
• v «• « 4•A A « «« 41
* * ’ 'pr_ m-Vtte
Seven Are Killed In
Realistic Army and Air
Force War ‘ Games”
CAMP DRUM, N.Y., (IP)—The
big-scale winter war games of the
Army and Air Force entered its
third day Monday with a death
toll of seven, providing grim over
tones of realism.
A paratrooper plane crash, a
railroad crossing smashup and ac
cidents in parachute jumps yes
terday claimed seven lives. Nine
teen other “fighting men” were
injured in the “wartime” phase of
“Exercise Snowfall.”
The toll since the first practice
phase of the exercise started a
month ago rose to nine dead and
117 injured.
Four of those who died yester
day were crewmen of a C-46
transport loaded with paratroop
ers, which crashed in taking off
from Wheeler-Sack airfield here.
Five others were injured seriously
enough to require hospitalization.
The nose of the plane, in which
the crew was located, was ripped
apart by the impact, but the pas
senger section in which 32 fully
equipped soldiers were riding, was
damaged only slightly.
Two men were killed and five
were hospitalized when a truck
participating in the maneuvers
was struck by a freight train at
a grade crossing.
Russians Will Not Bomb
Washington a la McCarthy
TULSA, Okla., (IP)—Sen. Mc
Carthy (R-Wis) continued his at
tacks on communists in govern
ment Sunday night at a meeting
of the Tulsa Women’s Republican
Club and predicted Russia would
n’t atom-bomb Washington.
“Why?” the senator asked.
“That would kill too many of
thpir frir»r»Hc **
Questions China’s
Right Intervene
In Truce Talks
MUNSAN, Korea, (/P) — The
chief United Nations truce nego
tiator Monday questioned Red
China’s right to take part in a
Korea peace conference and sug
gested that the problem of which
nations should negotiate the peace
be solved after an armistice is
signed.
Rear Adm. C. Turner Joy also
told the Reds, in effect, to give up
any ideas of deciding the fate of
Formosa or settling other Asian
problems at a Korean peace con
ference.
The Allies previously have
made it clear that unless both
sides agree on recommendations,
none can be made.
Joy declared that by the com
munists own standards Red China
is not eligible to take part in a
post-armistice peace conference.
Joy pointed out that Chinese
troops fighting in Korea always
have been labeled volunteers, both
by Red China and North Korea.
He said the communists have ar
gued that the appearance of vol
unteer units in Korea was “com
pletely unrelated to any official
action on the part of their pol
itical authorities.”
“Clearly,” Joy said, “the peo
ple’s Republic of China would not
qualify under your criterion.”
Spain Has Last Word
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman’s remark about Franco
which brought a quick note from
the Spanish ambassador apparent
ly was closed Monday, with Spain
getting in the last word.
Mr. Truman told his news con
ference Thursday that he had
never been very fond of the Fran
co regime. Saturday, the State
Department said it got a memo
from the Spanish ambassador.
Officials said the note was less
than a formal diplomatic protest
and did not call for a reply. Its
contents were kept secret.
A United States mission is
about to negotiate for air and
naval bases on Spanish soil to
help defend western Europe.
John McNees Tells
Of Being Forced
Down and Rescue
John McNees returned home
Saturday after quite an adventure
with Art Johnson when they
made a forced landing about 210
miles southwest of Anchorage on
the Mulchatna River.
Pilot Johnson and passenger
McNees were enroute to Anchor
age when high winds and poor
radio reception got them off
course. They landed on a small
lake and spent two night and
three days before they were
picked up.
McNees stated that the Alaska
Airlines plane was well-equipped
with rations and a gun us well
as sleeping bags and that they
could have gotten by for some
time.
The two men were located by
a 10th Rescue B-17 and the pick
or* Po rta. rrV*
U.S.S. Burton Island Refutes Theme
That The First Boat Arrives In June
The busiest thoroughfare in$
Nome over the week-end was
Bering Sea where a continual
stream of pedestrians, dog teams,
skiers and some motor vehicles
visited the U.S.S. Burton Island
which “anchored” in the road
stead Saturday. The ship is com
manded by Commander E. H.
Maher.
The trail was not a boulevard
and those on foot had to take
watchful care for crevasses in
the ice which were hidden by
snow.
This is the second time the Bur
ton Island has visited Nome in
three winters, having made its
initial winter- visit three years
ago this month, forever changing
a 50-year-old theme that the
“first boat arrives in June.”
