_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIII No. 155 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1951 _Per Copy—15c
Tin •ee Airplanes
With 69 Aboard
Are Missinc
CT'
(By the Associated Press*
Search planes roared through
murky skies in the east and west
today hunting for three aircraft
which vanished in flight over the
weekend with a total of 69 per
sons aboard..
The bizarre sequence of aerial
disappearances sent scores of mili
tary planes, from this country and
Canada, into the hunt.
The missing planes:
1. A non - scheduled airliner
carrying 40 persons which disap
peared on a 190-mile Pittsburgh
to Buffalo flight. It took off Sat
uday night for the normally one
hour hop with a three-hour gaso
line supply.
2. A C - 47 military transport,
last heard from yesterday after
noon near Phoenix, Ariz. It was
carrying 28 persons, including 19
West Point cadets, on a flight1
from Hamilton Air Force base, j
Calif., to Goodfellow airbase, 1
Texas.
3. An Air Force F-51 Mustang
fighter, which vanished after its
pilot, believed the only person
aboard, radioed for landing in- ■
structions at Tucson.
In addition, still missing was
another C-47 military craft which
vanished last Wednesday with
eight persons aboard on a flight
from Spokane, Wash., to Travis
Airbase, Calif.
Bad weather hampered search
efforts. '
Tallulah Makes Broadcast
Despite Threatened Bomb
NEW YORK, (JP) — Tallulah
Bankhead went on the air Sun
day night without incident after
someone threatened to bomb the
Center Theater if she appeared.
The threat caused police to
search and watch the theater for
24 hours.
Miss Bankhead, star of the Na
tional Broadcasting Company’s
weekly “Big Show,” was involved
in a just-concluded court case in
which her former maid-secretary,
Mrs. Evyleen Cronin,* was con
victed of raising the actress’
checks.
Climbs 365-Foot Chimney
To Prove That He’s Irish
EAST NEWARK, N.J., (/P) —
Clarence Gillen of Harrison had a
simple reason for clambering up
a 365-foot chimney Sunday.
“I’m Irish and I just had to
prove it,” he told a worried band
of police when he came down off
his perilous perch.
At one point during the 31-year
old climber’s hour - long show,
Police Sgt. Joseph Duffy yelled,
“Are you going to jump?”
“Do you think I’m crazy,” Gil
len shouted back.
He was taken to jail for ques
tioning.
REA Approves Million Dollar
Loan to Anchorage Power Co.
WASHINGTON, UP) — The
Rural Electrification Administra
tion Saturday -approved a loan of
$1,000,000 to the Chugach Elec
tric Association of Anchorage.
Lewis Blames Mine Management For
Blast Which Killed 119 Coal Miners
BENTON, 111., (ff) — John L.'
Lewis blames the mine manage
ment for the blast which killed
119 men near West Frankfort a
week ago, saying it knew three to
five days before the explosion the
coal mine was not safe.
The United Mine Workers
president made his statement Fri
day after the U. S. Bureau of
Mines, in a preliminary report,
said electricity or smoking set off
the blast Dec. 21.
The Bureau also released in
spection reports of last January
and July which noted “serious
hazards” at the ill-fated mine. In
.. capital letters they cited “serious
hazards similar to those that have
caused heavy loss of life or de
struction of property in coal
§-—
! mines.”
Lewis, who headed a team of
union investigators at the disas
ter scene said “squeezing” — the
shifting of earth around the tun
nelways — released great quanti
ties of methane gas from coal
seams three to five days before
the explosion.
In Chicago, George B. Harring
ton, president of the company,
said he hadn’t time to fully study
any of the reports and didn’t
want to enter a controversy with
Lewis.
The Federal Bureau’s report,
issued in Washington by Secre
tary of the Interior Oscar Chap
man who also visited the disaster
(Continued on Page Five)
New Year Brings
Increases In
Postal Rates
WASHINGTON, (JP)—1The bells
which ring in the New Year Mon
day night also toll the passing of
an American institution — the
penny post card.’
At 12:01 a.m., Jan. 1, the price
becomes two cents. The boost,
along with others in postal rates
is aimed at producing 12 million
i dollars a year more for the finan
I cially-frail Post Office Depart
! ment.
*
Other changes effective Tues
day:
Parcel post—reduction in maxi
mum weight and size of packages
from 100 inches in combined
length and girth to 72, and from
70 pounds to 30 and 20, depend
ing on zones.
