™s NOME NUGGET
J_ OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. XLIX. No. 149 NOME, ALASKA. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12,1947 PER COPY — 15c~
NEWS IN BRIEF
i
■ —
SHANGHAI, (/P) — Tfce Chinese
government is reselling to Amer
ica and the world in general at
least 2,000,000 tons of Pacific is
land war surplus which China re
ceived in settlement of a wartime
U. S. debt of $174,000,000.
This was disclosed yesterday
when a contract was signed
whereby the Bethlehem Steel
Corp. will buy approximately one
million tons of scrap for thirty
million dollars.
BULLETIN
WASHINGTON. (/P> — Specific
propt^als for price ceilings and
roll backs under President Tru
man's request for standby anti-in
flation powers were submitted to
Congress today by Secretary of
Labor Schwellenbach.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman said yesterday that secre
tary of defense Forrestal is not re
signing.
This reply was given to a re
porter who said there were re
peated rumors that Forrestal
might step out.
No, Mr. Truman said, adding
that his answer was categorica’.
LONDON, (/P> — An all-party
committee in the House of Com
mons recommended today a 25,000
pound ($100,000* increase in the
yearly allowance to Princess Eliz
abeth, making her income 40,000
pounds ($160,000*.
The committee proposed also
that 10,000 pounds ($40,000) annu
ally be allowed to Prince Philip,
her bridegroom.
ROME, (/P)—The last American
troops in Italy will be in the
United States for Christmas, it
was announced yesterday.
Maj. Gen. L. C. Jaynes, com
manding U. S. forces in the Med
iterranean theater, said final de
tachments will sail from Leghorn
on the U. S. army transport Ad
miral Sims in time to clear Italian
territorial waters before midnight
Sunday, Dec. 14—the final hour
set for the Italian peace treaty for
their departure.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—'The inte
rior department would be permit
ted to set up tourist accommoda
tions along highways and on pub
lic domain in Alaska under a bill
introduced by Delegate Bartlett.
The department would be au
thorized to construct and operate
tourist accommodations, consist
ing of lodges, buildings and camps,
and could hire personnel to oper
ate them without regard to civil
service laws.
NEW YORK, (^P)—Dr. Alexan
der Marx of the Jewish Theologi
cal Seminary said today an an
cient Bible destroyed in Aleppo,
Syria, by a rioting mob was “prob
ably the most valuable text of a
complete Hebrew Bible which had
been preserved.”
Dr. Marx said the text had been
completed about the tenth century
,by the Ben-Asher family.
LONDON, (>P) —The House of
Commons sent to the House of
Lords for approval yesterday a
Twenty Dead In
Army 047 Crash
MEMPHIS, Tenn. </P)—An army
C-47 plane burst into flames with
a flash seen two miles away and
crashed into an open hillside near,
here shortly after dark last night,
killing at least 20 persons and pos-1
sibly 21.
The big craft slashed through a
small wooded area within two
miles of the Memphis municipal
airport, and twisted into a sage
field, scattering bodies and wreck
age over a quarter-mile path.
Small trees were torn down. In ,
one, a half-open parachute dan
gled. Twisted masses of metal
hung on other limbs and dotted
the ground.
Col. Donald K. Fargo, com
manding officer of the 468th air
forces base unit, announced the
death toll as 20 with possibly an
other body in the wreckage.
Names of the dead were with
held pending notification of rela
tives. An army spokesman said
two were believed to be Negroes.
Fargo said the plane was based
at Aberdeen, Md., and had made i
its last stop at El Paso, Texas, yes
terday. It was returning from the
west coast.
G. V. White said he saw the
plane explode and burst into
flames from his home two miles
away.
“It wasn’t more than two sec
onds before it hit the ground,” he
said.
Robert Hall, who lives about
two and a half miles from the
scene of the crash, said he heard
4he plane “laboring real loud’’ and
saw “a Fash in the sky.”
Fargo would not speculate on
the cause. The ceiling was report
ed at 1,700 feet shortly after the
crash, which the army said oc
curred at 6:05 p.m.
