THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME. ALASKA
Telephone: Main 126 P. O. Box 618
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W. A. Boucher_Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Friday, July 28, 1950
HERE’S ANOTHER WAR
Practically lost in the news fromKorea is the fact that
fighting is underway in Indonesia, where the federal
government has sent troops into the Molluca Islands in
an effort to surround Amboina and prepare for an as
sault on the rebellious stronghold on that island.
The government admits that it has been planning
such a move for some time. Moreover, a force of about
15,000 troops has been mobilized for an operation
against Amboina. The strategy will be to make landings
on the weakly-defended surrounding islands and then
later make an amphibious landing on Amboina itself.
Just what the trouble is about is indefinite but Indo
nesian soldiers, still in the Dutch army, are blamed for
the rebellion against the Indonesian government that
resulted in a proclamation of an independent “Republic!
of South Mollucas.”
QUICK POPULATION DECLINE
The quickest population decline in American history.
hit the New York metropolitan area the other day when;
Census Bureau officials announced that “an error in!
adding” has been corrected, with the reduction of its
population by 2,704,554 persons.
Apparently, civic officials took the loss in stride,
without demanding immediately that the area be re
counted. After all, what is a small thing like 2,702,554
people—there were 12,838,143 left in the revised list.
BRITAIN EASES SOAP RATIONING
From London comes information that soap, rationed
since Feb. 1942, will be available to purchasers without
tickets after Sept. 10th.
The average ration of soap, per week, has been three
ounces per person. This, it is said, is about one-third
the average used in the United States.
The news may be comforting to British housewives
who have long complained about their inconvenience
but small boys in Great Britain will probably regret the
government’s decision.
READ ’EM BOTH
Just to bring our readers up on the current stage of
the McCarthy attack upon the State Department, we
note that the Wisconsin Senator has asserted that the
State Department in 1946 destroyed files on the loyalty
of its employees.
The State Department immediately denounced the
charge as “absolutely false—a characteristic distortion
of the facts.” They explained that “no derogatory in-j
formation concerning personnel of the Department had I
been destroyed.”
These are two stories and readers are entitled to se
lect the statement that they prefer to believe.
_ !
NEW AGGRESSION EXPECTED
Speaking at a press conference recently, Secretary of
State Dean Acheson took a grave view of the possibility
of hostilities in the Balkans, He observed that any fur
ther aggression at this time would be of the utmost seri
ousness. It is also understood that there is some concern
in this country about the ability of Yugoslavia to resist
a coordinated satellite drive across her borders.
Before the surprising victories in North Korea, which
are largely explained by the use of Russia-made arma
ments, especially tanks, officials in Washington thought!
that the Yugoslav armed forces, man for man, could
handle satellite troops. There is now some fear that this
might not be the case, especially if the aggressors are
equipped with Russian arms and tanks.
American soldiers all over the world would be better
than enemy soldiers all over the U. S. A. I
Korean Situation
At A Glance —
(Continued from Page One)
low Yongdok, some 25 miles north
of the American-held beachhead
at Pohang.
The main battle was shaping up
swiftly in the central sector. . A
communique from Eighth Army
headquarters said about 200 North
'Koreans slipped behind an infan
try regiment position in the 25th
Division’s sector, but U. S. planes
were believed to have eliminated
this threat.
The U. S. First Cavalry braced
itself for the shock of the new
Red attack east of Yongdong.
Gen. MacArthur was near the
front as the first phase of the new
Red offensive developed. The U.
N. commander, who arrived in
complete secrecy, announced him
self never more confident of ul
timate victory, although he warn
ed that “we will have new heart
aches and new setbacks.”
MacArthur hailed the decisions
of other U. N. nations to send in
ground forces. He expressed plea
sure that once again he would be
in association with troops of the
Briitsh Commonwealth as he was
during World War II. The U. N.
commander has returned to Tok
yo after his conferences.
Washington sources said the
next two or three weeks can be
critical in world history and more
combat troops are urgently need
ed. There is little space left on Ko
rea to be traded for time. Rein
forcements from the U. S.—The
Second Army Division and the
First Marine Division—are on the
way, but defense officials make
it plain these will not be enough, j
More are needed both to bolster
the front and give rest to exhaust
ed Americans who have been
fighting upon the Asiatic penin
sula. Military leaders in Wash-j
ington said U. S. casualties in Ko
rea have been “amazingly low,” |
but there has been a worrisome
trend lately in the increasing,
number of those missing in action. J
Congress itself appears divided
over how much mobilization there
should be on the U. S. home front.
Most members are against all-dut
mobilization right now, but some
were calling for full-scale mar
shalling of economic forces. Com
plete with rationing and wage
price controls.
A labor - industry - agriculture
committee is reported in the mak
I
ing, to consult with the govern
ment on American war mobiliza
tion moves.