(The local Postmaster states
that this provision does not apply
to the territories, thus parcel post
regulations to' Alaska will remain
the same).
Special delivery — higher fees,
from 15 and 45 cents to* 20 and 60.
Domestic insured mail—higher
fees, from 5 and 30 cents to 5
and 35.
Un-American Com.
Recommends
Death for Spies
WASHINGTON, (/P) — The
House un - American Activities
Committee recommends death for
spies even in peacetime, in a re
port saying Soviet espionage in
this country demands “drastic
steps.”
t %
The report, issued over the
week-end, criticizes “an alarming
lack of prosecution of cases of
espionage” since 1919.
That tied in with mention that
the committee is investigating a
situation which may turn out to
be a hitherto undisclosed pre
World War II espionage case in
the Justice Department. The re
port says:
“The committee is interested in
this phase of espionage because
since 1940 it has been disclosed
that two other Soviet espionage
agents, Judith Coplon and Alger
Hiss, have been employed by the
Department of Justice.”
U.N. and Reds Again
Exchange POW Letters
PANMUNJOM, Korea, </P) —
The United Nations and the com
munists again exchanged prisoner
of war letters today.
The communists brought to this
military armistice site 980 letters
from Allied POWs in brown and
white propaganda tinged envel
opes. They were destined for sev
eral countries.
The U.N. turned over 26 let
ters addressed to Allied POWs in
North Korean camps, including
three letters for Maj. Gen. Wil
liam F. Dean.
_
Eighth Army Believes
Reds Capable of Major
Offensive At Any Time
SEOUL, Korea, (/P)—Commun
ist troops clung stubbornly ter an
Allied hill position on the west
ern front *today in the face of *a
U.N. counterattack now in its
fourth day.
The battle for the snow-covered
position west of Korangpo was
hand-to-hand at times, in temper
atures as low as 20 degrees below
zero.
As 1951 ran out, it became ap
parent that the communists had
made no major effort to change
the battle line since the “twilight
war” began Nov. 28. However,
the Eighth Army briefing officer
said the.Reds should be consid
ered capable of an offensive at
•any time. They said Allied forces
also are prepared.
U.N. Accuses Reds
Plan War While
Negotiating Truce
By DON HUTH
MUNSAN, Korea, (/P)—In final
Korean truce talks of 1951, the
United Nations accused the Reds
Monday of planning war while
negotiating a truce and of trying
to squirm out erf an agreement to
tell what happened to more than
50,000 unaccounted-for prisoners
of war.
“By your assumed attitude of a
victor and your insistence on de
veloping a militasy air capability
(airfields) you have served clear
notice to the world that what
you have in mind is not peace
but war,” said Gen. Howard M.
Turner, U. N. negotiator. “You
have cast an ominous shadow
over these negotiations.” •
Rear Adm. R. E. Libby, said the
communists refused to provide
data on prisoners the U.N. says
were not listed on the official Red
roster until the Allies supply fur
ther information on prisoners in
U.N. camps.
The Allied negotiator said North
Korean Maj. Gen. Lee Sang Cho
promised Dec. 19 to furnish the
requested information. Libby said
he considered it a definite com
mittment.
Lee urged an immediate agree
ment to exchange all prisoners as
“a fine New Year’s agreement.”
“Your proposal for an all-for
all exchange has one fatal defect,”
Libby replied. “You did not mean
‘all’ when you said ‘all’.”
Both Political Parties Become Active In
Preparation for Approaching Elections
The political picture is* begin
ning to form as programs, plat
forms and principles of both the
Republican and Democratic par
ties are being aired throughout
the Territory.
Republican Reeve
Bob Reeve, Republican candi
date for Delegate to Congress,
in a recent address in Anchorage,
announced an eight - point pro
gram, advocating statehood,
doubling the price of gold, tax
moratoriums on new industry,
and encouragement of present in
dustry.
Referring to statehood, he said:
“Could it be possible that the
Democrats intentionally never al
fContinued on Page Two)
Democrat McCuicheon
Steve McCutcheon heads the
Democrats of the Third Division,
which adopted the following plat
form at their meeting last week.
The first principle in the plat
form was that no new tax mea
sures be enacted.
Insistence that supervision over
commercial fishing now wielded
by the Fish and Wildlife Service
be transferred to the Territorial
Department of Fisheries;
Praise for the “forthright and
vigorous manner” in which Presi
dent Truman has set about to
“uncover corruption among gov
ernment officials;”
A demand that the Highway
(Continued on Page Three*
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