-,
*
Czeclis-Russians j
Sign Trade j
Agreement
PRAGUE, UP)—The Czechoslo
vak press said a trade agreement
with Russia was signed in Mos
cow yesterday following approval
by Czechoslovakia’s cabinet.
Terms were not made public of
ficially. The Communist newspa
per Mlada Fronta said Czechoslo
vakia’s trade with the Soviet
Union will amount to 16 to 18 per
cent of this nation’s total foreign ;
trade next year.
The newspaper added there
would be no obligation upon
Czechoslovakia to pay for food or
important raw materials in dol
lars. It left unanswered the ques
tions of how much Czechoslovakia
previously paid or will continue to
pay Russia in dollar credits.
government sponsored bill which
would curb the Lords’ powers by |
cutting from two years to one the!
period by which they may delay I
Commons-approved legislation.
The measure, which had been
bitterly attacked by the conserva
tives, was approved by the House
of Commons on its third and final
reading Wednesday night by a
1 vote of 340 to 86.
Communists Call '
General Strike
In Rome
■ —
(By Frank O'Brien)
ROME, (/P) — A general strike
directed by leftists closed down
all but vital public services* and
railroads in Rome yesterday, but
government and labor leaders
were reported to have agreed on
broad general lines which might
end the multiple walkout.
The chamber of labor, which 1
called the strike in protest against'
unemployment, estimated 500,000
workers were made idle. It was
the first general strike in Rome in
a quarter century.
The government-labor confer
ence at the treasury ministry last
ed five hours. Later yesterday
Guiseppe di Vittorio, secretary of
the general Italian confederation
of labor, was to report on the
meeting to the executive commit
tee of the Rome provincial cham
ber of labor, which would have to
approve any agreement.
Informants said an agreement
would return strikers in Rome and
Rome province to work today, or
possibly earlier.
Many workers reported for duty
and stood by hoping the strike
would be called off before dark
ness. Strong police and military
forces were on patrol and at sta
tions to prevent disorders.
The dominantly leftist (mostly
Communist* chamber of labor of
Rome province, which called the
strike Wednesday night, said there
had been no attempts by workers
to violate the strike call and that
nothing could end it before a mid
morning conference yesterday
with government representatives
at the ministry of labor.
Jew Commandoes
Raise Death Toll
In Palestine
- i
<By The Associated Press*
Jewish commandoes, striking
Haifa to Hebron killed 14 Arabs
today. The 13-day death toll in
the communal strife over the im
pending partition of Palestine rose
to 187 in the Holy Land and 303 in
the Middle East.
Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
told the House of Commons that
May 15 is the latest date on which
Britain intends to abandon her
Palestine mandate.
Bevin said he hoped the Jews
“in New York” and Jews and
Arabs everywhere would “not ex-1
asperate and make more difficult
the task that has to be faced” in
the partition of the small, strategi
cally placed country.
Defense minister Ahmad Shar
abati of Syria voiced in Cairo
Arab determination to fight
against creation of a Jewish state,
saying all Palestine would become
a battlefield with the Arhbs “going
into a blood bath to cleanse them
selves.”
“The People’s army is more than
capable of defeating the Zionists,”
he sftid, referring to a volunteer
force of some “tens of thousands”
which the Arabs planned to use,
(Continued on Page Six)
Wallace Likely To
Form Third Party
(By Jack Bell)
WASHINGTON, 4/P)—The Dem- j
ociatic leadership gave up about
its last hope today that Henry A.
Wallace could be persuaded not to
endanger President Truman's re- j
election prospects by bolting and,
running on a third party ticket.
A cryptic “That’s his privilege ’
was the retort of Senator McGrath
<RI.>, chairman of the Democratic
national committee, to Wallace’s
Buffalo, N. Y. assertion that if it
came to a choice between Presi
dent Truman and Senator Taft
(R.-Ohio) he would vote for Taft.
