m NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LII. No. 36 NOME, ALASKA. MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1950 Per Copy— 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
LONDON, (/P)—Harold J. Laski
a chief spokesman for British So
cialism and a leader of his coun
try's Labor Party, died Friday
night of pneumonia. He was 56.
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Ameri
cans saved more than $6,000,000,
000 last year, the Home Loan
Bank Board said Saturday.
The agency said total 1949 sav
ings deposited in “leading types
of financial institutions” and in
vested in government bonds
amounted to $169,000,000,000, a
record.
EDMONTON, Alta., (/P)—A Ca
nadian Air Force transport plane
Friday completed a 1,300-mile
mercy flight from Cambridge Bay
in the Arctic, bringing a four
year-old Eskimo child here for
treatment.
The child, blind and suffering
from tuberculosis and partial par
alysis, was accompanied by its
mother, who was not ill.
The aircraft also brought out
the first group of air force per
sonnel to complete a winter sur
vival course under actual Arctic
conditions in the Cambridge Pay
area.
VALDEZ, (i^P) — A public hear
ing will be held in the Tillikum
Club- here April 20, at 8 p.m., to
determine the city’s need for an
increased harbor area for small
boats. Hearings on this matter
were last held in 1946, but the pro
ject was tabled at that time.
The April 20 hearings will be
conducted by a representative
from the office of the district en
gineer at Anchorage.
HONG KONG, (/P) — Hunger
mad peasants in China’s great fa
mine area are resorting to canni
balism, recent arrivals asserted
today.
Starving peasant bands in
North Central China are reported
luring children from the villages
into the hills to be eaten.
No confirmation was possible
here. »
LOS ANGELES, (/P)—Scientists
from five western states and Alas
ka are studying civilian defense
against atomic bombs.
A three-week course in detec
tion of radiation opens today at
the atomic energy project of the
University of California at Los
Angeles. Attending are scientists
from California, Arizona, New
Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and
Alaska.
Another course will start April
17 to train physicians in treatment
of injuries among civilians follow
ing exposure to atomic weapons.
CORDOVA, (#•)—'The bodies of
Mr. and Mrs. Otto Tiedeman were
found in their rooming house yes
terday and police said a prelimin
ary investigation indicated it was
a slaying and suicide. No motive
was discovered. Tiedeman, opera
tor of the rooming house, was an
old-time resident of Cordova.
WASHINGTON, (£>) — The Su
preme Court today upheld the
(Continued on Page Two)
Subpoenas For
Lathrop Records
Quashed Bv Court
ANCHORAGE, (/P)-Two firms
headed by Austin E. Lathrop,
Fairbanks capitalist, publis her
and radio station owner, won ini
tial court skirmishes Friday in
connection with this week’s sched
uled grand jury probe of anti
trust violations in Alaska.
Attorneys for the two firms—
Lathrop Company and the Healy
River Coal Co.—succeeded in hav
ing subpoenas on the firms with
' drawn on technicalities.
The Lathrop company had been
asked by the government to testi
fy and produce records.
The motion to quash the sub
poenas was granted by District
Judge Anthony Dimond later Fri
day.
Attorneys contended the sub
poenas were void and “make no
demand to produce any document
or object, if such is desired.”
That motion was the only one
read in court, after which Judge
Dimond granted the motion to
quash. Two other motions, at
tached to the court records, stated
that “no person was designated to
; give testimony on behalf of the
I Lathrop Company, and the de
mand—if it be demand— is un
' reasonable, oppressive, makes
voluminous and impossible de
j mands without specifying the doc
uments needed, and will require
at least two weeks preparation.”
An affidavit of Gertrude Nelson
of Anchorage, occasional secre
tary-treasurer of Lathrop Com
pany, who also was served with a
i subpoena, declared that requested
1 papers, data, talks, discussions,
oral and telephone conversations,
documents and information con
stitute substantially the whole rec
ords of the Lathrop Company, if
available, for 20 years.
Her affidavit stated the records
are believed' stored here, in Fair
banks and Cordova, and would
take several weeks to collect and
deliver. It also stated it would
“disrupt and embarrass” the en
tire business.
It was indicated in court testi
mony that Schedule A of the sub
poena seeks such records as will
show names, addresses, official
capacity and term of office of ex
ecutive officers and directors of
the company since Aug. 9, 1919. It
also seeks a list of all stockhold
ers, changes in holdings, the na
ture and extent of ownership and
control of financial interest.
The government also seeks rec
ords, minutes and interoffice com
(Continued on Page Three)
BULLETIN
(Special to The Nugget)
WASHINGTON. (/P)—The Sen
ate interior committee agreed to
day to conduct hearings on Alaska
and Hawaii statehood. The Alaska
hearing will be April 24 and the
Hawaii hearing May 1. Commit
tee chairman O'Mahoney said no
time limit will be fixed on either
hearing and interior secretary
Chapman probably will be the
first witness at each hearing.
McCarthy Charges
“Pure Moonshine”
Says Larriniore
(By Marvin L. Arrowsmilh)
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Owen
Lattimore derided today as “pure j
moonshine” Senator McCarthy’s
charges that he is Russia’s top spy
in the state department and the
United States.
Lattimore, an expert on Far
Eastern affairs, cabled the Asso
ciated Press from Afghanistan
where he is on a United Nations
mission. He said he would be
home in a few days and promised
to answer the charges in detail
then.