Clear weather gave Allied air
power another day of free-for-all
hunting yesterday, along the front
lines. American and Australian
fighter and U. S. light bombers
shot up tanks, trucks and troop
concentrations. U. S. and British
carrier-based planes ranged the
front yesterday in sharp attacks.
B-29 superforts struck at North
Korean supply lines and commun
ications behind the front.
Ten tanks and 92 trucks were
knocked out of action in the air
strikes yesterday.
Friday, July 29. 1990
Nine divisions of communist
troops — possibly 90,000 men —
opened a general offensive all
along the twisting 200-mile Kore
an front today. And while the war
entered a decisive stage, Russia
decided to end her boycott of the
United Nations, raising specula
tion over new communist moves
in the world-wide cold war.
The fighting blazed fiercely on
the central sector of the Korean
front, wheer the Reds, attacking
in the rain under cover of a fear
ful artillery barrage, smashed be
hind tanks into lines held by the
U. S. First Cavalry Division.
The First Cavalry gave some
| ground, Gen. MacArthur’s head
quarters announced, and then
held its positions in a “savage fire
fight.”
“At least three enemy divisions
are now engaged in a determined
effort to overwhelm locally infe
rior United States troops in the
west central sector,” the summary
said. Defenders are reported out
numbered four to one.
MacArthur’s headquarters said
the communists had launched
what appeared to be their supreme
effort to smash the United Na
tions supply lines and win a
quick decision in the battle to
drive U. N. forces from their
beachhead. Tthe nine Red divi
sions in the field represented the
largest Red force yet to be com
mitted by the communists.
A Red force of about 800 men
smashed a wedge between the 6th
South Korean Division and the U.
S. 25th Infantry Division on the
northwest flank of the U. S. First
Cavalry.
Air reconnaissance reports said
the Reds were moving troops into
position against two U. S. regi
ments in the sector northeast of
Yongdong, where the battle is
DEATH OF A CUSTOMER
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H.S.T.
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fiercest. There the communists
took off from the blackness of
dawn under one of the heaviest ^
Red artillery barrages of the war.
A U. S. counterattack to relieve
pressure on the advanced forces
got under way, but the action was
reported not to have developed on
as big a scale as originally order
ed .
The American counterattack
was thrown at the Reds in the
pouring rain.
Pressure was intensified on the *
east coast near Yongdok, where
Allied naval forces continued
“saturation” shelling with what
were described as effective results.
In Washington an army spokes
man said the communists now are
in a position “where they want to
make a big effort as long as they *
have anything left,” and are "
probably throwing their full
strength along the line and at the
front.” This would be aimed at
seeking a decision before U. S.
strength builds up, but the spokes
man said it would be too optimis
tic to call the offensive “one last
fling.”
The Reds chose the time of the
attack well, when clouds and rain
hampered U. S. air operations.
Some U. S. navy planes, however,
flew low over the front in bomb
ing and strafing attacks.
The communists used the tac- y
tics which marked their march all
the way down the Korean penin
sula—infiltration, lunges at weak
points and the nattack in over
whelming numbers, regardless of
high casualties. The Reds, out
numbering the Americans four to
one, were using possibly their
heaviest conecntration of artillery
and mortar fire thus far.
Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters y
said the next few days might be
decisive and might bring the turn
ing point in the war. President
Syngman Rhee of the South Ko
rean republic promised in a
broadcast that “we soon shall
open an all-out offensive” to drive
the communists back to the 38th
parallel whence their invasion
gobbled up all but a comer of the
country.
Baseball Scores
(By The Associated Press)
Wednesday Games
American League
Boston 1, Detroit 0.
Cleveland 6, Philadelphia 2.
New York 6, St. Louis 3.
Washington at Chicago,
postponed, rate
National League
Brooklyn 7, St. Louis 5.
New York 3, Cincinnati 2.
Philadelphia 6, Chicago 4.
Pittsburgh 8, Boston 4.
Pacific Coast League
Oakland 4-2, Seattle 0-8.
Portland 5-3, Hollywood 1-0.
San Francisco 6, Sacramento 4.
San Diego 2, Los Angeles 0.
Thursday Games
American League
Detroit 5, Boston 1.
Philadelphia 7, Cleveland 2. f.
Washington 3-3, Chicago 2-6.
St. Louis 3, New York 2.
National League
Philadelphia 13, Chicago 3.
St. Louis 13, Brooklyn 3.
Boston 5, Pittsburgh 3.
(Only games scheduled)
Pacific Coast League
Sacramento 3-4, ’Frisco 2-5.
San Diego 5, Los Angeles 3.
Portland 5, Hollywood 3. y
Oakland at Seattle postponed, rain
She attracts no more attention
than a thermometer after the ar- ^
rival of a cool wave. —Toledo
Blade.