THE
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIE No. 57 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MAY 15, 1950 Per Copy—lie
NEWS IN BRIEF
_ l
l
WASHINGTON, </P)—'The gov- j
ernment’s daily index of prices;
hit a high for the year in the week
ending May 9.
The bureau of labor statistics j
said the index of 28 commodities I
climbed two per cent during the ,
week, to 259 per cent of the Au
gust 1939 level.
The agency said there has been
a^ steady rise in prices over a
fairly long period, adding that it
is studying the picture to deter
mine what significance the trend
may have.
PORTLAND. Ore. (/P) — Frank
Lundmark, 54, Longview, tumbled
out of his third-floor window Sat
urday to death on the sidewalk
below.
Police said they thought the fall
was accidental. Evidence indicated
that Lundmark had been chewing
tobacco, leaned out the window to
spit, and lost his balance.
LONDON, </P)—Britain has or
dered the Czechoslovak embassy
in London to halt its information
activities, it was disclosed today.
Ernest Davies, parliamentary
undersecretary for the foreign of
fice, told the House of Commons
the action was a “measure of re
taliation” for the recent Czech
step in shutting down the British
information service and British
Council in Czechoslovakia.
—
WALLA WALLA. (A3) — Lulu
Fairbanks of Seattle was honored ,
j
Friday as Washington’s “Woman
of Achievement” for the year.
The award was made at the '
state convention of the business
and professional women’s clubs.
Miss Fairbanks is circulation
manager and associated editor of
the Alaska Weekly. She is widely
known in the State and Alaska 1
and is a long-time officer in the
International Sourdough organ
ization.
'
NEW YORK. CP)—Here’s a new i
twist to the cold war: i
The Associated Fur Manufac-J
turers of New York disclosed Sat- j
urday it made a deal with Soviet
Russia for the exchange of 12 live
American mink for 12 live Rus
sian sables. The animals were to
be used for breeding purposes.
The. trade was completed, but
the New York furriers said they
now have discovered the Russian
sables were sterilized before ship
ment.
- I
WASHINGTON, (/PI — Captain
John G. Crommelin, outspoken
critic of defense department uni
fication moves, announced Satur
day that he has requested retire
ment from the navy.
The request, he said was a “re
quired followup” to his decision
to run for the U. S. Senate from
Aalbama. Crommelin entered the
Senate race as an Independent
May 1 after the navy placed him
on enforced furlough.
INDIANAPOLIS, (/P> — Troy
Ruttman, favorite to win the pole
position in the qualifications Sat
urday for the 500-mile Memorial
(Continued on Page Four)
Pan Am. Service
And Maintenance
Workers Strike
NEW YORK, (/P)—Seven hun
dred flight service workers, sup
ported by. 3,000 maintenance em
ployees who refused to cross pick
et lines, struck Saturday against
the huge Pan American World
Airways.
A representative*of the airline
said that except for delays the
company’s flight schedules were
being maintained throughout the
world-wide system.
(Two stewardess pickets ap
peared at the Seattle-Tacoma in
ternational airport. The early
morning flight to Juneau, Alaska,
was about an hour late. Company
officials expected about the same
delay on the later (Tight to Fair
banks. A few mechanics who ar
rived before the stewardesses
started picketing were on the job
and were expected to finish the
day shifth
The strikers, members of the
CIO Transport Workers Union,
walked off their jobs early Satur
day after last minute mediation
negotiations collapsed. Main issue
in the dispute is the union’s de
mand for higher pay.
No new meetings of negotiators
were scheduled.
The company said the strike di
rectly involved 700 flight service
personnel—stewards, stewardesses
and pursers. They placed picket
lines around the company’s far
fContinued on Page Three)
tBy The Associated Press)
This was the situation today as
the strike of 18,000 locomotive
firemen went into its sixth day:
On strike: Some 18,000 mem
bers of the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Firemen and Enginemen
against parts of the Pennsylvania,
New York Central, Santa Fe,
Southern and Union Pacific rail
I
systems.
