VETS TURN BOOTMAKERS, WESTERN STYLE
Two Lubbock, Texas, brothers, both veterans of World War II,
soon will play an active part in "keeping 'em riding" in the Great
Southwest. For Vincent and J. B. Thompton are seen here working
in the boot shop of a Texas leather company where they are learn
ing the art of making western boots under the G. I. Bill educational
program.
Troops Will Be
Airborne In Any
Attack On Alaska
(By Clarke Beach)
ANCHORAGE, (Delayed) </P)—
If Alaska ever is attacked, the en
emy will strike with airborne
troops in the opinion of leading
military authorities here.
“I can’t imagine moving masses
of troops across this country by
land,’’ Maj. Gen. Howard A. Craig
who has ahe over-all tactical com
mand of both army and navy
forces in Alaska and the Aleutians
said today.
Substantially the same state
ment was made a few days ago by
Col. Paul V. Kane, commander of
Task Force Frigid at Fairbanks, in
talks to a group of news corre
spondents and photographers tour
ing this area.
Communications is the key to
the strategy of Alaskan defense,
in the opinion of both men. There
is only one railroad, which is
blocked, sometimes for weeks, in
bad weather, and a few main
gravel highways connecting coast
al cities with one another and the
Interior.
Transporting large numbers of
troops and supplies by surface
travel presents the utmost diffi
culty. In winter any movement
through the frozen wilderness is
painfully slow and uncertain. And
in summer the few muddy roads,
provide travel surfaces which are
not much better than in winter.
Sending mechanized divisions
across the muskeg and tundra in
the summer would be impossible,'
and in winter it could be done
only by following the frozen
creeks and rivers.
“The greatest contribution that i
could be made to the security of
Alaska would be the development
of the country,” said General
Craig. “If substantial numbers of
civilians settled here, they would
help to build up communications.
They would make it economically
feasible to extend the highway sys-1
tern and improve and extend the!
railroad.
“The housing is the limiting fea
ture just now,” the general added,
however. Housing is so scarce that
even those who are most eager to
see the Territory develop hope
there will be no large influx for
several years, until homes can be
be built.
Vet, General Craig feels, Alaska
gives settlers a chance to make a
good living—“a hard living but it
can be a good one.”
Col. Frank A. Bogart, director
of logistics for the Alaska Depart
ment, indicated today that the
Alaska Highway is primarily of
' value as a means for emergency
supply. This new travel road, run
, ning from Edmonton, Canada, to
I Fairbanks, through hundreds of
i miles of muskeg which is entirely
uninhabited, is now in daily use,
even in the recent rough weather.
“To supply Alaska by truck over
the Alaska Highway is not econo
mically feasible,” he said. He re
lated that the Alaska Railroad or
ganization ran a convoy of trucks
over the highway during the re
cent West Coast shipping strike,
and it found the costs so high that
use of the route would be prohibi
tive from a commercial standpoint.
Colonel Bogart said, however,,
that “rail connection with the I
United States is possible. Such a
route has been surveyed.”
He could give no further details
on the project, but in his opinion
the railroad would be primarily of
strategic value and would have to
be built and initially maintained
by the government, since at first it
would not be commercially pro
fitable.
BASKETBALL TEAM PREPAR
ING FOR ANCHORAGE TRIP
The Nome School Basketball
team which has been invited to
compete with other school teams
at Anchorage during the Fur Ren
dezvous has been using all avail
able time in practicing and polish
ing up for this event.
This is the first year that the
school has had the opportunity to
compete with other schools and
fortunately it happens that Nome
has a fairly good team this year.
The boys have won 3 out of 4
league games which have been
played this season. The league con
sists of a team from the A ACS; the
ACS; Officers of the Nome Post
and Ordnance. To date the school
team has won all games except
that with the team from the Ord
nance department.
Members of the team are Bo
Mozee, Walter McCarthy, George
Bourdon, Amout Castel, William
Ozenna, Harold Bell, Ed O’Connor,
James Edwards, Leonard Schenk
and Dean Bronson.
This trip will be not only an
athletic achievement but the first
trip away from Nome for some of
the boys.
It is hoped that the people of
Nome will support the boys and
attend the dance being given to
night at the school gym to raise
the necessary funds for the trip.
'Anchorage Police
Chief Resigns
ANCHORAGE, (&)—City Man
ager A. J. Koenig announced to
day that Chief of Police A. R.
White had resigned and that about
12 men of the 16-man force were
remaining to form the nucleus of
a new organization.
White said he had actually
turned in the resignation several
days ago and that “nine members
of the force have gone out with1
me.” Koenig said White told him
two months ago he wished to be
relieved of his duties, but neither
gave additional explanation.
Detective Sgt. Elmer Johansen
is acting as chief while city offi- j
cials seek a successor for White.
They indicated they might select
a man from the States.
Coast Guard Finds
Lost Seineboat
SEATTLE, (/P) — The Coast
Guard cutter Naugutuck wireless
ed headquarters today that she
had located the seineboat Recov
ery, disabled off the west coast of>
Vancouver Island in yesterday’s
heavy ocean storm, and found her
j in tow of the Canadian army boat,
| General Schmidlin.