From the Democratic organi?a
tion standpoint, this put Wallace,
former vice president and Rouse- i
velt cabinet member, about as far
beyond the pale as he can go with
out actually announcing that he
himself is going to run as an inde
pendent.
The Democratic national com
mittee for months has levelled
most of its fire at Taft. A recent
party publication contended, for
instance that the Ohio Senator
represents the body of Republican
thinking and ought to be the GOP,
nominee.
At his Buffalo news conference
yesterday Wallace also mentioned !
Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New
Continued on Page Three
House Includes
Aid For China In :
Foreign Aid Bill
(By Douglas B. Cornell)
WASHINGTON, (£>)—'The stop-1
gap foreign air program moved
into the dickering stage today with
a possibility the Senate might
okay some help for China if the
House would agree to more for
Europe.
Congressional leaders were
shooting for a compromise by
Monday. Five members from each
chamber were assigned to start
work on one this morning.
The Senate passed its aid bill
Dec. 1. The House waited until
yesterday, then swished its mea- J
sure throughout without even a
nose count.
The principal idea of both bills
is to see to it that France, Italy
and Austria get fuel and food this
winter. But the House measure
differs in major respects from!
what the administration proposed !
and the Senate accepted.
President Truman wanted $597,- I
000,000 for the three European;
countries. The Senate went along, j
Then the House pared the amount
to $590,000,000 and said China
should be dealt in for $60,000,000
of the total.
One clue to a possible line of |
cofnpromi.se came from Senator H. I
Alexander Smith <R.-N. J.), a
member of the foreign relations
committee. He said the committee
had agreed unanimously with sec
retary of state Marshall that some
thing should be done for China
later, in a separate bill, but now: j
“It will be difficult for the Sen- ■
ate to knock out the fund for
China because any such action
would be regarded as a slap.”
Truman Insists
Only 10-Point
•r
Program Adequate
WASHINGTON, (^—President
Truman met Republican counter
proposals for wage and price leg
islation yesterday with the declar
ation that anything less than the
administration’s 10-point program
for curbing living costs will be in
adequate.
Mr. Truman told his news con
ference that he will submit to
Congress in a couple of days spe
cific legislation covering the wage
and price controls which he has
requested.
The President added that he al
so expects to submit other propos
als to*cover all the ten points out
lined in his first message to the
special session.
In a sharp criticism of one fea
ture of the proposed Republican
program, Mr. Truman said the
country’s anti-trust laws will be
enforced to the limit as long as he
is President. '
He made this comment on a
(Continued on Page Five)
Only Six Survivors
Of Plane Crash
In Labrador
WESTOVER FIELD, Mass. </P)
—The U. S. air transport com
mand announced yesterday there
were only six survivors of the 29
American military men aboard the
huge transport plane that crash
ed in Labrador’s icy wilderness
Tuesday midnight.
A doctor who landed at the
wreckage eight miles north of
Goose Bay reported that 23 were
killed in the crash.
Names of the survivors and dead
are being withheld pending re
ceipt of a complete report.
A hard, driving wet snow has
prevented any large-scale rescue
operation, but doctors and medi
cal supplies are being landed by
helicopter.
A space has been cleared within
a half mile of the scattered, char
red wreckage.
The huge transport plunged
flaming to earth in forested, hilly
country that could not be reached
by air or ground for nearly 24
hours.
A rugged rescue party traveling
overland with dog-sleds reached
the wreckage Wednesday night—
but first reports of the survivors
came only after the landing of a
radio-equipped helicopter.
Stormy weather hampered com
munications even though only
eight miles separated the scene of
the wreck from the Goose Bay air
field where the rescue operations
are being directed.
WIENS' BRING MAIL
IN FROM FAIRBANKS
Wien Alaska Airlines plane ar
rived Thursday afternoon with a
load ofr mail which had been pil
ing up in Faribanks during the re
cent weather tie-up. The mail wot
hauled gratis for the people of
Nome. Pan American Airways,
which has the contract, was un
able to keep up with the exces.Mve
amount of mail the past month.