Strike issue: Union’s demand
for a second fireman on certain
big diesel locomotives and a sin
gle fireman on small switch die
sels.
Peace outlook: The National
(railway1* mediation board hopes
to continue talks today with the
unions and carriers. Leverett Ed
wards, a board member, said after
Sunday’s conferences that peace
negotiations were “derailed” tem
porarily.
Unemployment: About 200,000
idle. Coal miners and non-strik
ing rail workers affected princi
pally so far, but business men say
more industrial layoffs in pros
pect.
Transportation: Business boom
ing on non-struck railroads, buses
and airlines. Struck roads contin
ue skeleton service with super
visory workers taking over fire
men’s tasks.
Other strike effects: Reports of
scattered violence as struck roads
continue skeleton service. Picket
ing spreads on Southern Railway
and Pennsylvania lines.
Three Saved At
Niagara Falls In
Daring Rescue
NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. (£>)—
Two men in a helicopter narrow- |
ly escaped death today while res- j
cuing a woman clinging to a rock i
above the Horseshoe Falls of the
Niagara River.
A second helicopter effected a \
dramatic rescue after the first had
pitched its two occupants into the
swift current, both craft were
pontoon equipped.
The first craft was starting' to
haul the woman into the air by
means of a rope when a wave
struck a pontoon and caused the
tail rotor to smash on a rock. The
i ship, then unflyable, nosed over.
A burst of steam from the en
gine as it submerged at first caus
ed bystanders to believe it had ex
ploded.
The woman, Mrs. Jeannette Bu
gay, 25. of Niagara Falls, suffered
from shock and exposure and was
hospitalized. Her husband Sig
mund, a taxicab driver, said she
| had suffered a nervous break
' down and had been ill for some
time.
Two park employees, Herbert
Seita and John Paonessa, heard
(Continued on Page Three)
75*000 Flee From
Winnipeg Flood
(By The Associated Press)
About 75,000 persons have fled
flood-menaced Winnipeg today.
About one-fifth of the popula
tion of greater Winnipeg have
fled. Canadian officials said the
evacuation, mainly of women and
children, would be speeded up to
ease the problem of supplying,
food and utility services to flood
fighters in the city
The swollen Red River already
has inundated six square miles of
Winnipeg and the suburban areas.
It held fairly steady yesterday at
30.2 feet, 12 feet above flood
level. The flood crest is expected
tomorrow.
- «
L ATE BULLETINS
SEATTLE — Two hundred
forty-three tying players in the
Territory-wide Alaskagram con
test will receive tie-breaking puz
zles in their post office boxes ev
erywhere in Alaska Wednesday,
May twenty-four. Because of gen
eral misunderstanding and vague- '
ness of clue, both Tokeen and Ty
onek are considered correct in
judging, nor were contestants pe
nalized for any spellings in gen
eral usage.
TEWKESBURY
|
SEATTLE, (JF) — Two airmen
stationed at Eielson Air Base re
ported sighting the wreckage of a
C-54 ninety minutes south of Fort
Nelson, B. C., on the northbound
flight. They reported their find
Saturday to an Eielson Air Base
officer. No reason was given for
the delay of the report. U. S Air
Command is taking a dim view
on the possible find because of the
unexplained delay in the report, i
8.000 Oregon I
LmniimiKii
Out On Strike
PORTLAND, Ore. UP) — About
8.000 CIO lumber workers struck
today against the huge Weyer
haeusen Lumber Company, but
the rest of the northwest lumber
(
industry continued operations.
Weyerhaeuser was the only ma
jor lumber operation not to have
reached a settlement with the CIO
I n t ernational Woodworkers of
America when the union’s strike
deadline arrived this morning.
The other big employer groups
agreed late last week to grant the
union demand of a health and
welfare program financed by em
ployer contributions of 7 Vt> cents
per man-hour. Three paid holi
days — a compromise — were also
agreed upon.