I The Naugutuck, which battled
rough seas to reach the 37-foot
craft, said she would take over the
tow and bring the seineboat and
her crew of six to haven in an
American port.
Meantime a new storm was
brewing, scheduled to hit the Pa
cific northwest with strong south
erly gales within the next 24
hours, although warmer weather is
in prospect by tomorrow, the
weather bureau said.
“Most Courageous
Athlete”
PHILADELPHIA (IP) — Monty
Stratton, the six-foot-five baseball
pitcher who lost his right leg nine
years ago in a hunting accident,
was hailed today as the “most
courageous athlete of 1946”—but
the modest, former Chicago White
Sox hurler says he owes his return
to the mound “to my wife and two
kids.”
Stratton was saluted for his
pitching feat last night by the
Philadelphia Sports Writers asso
ciation at the group’s 43rd annual
banquet.
Despite an artificial leg, the
right-handed Stratton won 18
; games, including nine in a row,
| for the Sherman club of the Class
' C East Texas league last year. He
| lost eight.
Safer Flying Plan
Suggested
_
WASHINGTON, (IP) — A pro
gram for improving safe flying on
commercial lines was laid before
the House commerce committee to
day by David L. Behncke, presi
dent of the Air Line Pilots asso
ciation.
The committee, seeking causes
j of, and a cure for, plane disasters,
heard the pilots’ spokesman sup
plement his recently-suggested
plea for restoration of an inde
pendent air safety board.
His program includes:
1. More stringent service testing
of new aircraft and equipment;
2. Improvement in approach and
runway lighting;
3. Provision of better function
Admiral Byrd
“Back Home”
LITTLE AMERICA, (Delayed)
(>P)—Admiral Richard E. Byrd
was “back home” in the Antarctic
today after leading six big trans
port planes in a history-making
flight over 600 miles of the South
Polar seas.
“I like this place. It’s like a sec
ond home,” said Byrd as he re
turned to the scene of his two pre
vious expeditions to the Antarctic.
His plane and five others took
off from the deck of the carrier
Philippine Sea, flew over the icy
wastes and landed without serious
mishap on a snow-covered field
laid out by an advance contingent
of the navy’s antarctic expedition.
Upon landing Byrd predicted
that within 25 years coal will be
taken from the mountains fringing
the Ross Sea and said that within
a century other resources of the
frigid continent will be opened up.
One of the first things he wants
to do, he said, is to revisit the
nearby camp of his 1928 expedi
tion. The camp was located recent
ly under 20 feet of snow but per
fectly preserved.
The six big two-engine planes,
after jet-assisted takeoffs from the
carrier, flew in pairs. They made
the journey in between five and
six hours passing enroute the ice
breaker Northwind which was sta
ing basic navigation instruments;
4. Consideration of condit:ons
that result in excessive pilot fa
tigue;
5. Elimination of dangers in air
craft, such as fire in flight.
tioned about halfway as a marker.
Byrd’s plane and its companion
' had good weather for the flight
but the other four, coming a few
hours later, flew mostly by instru
ments.
The sixth plane, piloted by Maj.
! Robert R. Wier, Philadelphia, was
lost for a time in the overcast and
out of radio contact with the base.
The planes, each carrying five
men, glided to their landings on
skis.
Byrd said the eastern task group
might solve “the greatest geo
I graphical problem left in the
j world—whether the Weddell sea
' cuts through, making James Ells
i worth Land a huge island.
He concurred in the belief that
the expedition’s stay will be shorter
than planned because the ice pack
may freeze over soon.
Lieut. Edgar Pitman, Seattle, on
the second plane said it was a
“beautiful trip.”
[ LONDON, (/P) — Sub-freezing
1 temperatures of the winter’s worst
cold wave moderated over western
Europe today.
Forecasters saw some hope for
a February thaw that would allevi
ate suffering among millions of
ill-housed and ill-clothed inhabi
tants of the Continent.
NUERNBERG, Germany, {£>)—
Hans Fritzsche, former Nazi
broadcaster, was sentenced today
to nine years hard labor for aiding
the Hitler regime. The sentence
came from his own countrymen—
a German v denazification court.
Fritzsche had been freed of war
crimes charges by the internation
al military tribunal.
ARCTIC OIL DELIVERY
Phone—Shop: Black 76 — Residence: Red 153
100-GAL. OIL TANKS FOR SALE
WE CHECK YOUR TANK REGULARLY
BEN YOUNG
SERVICE CLEANERS
4th and B Streets—Opposite School House
QUALITY DRY CLEANING A SPECIALTY
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Mickleson, Props.
Prompt and Courteous Service
RED 19
VPS DRESS SHOP
“Smart Clothes
with Complete Accessories'”
{’
Hours:
10 A.M. to Noon Phone
1 P.M. to 6 P.M. MAIN 26
Gifts That Please
for all occasions
Dorothy’s
“The only shop on Lane’s Way”
Hours — 1 to S P.M.