THE
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OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIII No. 146 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1951 Per Copy—157
Weather Delays
Alaska Airlines
North Pole Flight
SEATTLE, (>P) — Weather and
engine trouble grounded an Alas
ka Airlines DC-4 early today, de
laying the start of a scheduled
flight to the North Pole with a
real pole and a sack cff letters for
Santa.
The airliner was to have taken
off from Paine Field, north of
here, last night/ When trouble de
veloped in one engine, after an
earlier delay due to weather,
maintenance men held up the
flight to get the four-engine ship
in perfect shape for the hazard
ous 12-honr flight over the frozen
Arctic wasteland.
The airliner’s cargo aiso will
include Stan Garson’s north pole
—a red and white stripped steel
cylinder — but Garson won’t be
able to make the trip. The air
line said CAA rules will permit
only employes aboard during the
Polar flight.
An Air Force navigator will ac
company the flight—the first by
a commercial airliner over the
North Pole.
A special release hatch has
been constructed in the plane’s
tail to drop the pole and the sack
of mail at the approximate site of
the North Pole.
The specially-outfitted plane
will carry 5,000 letter to Santa
Claus collected by “North Pole
Nellie” from children throughout
Alaska and the States.
“Movietime U.S.A.” Sends
Goodwill Ambassador
On Alaska Tour
SEATTLE, (JP) — Carolina Cot
ton, singing cowgirl of the movies,
will leave Seattle Monday for
Alaska to spread the word that
motion pictures are “Better Than
Ever.”
She is the first goodwill am
bassador to ibe dispatched by the
“Movietime U.S.A.” program —
launched nation-wide in October
—beyond the continental limits of
the United States.
Miss Cotton will fly via Alaska
Airlines to Fairbanks, where she
will make% personal appearances.
In addition to representing
“Movietime U.S.A.” in Alaska,
Miss Cotton will carry thousands
of messages from children across
the nation to Santa Claus at the
North Pole.
She has appeared in many
“westerns” and is billed as the
feminine yodeling champion of
America.
KOREAN SITUATION
SEOUL, Korea, (/P) — United
Nations forces threw back nine
minoT Red probing attacks along
the frozen Korean war front to
day and yesterday.
U. S. Eighth Army communi
ques said five of the feeler strikes
were made on the eastern front,
three in the center of the line,
and one on the west.
U.S. Fifth Air Force jets sight
ed 10 Red jets over northwest
Korea Monday but made no con
tact. The U. S. planes failed to
see a Red plane in sweeps over
the area Sunday.
Eskimo “Princess”
At N.Y. Enroute
To See Truman
NEW YORK, (/P) — A pert,
little Eskimo princess, on her way
to see President Truman about
more milk for Alaska, stepped
from a plane here Saturday and
sipped her first taste of fresh
milk.
“I like it,” she said.
The six-year-old girl, Pearl
Ittigiah, who made the 5,000-mile
flight here with her mother, said
that when she sees the President,
she’ll say to him:
“Hiya, Mr. President, I came
a long way to see you.”
Pearl, daughter of an Eskimo
chieftain of the Athabascan tribe
at Minto, Alaska, came to the
United States to present a peti
tion signed by more than 2,500
Alaskans to Mr. Truman.
Amos E. Heacock, president of
Air Transport Associates, Inc.,
said the trip was to dramatize a
protest against a Civil Aeronau
tics Board ruling restricting non
scheduled airline flights into
Alaska.
__;
Oil Well Fire Near Pt.
Barrow Extinguished
In -50 Degree Weather
FAIRBANKS, A spectacular oil
well fire near Point Barrow, in
northernmost Alaska, was put
out Friday after it burned 48
hours and destroyed its steel der
rick.
The blaze started Thursday in
one of the Navy’s exploratory
wells in the Point Barrow Naval
Petroleum Reserve, about 5 0 0
miles northwest of here.
