235 NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LI. No. 130 NOiUK, ALASKA, MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1949 Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON, (TP) — Admiral
Charles B. McVay, 81, who for
merly commanded the U. S. Asiat
ic fleet, died Friday.
FOK.ANE, (/P)—Three little sis
ters, aged 5. 4, and 2, were burn
ed to death in early morning dark
ness Saturday when a logging
truck and a private car collided on
an overpass and burst into flames.
The victims, daughters of Mr.
and Mrs. Earl Martin of Deer
Park. Wash., were Dolores 5, Don
na, 4, and Marlene, 2. They were
riding with their parents in the
cab of the truck. The truck was
not loaded.
JUNEAU, (TP)—’The 60-foot fish
and wildlife service vessel Scoter
went on the rocks at Bill Point,
near Cape Fanshaw 70 miles south
of here Friday while enroute to
Seattle, the coast guard reported.
Capt. Milt Harndon and four
crewmen were taken off by the
cutter Citrus.
A power barge left Petersburg
for the scene in an attempt to sal
vage the Scoter, which reported a
four-foot hole in her starboard
side. The coast guard had no de
tails on how the vessel grounded.
PETERSBURG, f^PW. H. (Jim)
Sawyer, old-time Alaskan, has re
ported his sale of Sawyer’s Land
ing.
He wrote to the Petersburg
Press that he has sold the familiar
landmark to Californians. Sawyer
said he and his wife were heading
for California; that they will sell
real estate they own in the south
and then return to Alaska “for
keeps.” He said they will live on
Wrangell Narrows or near Juneau.
BETHLEHEM. Pa.. (/P)—Beth
lehem Steel Corp. today refused to
confirm or deny reports it is about
to come to terms with the United
Steel Workers union.
There were a number of rumors
in Cleveland, where the CIO is
holding its 'national convention,
and in Bethlehem that the nation's
second largest steel firm is about
to agree to terms that will mark
the first break in the nationwide
steel strike that began Oct. 1.
Asked for a statement on the re
port. Bethlehem Steel officials
wouldn't talk. They said they were
“processing the query."
JUNEAU, (JP)—Encore requests
brought $50 to $300 apiece as a
piano concert to raise funds for
a grand piano netted more than
$1,500 this week.
Noted pianist Maxim Schapiro
played the high price-tagged tunes.
CENTRALIA, Wash. (/P) —Two
infant boys burned to death in
their beds early yesterday despite
the heroic efforts of their mother
f and a baby sitter to rescue them.
The victims were John Dickey,
3, and his brother, Billie, 2, sons
of Mrs. Jean Dickey, daughter of
the Centralia postmaster.
Mrs. Dickey and the young
baby sitter, Bessie Tunell, 16, were
forced by the flames to jump 14
feet to the ground from the boys’
Fisheries Commit
tee Held Hearing
Hear Saturday
*
The Sub-Committee of the Mer
chant Marine and Fisheries Com
mittee from Washington, D. C.,
which was originally scheduled to
arrive last Thursday, arrived on
Saturday, having covered Fair
banks, Barrow and Nome in one
day.
The party weer dinner guests of
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wallace and
Mayor and Steve Anderson at a
dinner Saturday at the Bering Sea
Club, after which a hearing was
held in the Court Room.
The meeting was called to order
by Mayor Steve Anderson who
turned it over to Delegate Bart
lett for introductions. Mr. Bartlett
explained the purpose of the visit
to be mainly about fish trap prob
lems in Southeastern Alaska as
well as fish problems in the entire
Territory. He stated that the ses
sion of Congress just completed is
the longest peacetime session we
have ever had.
Members of the party introduced
were Victor Wickersham. Okla
homa, chairman; Thor Tollefson,
John Allen, and E. L. Bartlett.
They were accompanied by How
ard Baltzo, of the Fish and Wild
life, Joe Flakne of the Interior De
partment, M. Hughes of the Alas
ka Railroad and C. L. Anderson,
head of the new Territorial De
partment of Fisheries.
It was stated that the party had
originally planned to come to
Alaska in August but due to the
length of the session were unable
to do so. They stated that in addi
tion to problems of fishing and
transportation they were ready to
hear and record any local prob
lems for this Division and they in
turn would present same to the
proper committees on their return
to Washington.
Transportation
H. F. Harper, president of the
Chamber of Commerce was called
upon in relation to transportation I
who stated that high rates on '
transportation made it difficult to
operate in this part o fthe country,
that high rates were due to lack of
tonnage and that the condiiton has
been augmented by the ANS tak
[ ing over 6000 tons of freight for
this area in a government owned
boat, the North Star and also by
the Army hauling their own
freight. This condition was a seri
ous handicap to progress.
John Allen called attention to
the fact that enormous amounts of
money had been appropriated to
Alaska this session prorated would
mean $2400.00 per person in Alas
ka, which is much more than his
State would ever get. Mr. Harper
responded by sayipg that instead
of a population comparison an
acreage comparison should be con
sidered.
Russell Apple called to the com
mittee’s attention that although a
(Continued on Page Two)
| bedroom window. Both suffered
[ first degree burns when their
night clothing caught fire.
The girls’ condition was report
ed critical, the mother’s serious.
Assayer’s Report
Doesn’t Fa/e
Fishw lieel\s 1919ers
FAIRBANKS, </P) — Boom or
bust, the younger element at the
Fish wheel gold diggings up by the
Arctic Circle is beginning to feel
the pinch of privation.
