THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P- O. Box 618
*1.50 PER MONTH S1S.P0 A YEAR
W~ A. and EMILY BOUCHER..Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Monday, July 29, 1946
THE KURILES
THE KURILES, now disclosed to have been promised
to the Soviet Union, have been wanted by Russia
for a long time. Thirty-two in number, they are
a chain of islands stretching from Yezo to Kamchatka.
Their coast lines measure nearly fifteen hundred miles,
and their total surface area has been estimated as
sixty-one hundred and fifty-nine square miles. A
Nrast net of seaweed entangles the whole archipelago.
The name by which the entire group commonly is
known derives from the Russian word ‘kurit,” meaning
“to smoke” and hinting at the active volcanic char
acter of the isles in the past as well as in the present.
All of the Kuriles are mountainous, and the pres
ence of hot sulphur springs at their bases suggests a
considerable turmoil within their peaks. One, ap
proximately seventy-four hundred feet high, is “a cone
within a cone, the inner and higher of the two being
—so the natives say—surrounded by a lake.” Ex
tensive forests cover most of the islands, sheltering
bears, foxes and other animals formerly hunted for
their pelts by Japanese fishermen who “work” the
surrounding waters for salmon, cod and crab. The
climate is hostile through three-quarters of an average
year. Snow falls from September until May, and
heavy fogs hang for weeks at a time over the nar
now shores. The population, according to the most
recent census, is less than five thousand, though it is
possible that there has been an increase of immigration
due to the war.
Japan’s claims to the three southern isles—Kuna
shiri, Etorofu and Shikotan—dates back for centuries.
But the Russians, ever since their conquest of Kam
chatka in 1707, have been pressing toward the occu
pation of the whole group coincidentally with their
peretration of the entirety of Sakhalin. Under the
Soviet system as under the Czars, they have sought
the domination and control of that portion of the
Pacific Ocean denominated the Sea of Okhotsk. A
glance at the map will suffice to show the relation
of the Kuriles to the Siberial mainland, Block Island,
Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket off the coast of
New York and New England or the marginal islands
of North Carolina between Cape Lookout and Cape
Hatteras east of Pamlico Bay.
(Washington Post)
SO YEARS COLDER WEATHER ?
TIE WORLD MAY BE STARTED on a half century
of progressively colder weather, the weather bur
eau has reported. A reversal of the 50 year, world
wide trend toward steadier wanner weather began
for the United States, at least, about five years ago,
tbe bureau said.
“This does not mean that it will freeze this sum
mer or that next year’s snow storms will be appre
ciably worse than last,” the bureau added. “It could
happen that this summer would be the hottest ever
and next winter unusually mild. But if the cycle
continues downward the next half century as it has
continued upward in the past, it may mean a return
of the cold winters that existed when grandpa was
a boy.”
Grandpa is right, according to the bureau, in main
taining that “the winters were colder and the snow
deeper when he was young.”
Special charts prepared recently “show unmistak
fam TPO UtTE-HOffTHt SWT TOUffll
ignore i»s cmtxm * 9*Hsm> m m m comuM* wm m wa wnn*ct am jug 29*
i__
ably that, until the last few years at least, the temper
ature throughout the world has become steadily warm
er,” despite many year to year variations.
The charts were prepared by J. B. Kincer, bring
ing up-to-date a study he made for the bureau which
established in 1933 that a world-wide trend toward
warmer weather had been in progress for years.
Although Kincer has retired as chief of the bur
eau’s, division of climate and crop weather he has con
tinued his work on long term climate changes in co
operation with the bureau.
He reported that the United States definitely has
experienced “a downward dip of the temperature curve
for the last few years and it may be that this trend is
also world-wide,” although “adequate statistics are
not available” for other countries because of the war.
“Whether this' downtrend is merely a short term
variation or is in fact a reversal of the upward cycle
cannot be established until more evidence is in, per
haps not for another five or ten years,” he added.—
1 Associated Press.
FOUR - TON “SUITCASES”
FOR AIRLINERS
STREAMLINED ALL-METAL cargo containers that
fit snugly to the undersides of the bodies of giant
Constellation airliners, and hold four tons of baggage
each, have been developed and tested by the Lockheed
Aircraft Corporation, builders of the Constellation.
The detachable container, called a Speedpak, can
be attached to the belly of the fuselage in two minutes,
or removed in the same brief time.
The giant transport, with the loaded Speedpak
attached, can be used for flights up to 1,500 miles. Its
speed is decreased by only about 10 miles an hour. The
plane’s flight characteristics are not impaired.
An important feature of the Speedpak is the ease
with which ground attendants can load and unload
passenger baggage, thus decreasing long waits at air
ports. A built-in electric hoist instantly lowers the
Speedpak to convenient loading height, and as quickly
raises it into position to be locked for flight.
(Science Digest.)
1 .■'
Pres. Truman
r •
«
Pledges Support
The President of the U
nited States today pledged
his enthusiastic support to
the National Conference on
the Control of Juvenile De
linquency in a letter to At
torney General Tom C.
Clark.
President Truman’s fav
orable reaction to the con
ference followed an an
nouncement July 19, by
Mr. Clark that 500 dele
•
gates, from all of the 48^
states would participate in
a 3-day conference on juv
enile crime, October 21st
through the 23rd, here in
Washington.
The Chief Executive said
“I want, by this letter, to
assure you of my enthusi
astic support to your actioi^
program to combat juven
ile delinquency in this
country.”
“We are agreed, I know,
that the time for discussion
has passed and the time for
action has come/* Mr. Tru
man said.
President Truman ex
pressed his approval in re
gard to the all-inclusive na
ture of the conference.
“May I extend my heart-4
iest congratulations that
you have been able to bring
into collaboration import
ant individual representa
tives of all groups in the
| country who are capable of
translating recommenda
tions into immediate#ac
tion,” the President said. *
Mr. Clark had said that
in the National Conference
on the Control of Juvenile
Delinquency, Federal, State
and Municipal officials
would for the first time
pool their forces with pri
vate welfare agencies and
distinguished citizens t6^
meet squarely the problern
of juvenile crime.
In his letter to the Attor
ney General, Mr. Truman
pointed out that the Feder
al Government had impor
tant responsibilities in sav
inp erring youngsters from *
following the paths of
crime.
Mr. Truman said, how
ever, that the roots of the
juvenile delinquency prob
lem lies in the homes, the
schools and the churches of
our nation.
“If results are to be ach
ieved,” the President said,
“it must be through the cit
izen and his community, 9
with State and Local offi
cials also having a vital
stake in the operation.”
Mr. Truman cited a re
cent report from J. Edgar
Hoover, Director, Federal J
Bureau of Investigation,
which indicated that juve
nile crime, is on the in
crease. And Mr. Truman
called this of “serious con
cern to the whole country.”
The Chief Executive’s
letter completely endorsed
the “grass roots” nature of
the forthcoming confer
ence. Attorney General
Clark explained that the
Department of Justice was
merely assisting in the co