Fed by natural gas and petrol
eum it flared until the well fin
ally was capped by oil riggers
who worked in 50-below-zero
weather.
Naval oil exploration headquar
ters here reported no one was in
jured and that buildings near the
well were not damaged. Officials
said cause of the blaze was un
determined.
75-Mile Winds
Buffet California
(By the Associated Press)
Shrieking winds swept South
ern California today, flailing
crops, sandblasting automobiles
and snarling transportation—air,
sea and land.
Blasts up to 75 miles an hour
whipped the smoke from smudge
pots with which growers fought
to save their crops from tempera
tures that plummeted as low as
15 degrees Sunday.
r
Gale - whipped desert sands
scoured the paint from automo
biles in the San Bernardino area.
The wind stripped palm trees, lit
tered highways so badly that
many were closed to traffic. Air
travel was shut down. Toppled^
power lines cut off electricity.
Sunday was -the coldest Dec. 9
in the Los Angeles Weather Bu
reau’s 75 year history with 32.
Elsewhere in the nation, the
weather was seasonable.
Beta Sigs To
Sponsor Hot
Lunch Program
A hot-lunch program for chil
dren of the Nome School is now
being planned by the young wom
en of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, in
cooperation with several leading
organizations of the city. Mrs.
Grant Jackson, Chairman of this
worth-while project, states that
the cooperation and interest
shown by members of the com
munity and school officials in the
initial stages have been indeed
gratifying. She reports that sever
al organizations and business
houses have already pledged
whole-hearted support in various
ways, among the first being the
Home Arts Society and the Meth
odist Women’s Society for Chris
tian Service.
“We do not plan to ‘start big’
with this, our first hot lunch pro
gram,” says Mrs. Jackson, “but
we do wish to make a start. The
children who live the farthest
distances from school are the ones
who will benefit most during the
cold weather ahead, and the
meals are being planned , to aug
ment the children’s usual box
lunches. Thus, one hot dish and
hot beverage will probably be
served daily beginning the sec
ond week in January.”
All groups or individuals wish
ing to participate in any way or
who have suggestions to make,
are urged to contact Mrs. Jackson
or one of the members of the
planning committee—Mary Roell,
Eileen Uttech, and Mrs. Bemeice
Hunt.
The first project for obtaining
a working fund is a planned pre
Christmas food sale on December
22 at the N.C. Store.
Disarmament
Commission
Is Formed
PARIS, (/P)—A high diplomatic
source said today the Western
powers and Soviet Russia have
agreed on formation of a disarm
ament commission which could
consider rival East and West plans
for arms reduction and atomic
controls.
This diplomat, who would not
permit use of his name said that
agreement was the only import
ant concrete result of the long
secret talks of the Big Four pow
ers on disarmament.
He said it appeared that the
Western plan for arms limitation
and reduction plus the Soviet ver
sion of disarmament plans would
be put before a disarmament com
mission next spring with instruc
tions to start work on drawing up
arms limitation proposals.
It was reported also that there
had been no agreement on any
of the major points separating the
East and West except on the dis
armament commission, which
may not even be called by that
name, but which actually will
deal with that topic.
Tonight at 7:00 AFRS will play
a transcription of the show which
was given at the Roof Garden on
Saturday evening.
9
Fairbanks Has
Power Failure In
45 Below Weather
FAIRBANKS, (JP) — A power
failure blacked out Fairbanks for
seven hours Friday night and shut
off electrically - operated heating
systems in 45-below-zero weather.
Frank Mapleton, utilities man
ager, said an overloaded cable
burned out, cutting off the power
supply from 9 p.m. to 4' a.m. Only
buildings with private generating
facilities had lights.
Power was restored with a tem
porary circuit, but residents were
asked to ration themselves until
permanent repairs are made.
Heating plants in many large
apartment projects failed com
pletely during the power black
out—or freezeout.
Plumbers were flooded with
calls to thaw inside water lines
and plumbing.