The Burton Island is one of
seven icebreakers operated by the
Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard
and including the two which were
recently returned by Russia. The
Burton Island, however, is the
only one operating in the Pacific
and Arctic at this time.
The vessel carries two helicop
ters which scout out the leads in
the pack ice. Helicopter service
to and from the ship gave a few
Nomeites quite a thrill as it
>■- --- --
landed on wire netting on the
ship.
It is reported that even the best
of sailors get sea-sick when the
Burton Island hits rough weather
in open water, as the ship has
rolled as much as 65 degrees.
The residents of King Island
who have heard they are going to
have a ship visit them, have been
busy wiring local merchants for
supplies of food and clothing.
Saturday morning, before the
Burton Island sighted Nome,
Ralph Willoya was out seal hunt
ing to the southwest. He didn’t
catch any seals but imagine his
surprise when the icebreaker
crunched up and asked if they
were on the right road to Nome.
Weighing 6500 tons when fully
loaded, the odd looking ship car
ries a complement of 220 men
into the unexplored regions of the
world. She escorts vessels into
Point Barrow during the annual
supply expedition, then, when
this task is complete, sets out
on a cruise into the uncharted
wasteland.
Whales, seals and giant walrus
are a common sight to crewmen
of the ship. They are sold on their
(Continued on Page Three)
B-36 Lands Safely After
13 Hours Aloft With
Landing Gear Trouble
SAN DIEGO, Calif., (JP) — An
Air Force B-36 bomber landed
safely today after nearly 13 hours
aloft with landing gear trouble.
The huge six-engined plane,
world’s biggest bomber normally
carrying 11 to 15 men in its crew,
came down at the North Island
Naval Air Station in San Diego
Bay. It was reported to have been
heavily loaded originally and on
a delivery flight, destination un
announced.
The Air Force said that the
plane developed landing gear
trouble, that the crew repaired
it in the air and the ship made
a normal landing. The statement
added that it stayed aloft as long
as it did in order to use up most
of its fuel load before the landing.
Pan Am Constellation,
In Trouble, Lands Okay
NEW YORK,' UP) — A four
engine Pan American World Air
ways Constellation made a suc
cessful emergency landing at
Idlewild airport Monday after
being forced by engine trouble
to turn back on a to Puerto Rico.
The plane, carrying 51 passen
gers and crew members, left Idle
wild shortly after midnight. A
short time later the pilot radioed
he was returning to the field with
one of the plane’s four engines
having cylinder trouble.
NOVELIST NORMAN DOUGLAS
DIES ON ISLE OF CAPRI
ISLE OF CAPRI, (JP)—Norman
Douglas, 83-year-old British nov
elist and essayist, died here Sat
urday on the island he loved and
helped make famous.
One of his most noted books
was the novel, “South Wind,”
nnhlichpH in 1Q97
Party of Scientists
To Study Ice Cap
PATUXENO, Md., (/P)—A party
of 18 scientists, including a blonde
attractive 22-year-old woman, left
here Sunday aboard two Navy
planes on a three-month expedi
tion to study the polar ice cap.
The party, which will operate
out of Point Barrow, Alaska,
hopes to land for the first time
in history on the polar ic^ pack.
The woman aboard is Mrs. John
Holmes, a chemist. She and her
husband are members of the staff
of the Woods Hole, Mass., Ocean
ographic Institute.
Sixteen other members of the
party plan to go north later this
month to take part in the survey,
which the Navy calls operation
“Skijump II.” It is a followup of
the smaller “Skijump I” held last
winter.
The purpose of the mission is
to study ice characteristics, ocean
conditions, and to test the endur
ance of equipment and people in
the extreme cold.
Maj. Davis, Top U.S.
Jet Ace In Korea, Shot
Down and Presumed Lost
SEOUL, Korea, {JP)—America’s
No. 1 jet ace — Maj. George A.
Davis, Jr., of Lubbock, Tex. —
was shot down over North Korea
Sunday. But the Air Force said
he blasted two communist MIGs
out of the sky before he crashed.
Those raised Davis’ bag to 11
MIGs and three Red bombers in
59 combat missions over Korea.
He was listed as missing, but
the Air Force said there was vir
tually no chance that he survived.
B-29 Superforts Sunday night
bombed the Sinhung rail bridge
spanning he Chongchon River in
northwest Korea, and the rail
yards at Hamhung on the east -