This was the word from Jack
Daum, Fairbanks News-Miner re
porter, who returned from the
frigid tent town 165 miles north
west of here Saturday.
“Many who have lived the past
week in lean-to shelters are build
ing more permanent log walls, and
those who came with insufficient
clothing and bedding are awaiting
planes to take them out,” Daum
said.
“Confident that they are on the
road to riches, many are erecting
log walls for their tents, and in
sulating them with three feet of
. earth. Native Indians give helpful
advice to those who plan to ‘stick
it out’ for a month or so more.”
They listen to the old timers
among the prospectors, who scoff
at rumors that the strike is “not
what it’s cracked up to be.” A re
port of an assay of some of the
original nuggets from the Yukon
River here, which said one nug
get was “brass” and a couple of
others appeared to be pocket or
poke-worn, failed to discouarge
such old-timers as Ed Farrell,
Da urn reported.
He said Farrell, and others
pointed out that “salting” or plant
ing gold along nine miles of river
shore would be pointless and pro
fitless.
“Who can salt a whole river?”
Farrell asks.
In a half-mile stretch of new
“airport,” are camped many boys
from the States, to whom the
whole affair is as new as it must
have been to the original ’49ers a
centUry ago in California.
Some of these, Daum reports,
are F. Howard and Robert Alex
ander, Houston, Tex.; Joe Trum
by, Grants Pass, Ore.; C. V. John
(Continued on Page Five)
Truman Sijms
Largest Peacetime
Military Kill
•>
WASHINGTON. </P>—President
Truman signed the largest mili
tary appropriation in peacetime
history Saturday but impounded
$615,000,000 it carries to build the
air force up to 58 groups.
The measure carrie sa total of
$15,585,863,498 for operation of the
army, navy, air corps and marines.
In a statement the President
said that Congress’s action in in
creasing funds for the air force
above his budget recommendation
“could have a serious effect on our
ability to maintain balanced mili
tary forces in subsequent years.”
Declaring that the larger air
force insisted upon by the House
would be “inconsistent with a re
' alistic and balanced security pro
! gram which we can support in
peacetime.” the President added:
“As additional aircraft author
(Continued on Page Six)
Edw. Stettinius, 49.
Passes ()n
GREENWICH, Conn. (VP)—Ed
ward R. Stettinius, Jr., wartime
head of lend-lease and U. S. Sec
retary of State when the United
Nations came into being, died to
day at the age of 49.
The white-haired, handsome
Stettinius, who at 37 became
board chairman of the U. S. Steel
Corporation, was his country’s
first U. N. delegate. He was named
rector of the University of Virgin
ia after leaving the U. N. post in
1946.
Death came at 7:30 a.m. at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Trippe
here. Mrs. Trippe is Stettinius’
sister. Her husband is head of
Pan-American World Airways.
A rich man’s son, Stettinius
went into government service and
shortly became administrator of
the $60,000,000,000 lend-lease pro
gram that played a major role in
the final defeat of Nazi Germany.
'SO YOU'VE GOT TROUBLES"
of the Vi orhl
At A (ilanee .. .
Monday, October 31, 1949
Western Europe was told today
by Marshall Plan boss Paul G.
Hoffman to join in a single econo
mic unit if it wants to get more
aid funds from Congress.
Hoffman warned the Marshall
Plan countries they had better
show results early next year in
promoting free trade by knocking
down national tariff barriers and
erasing complex money problems.
Goods in the big Western Euro
pean market, he said, must move
freely across national boundaries
or the result will be “disaster for
nations and poverty for peoples.”
Hoffman’s call for concrete ac
tion was made in a statement to
the general council of the organ-?
ization for European economic
cooperation <OEEC>. The organ
ization, which helps administer
the Marshall Plan, is meeting in
Paris.
An American official in Paris
said United States experts are
drawing preliminary plans for a
Marshall Plan in Asia designed to
halt the spread of communism in
the Orient.
The official predicted the pro
ject would win Congressional sup
port. He said a request probably
will be made to Congress next
summer for $1,000,000,000 to $1,
250.000,000 for the first year.
Philippines President Elp i d o
Quirino said in Manila a confer
ence to organize a non-communist
union in Southeast Asia will be
held here early next year.
In Cairo, the Arab League’s
political committee gave unani
mous approval to a proposal call
ing for a United Arab policy on
Palestine.
Liberal party chieftains in Bo
gota formulated plans to bring the
question of mounting political vio
lence in Columbia before a United
Nations agency.
Disorders have swept the coun
try with the approach of the Presi
dential election on Nov. 27. The
Liberals and Conservatives have
accused each other of resorting to
violence.
Reports spread that the rulers
of Poland and Bulgaria w'ere
purging officials suspected of any
taint of deviation from Moscow’s
brand of communism.
Britain and the United States
pressed for quick United Nations
action to protect U. N. observers
in the troubled Balkans. The issue
assumed urgency because of re
ports that observers for the U. N.
special committee on the Balkans
(Continued on Page Eight>
DRIVE FOR BOY SCOUT FUNDS
NETS $900.00
A successful drive was held
Friday for the annual campaign
for funds for the Boy Scouts of
America with a reported $900.00
collected and pledged.
Russ Apple, divisional official
for the Boy Scouts stated before
leaving yesterday for Fairbanks
that Jim McLean had been ap
pointed Boy Scout Scoutmaster,
and that he would be assisted by
Mr. Almquist, high school teacheer
and Skip Barron of the A.C.S.