McCarthy, Wisconsin Republi
can, had described Lattimore pri
vately to newsmen as “the man—
connected with the state depart
ment—whom I consider the top
Russian espionage agent in this
country.” This information was
(Continued on Page Two)
Two Killed In
Head-On Crash On
| Alaska Railroad
A N C H O RAGE, (/P) — A rail
speeder pulling three trailers
loaded with construction workers
and an empty Alaska Railroad
passenger train crashed on a blind
curve late Friday, killing two of
the work crew. Five others were
critically hurt and nine escaped
wiht minor injuries.
The Morrison Knudsen Con
struction Co., identified the dead
as Wesley Benzien, 40, whose ad
dress was listed as care of H. A.
Benzien, Columbia Falls, Mont.,
and Patrick O’Brien, 45, a driller
who arrived from the States about
two weeks ago (hometown un
available'.
Critically injured were Thomas
Golden, 50, Anchorage; Hilton
Duke, whose brother lives at
Mountain View, Alaska; Joseph
Misyencia, 31, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
(Continued on Page Three)
Three Czech Planes
Seized In Flight;
Land In Germany
ERDING, Germany, (^-Fifty
eight Czechs who scorned a
chance to escape their communist
homeland, told Saturday how
seven anti-communist crewmen
seized their three planes in flight
and brought them to the U. S.
occupied Germany.
Only 26 of the 85 occupants of
the planes elected to stay in Ger
many as fugitives from commun- (
ism. One, an American library
employee in Prague aboard one of
the planes, returned to Prague by
train from nearby Munich Friday
night.
Those who stayed refused to
talk to newspapermen in order to
protect relatives left behind them.
One of the planes was seized at
gunpoint with the pilot, Capt. Jo
sef Klesnil, flying the plane with
■ two pistols pointed at his head.
“The second pilot and the radio
operator pulled guns on me 17
minutes after we took off from
I Brno,” Klesnil said. “I thought at
first it was a joke, but they or
dered me to change my course and
i threatened to shoot me if I re
fused. I soon realized the course
> they ordered would take our
plane to Germany. But what
would you do under two guns?”
Two crew members of another
plane and one passenger who at
tempted to resist the seizure of
their craft had their hands tied to
gether by the conspirators.
The successive landing of the
; three planes coincided with a
flood of rumors in Prague, the
Czech capital, of assassinations,
palace revolutions and major de
velopments in the Red-led gov
ernment there.
The spectacular escape already
had been widely rumored there,
a 1 t h ough the government-con
trolled press as yet had made no
announcement of the flight.
Mr. Hans Larson arrived Sun
day from Seattle. He has recently
returned from a trip to Denmark.
ALL IT TAKES IS KNOW HOW
. • V •**- - • —*
? 1 t_
News of the \\ orld
At A Glance —
Saturday, March 25, 1950
(By The Associated Press)
Regent Prince Charles of Bel
gium strove agai ntoday to find a
political leader who could end the
nation’s mounting crisis over whe
ther his brother, exiled King Leo
pold, should return to the throne.
Prince Charles last night asked
the veteran Social Christian lead
er Franv can Cauwelaert to try to
find a solution. He did so after a
day of violence and anti-Leopold,
demonstrations staged by Social
ists took 400,000 workers from
their jobs in masS protest against
the King who surrendered to the
Nazis early in the war.
It appeared doubtful if the
Christian Socialist party could
form a government to bring the
King back from Switzerland.
Many said the nation was so di
vided over the royal question a
general election would have to be
! called.
A coalition cabinet headed by
Social Christian Premier Gaston
Evskens toppled a week ago when
Liberals refused to support hu>
pro-Leopold plans.
The new Greek government of
Liberal Premier Sophocles Veni
/elos appeared to have an uneasy
future. A rebellion of at least 10
of Venizelos’ 55 Parliamentary
members was reported.
France was threatened again
I by another wave of communist
led strikes. Dock workers in all
French and Tunisian ports were
ordered to stop work Monday for
I 24 hours. The strike was ordered
to protest the arrest of striking?
dock workers at Marseille. The
demonstration is all part of the
communist oppositio nto the ship
ping of American arms aid to
France.
Monday, March 27, 1950
President Truman rallied ad
ministration forces today for an
all-out defense against efforts in
the Senate to drive secretary
Acheson out of the state depart
ment. This was a follow-up to Mr.
Truman’s declaration of last week
that Acheson is running the state
department “admirably.”
Senator Aaft 'R.-Ohio) joined
Senator Vandenberg <R.-Mich.) in
calling for a non-partisan survey
to determine what future Ameri
can help may be needed by the
western democracies to sustain
them against communism. He sug
gested the survey could include
Mr. Truman’s ‘ point for propo
sals.”
Returns from Yugoslavia’s par
liamentary elections showed a
more than 95 per cent turnout for
Premier Marshal Tito’s unopposed
People's Front. This was a solid
demonstration of support for Tito
in his fight against domination by
Russia and other members of the
cominform — the association of
eastern communist states opposed
to Tito’s “independent’’ commun
ism.
Albert Devcze, new Premier
designate, began negotiations to
end the two-weeks old monarchy
crisis in Belgium. It appeared that
(Continued on Page Three)