The city was trying to rig up
new cables. Meanwhile power
was being delivered consurhers on
a rotation system. Each district
in the city took a 30-minute
blackout at regular intervals so
the peak load could be kept down
on the temporary system.
Demand Exchange
Prisoners of War
Start Immediately
By O. H. P. KING
MUNSAN, Korea, (JP) — The
United Nations command today
demanded an answer tomorrow
from the communists on the Al
lied proposal to start immediate
negotiations for exchange of pri
soners of war in Korea. The Reds
have stood pat on their demand
that the U.N. answer their pro
posal for behind-the-lines inspec
tion by representatives of neutral
nations before discussing prison
ers.
From Tokyo, the United Na
tions radio Monday night lam
basted the comunists in one of the
bitterest attacks from an Allied
source. It accused the Reds of
holding U.N. prisoners for black
mail and ransom to win their
point on ‘the question policing
an armistice.
The Allies in effect 3i;l
communists at Panmun 2X Mon
day to quit stalling or. the pri
soner issue.
They told the Reds that an Al
lied liaison officer will be in Pan-,
munjom at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday
for their answer. And a one-man
U.N. subcommittee will be ready
to start negotiations for the ex
change of prisoners 2 and a half
hours later.
Alaska Director Civilian
Defense Resigns Post
JUNEAU, (/P) — Col. Earl C.
Landreth, director of Civil De
fense in Alaska, has tendered his
resignation to Governor Gruen
ing.
He gave as his reason his ob
jection to paying into the Social
Security program, which he said
might lead to a situation which he
said could be unethical, if not
immoral.
The resignation was accepted
with regrets.
Jam-Packed
Audience Sees
Roof Garden
The annual Roof Garden given •
by the Pioneers of Alaska which
was held last Saturday evening at
the School auditorium, and which
is always an out^anding event of
the holiday season, was a big suc
cess if attendance means any
thing. It was one o*f the few times
in Nome that customers queued
up in the cold to gain admit
tance to a function of this kind.
The auditorium was packed to
the doors with every seat in the
building taken by the time the
curtain went up on the program
“Pioneers In Radio.”
The audience was given a real
pioneer welcome by the new pres
ident, Mike Kelly, after which
station manager Bob Brown of
AFRS station took over, assisted
by C. B. Chisam also of AFRS.
The orchestra, composed of
AFRS announcers, opened the
program and assisted throughout
the show, substituting in many of
the acts for the piano accom
panist, Wm. Honsberger, who was
delayed in transit from Anchor
age.
Phyllis Roell and Ilene Har
wood, with their clever commer
cials throughout the program had
the sympathy of the audience es
pecially during their number,
“Muktuk, Ugh!”
Katherine Bjornstad, versatile
High School student, sang two
solos in the show which were en
joyed by all.
(Continued on Page Five)
Madman Kidnaps
10-Month Infant
In Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS, {JP) — Maniacal
screams led a police posse in the
black night Friday to a demented
trapper who ran barefoot through
the snow in 41 below zero wea
ther with a 10-month-old baby
dangling by the heels.
He wore only a flapping night
gown; the baby a diaper.
Strangely, the child appeared to
have suffered no lasting ill ef
fects from its 1 hour and 45 min
ute exposure to the bitter cold.
The trapper, William Burke,
about 30, Nenana, Alaska, froze
his feet.
The eerie kidnaping of the
baby occurred after Burke es
caped from a hospital where he
was under treatment for a men
tal disorder. He became unbal
anced while trapping alone in the
wilderness north of Nenana.
Burke burst shouting into the
home of Mr. and Mrs. William T.
Dyer, who had left their five
children in the care of their old
est son, Bill, 13. They scurried,
terrified, to other rooms, leav
ing the baby unprotected in its
crib.
The madman snatched up the
infant by the heels and ran
screaming through the night.
Burke’s full-throated shrieks,
led the posse which formed, to
him. He was found in the brush
land near the Alaska Railroad
terminal, still holding the baby
upside down.