Workers struck seven of Weyer
haeuser’s operations: at Klamath
Falls, in Oregon, and at Long
view, Everett, Raymond, Vale,
McDonald, and Puget Sound boom
operation in Washington.
One Weyerhaeuser operation
was not affected. That was at
Springfield, where the union was
negotiating a contract under a re
cent national labor relations board
election victory.
Weyerhaeuser and the CIO
broke off negotiations Saturday
after failing to roach a compro
mise between the union's demand
for a health and. welfare program
and the company’s offer of a pen
sion plan. Weyerhaeuser recently
proffered a pension, which was
accepted by the rival AFL lumber
and sawmill workers, but not by
the CIO.
The question of a union shop
was also a stumbling block.
Pickets were posted at Weyer
haeuser operations this morning.
F. S. “Requests” 22
Czec h Diplomats
To Leave Country
—
WASHINGTON, </P) — A mass j
ouster of 22 of the 33 Czech dip
lomatic corps employees in the
United States was ordered by the
American government Saturday.
The action was taken in retalia
tion for the ejection of about 40
Americans from communist
Czechoslovakia. In addition, the
United States ordered the Czechs
to close their consulates in Cleve
land and Pittsburgh.
The Czech embassy in Wash
ington and the consulate in New
York will continue to operate but
obviously with reduced staffs.
The American note—delivered
in Prague and to the Czech am
bassador here-amounted to an or
der but was couched in the usual
diplomatic language of a request.
The United States also hinted it i
may take naw and possibly more
drastic action against the Czechs
in the future. A statement issued
by the state department said this
government “is examining the I
situation not only with respect to
the present but also for the fu- I
ture.” I
News of the \\ oriel
At A (ilanee - - -
Saturday, May 13, 1950
«Bv The Associated Press*
The Big Three foreign ministers
conference in London today
weighed urgent problems of the
Middle and Far East in an effort
to contain communism.
The details of planned aid to
forces opposing communism were
not disclosed. One observer said
the United States might extend
help to Burma as well as Indo
China.
The Burma government has
been in the throes of civil war
for two years, attempting to put
down communist and Karen na
tionalist insurgents. The French
supported Bao Dai regime oi
Indo-China is opposed by the
Moscow-blessed government of
Ho Chi Minh.
This is the third and last day
of the conference, attended by
Amerocan secretary of state Dean
Acheson. British foreign secretary
Ernest Bevin and French foreign
minister Robert Schuman.
They are expected to spend
some time on proposals for a Jap
anese peace treaty, stalled largely
because of Russian obstacles.
Conference officials said the min
isters felt “Far East problems arc
urgent and definite decisions are
needed and must be taken quick
ly.”
German problems, which took
up most of the time yesterday,
were shelved temporarily.
The elder sons of Chiang Kai
Shek said in Taipei, Formosa, that
Chinese communists have their
plans finalized for invading the
nationalist- held islands of Chu
shan and Quemoy this month.
Chiang Ching-Kuo said the deci
sion was reached at an April
meeting with a Russian general.
The two islands are nationalist
blockade bases.
In Moscow, United Nations sec
retary-general Trygve Lie worked
late into the night after a long
conference yesterday with Soviet
foreign minister Andrei Vishin
sky. The U. N. executive is seek
ing Russian air to end a crisis fac
ing the United Nations. The Rus
sians have boycotted the world
organization because it has not
recognized communist China.
Monday, May 15, 1950
Foreign ministers of the 12 At
lantic Pact nations met in London
today to try to work out ways to
build up their defenses against
possible (communist^ aggression
without scuttling their economies.
The three-day meeting follows
close on the heels of the Big Three
meeting of foreign ministers, in
which Britain, France and the
United States outlined their aims
in the cold war with Russia and
her satellites.
With the big three announce
ment they would keep their
troops in Germany as a defense
force more than as an occupation
police force, the rest of the Atlan
tic Pact members were mainly
concerned with how much defense
they can afford
Military chiefs of some of the
member nations have recommend
(Contlnued on Page Four)