THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 6i»
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W. A. Boucher ...Owner-Publisher
Emily Boucher ..Local Editor
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, February 21, 1949
FACTS ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
George Washington was not born on February 22, al
though almost 140,000,000 Americans will celebrate his
217th birthday tomorrow.
He “rarely sworn,” in spite of many legends to the
contrary.
And of course he did not chop down his father’s cher
ry tree with his little hatchet.
The actual facts of George Washington’s life as re
corded in the Encyclopaedia Britannica reveal that
Washington was born on February 11, not February!
22. In 1752, when he was 20 years old, 11 days of the j
English calendar were deliberately omitted in order to;
adopt the Gregorian calendar, and an incidental effect
was to place the anniversary of Washington’s birth on
the date now celebrated.
The cherry tree incident is dismissed by the Britan
nica article written by Allan Nevins, noted biographer,
as an “absurd fiction,” less noteworthy than the true
achievements of Washington’s youth. He had mastered
the elements of surveying by the time he was 14, and
when he was only 16 he became assistant surveyor on a
rough Western expedition. In his journal he described
sleeping under “one thread Bear blanket with double
its weight of Vermin such as Lice Fleas etc.” The ado
lescent—and ungrammatical—traveler called the Penn
sylvania-German emigrants “as ignorant a set of people j
as the Indians the ywould never speak English buti
when spoken to they speak all Dutch”!
At 20 Washington was the strict and canny manager
of a large plantation, fond of riding, fox-hunting, danc
ing, theatrical performances and “despite an uncon
querable awkwardness with the fair sex, of flirtation.”
Six feet three inches tall and weighing 220 pounds, he
excelled in all outdoor pursuits, from wrestling to
horse-breaking, the Britannica reports.
His appearance was marred by smallpox scars, how
ever, and before his marriage at 26 to the “good house
wife and companion,” Martha Curtis, Washington had
been rejected by a Miss Betsy Fauntleroy and had
wooed Mary Philipse of New York without success.
“There is clear evidence,” the Britannica also states,
“that he temporarily felt a romantic attachment for
Sarah, wife of his friend George William Fairfax.”
As a Virginia planter, Washington attended horse
races, lost money at cards and billiards, liked to go to
picnis, barbecues and clam-bakes—and became one of
the richest men in the country. He was “industrious,
punctual, efficient and economical,” says the Britan
n^ce, practiing crop rotation, diversified farming and
experimental cattle breeding.
Recognized as an authority on military matters and
known for his poise, sense and resolution, Washington
was elected commander-in-chief of the colonial forces
in 1775. Although “he was not a great tactician, it is un
questionable that Washington’s strength of character,
his ability to hold the confidence of army and people
and to diffuse his own courage among them, his unre
mitting activity and his strong common sense, consti
tuted the chief factor in achieving American victory.”
When he became the first President of the United
States, Washington maintained the dignity which he
felt was demanded by his high office, driving in a coach
with four or six smart horses and outriders and lackeys
in rich livery. “At receptions he came in a black velvet
suit with gold buckles, yellow gloves, powdered hair, a
cocked hat with an ostrich plume in one hand, and a
sword in a white leather scabbard,” the Brittanica re
lates.
The famous speech of 1796 known as “Washington’s
A LEAD TO FOLLOW
! fn vlr,M*r*pngwt/L.
*» r To ±t<s#r ^ ,
Farewell Address” was actually written, not by Wash
ington, but by Alexander Hamilton, the Britannica re
veals, although it was remolded by Washington and ex
pressed his ideas.
After two strenuous terms of office and two and a half
years of retirement at Mount Vernon, Washington
caught a severe cold and failed to improve in spite of
gargles of “molasses, vinegar and butter” and other
remedies. “He faced the end with characteristic seren
ity,” the Britannica says, “saying, ‘I die hard, but I am
not afraid to go,’ and later: ‘I feel myself going. I thank
you for your attentions; but I pray you take no more
trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last
long.”
Keeping his finger on his own pulse until it stopped,
he died at 10 p.m. on December 14, 1799, “first in war,
first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
NATIONAL SECURITY WEEK
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
The reserve officers and enlisted men of the armed
forces of the United States are sponsoring a nation-wide
observance from February 12 to 22, and they are calling
it National Security Week.
The purpose is to center national attention upon the
great need for an adequate national defense establish
ment, including a vitally necessary universal military
training program, capable of averting future war if pos
sible, and in any event of winning a future war if our in
volvement becomes unavoidable.
There is a further very good purpose to be served by
the observance. That is to acquaint the American peo
ple with the manner in which the organized reserves
are an integral part of the national defense establish
ment and indispensable to its effectivenc*^.
In peacetime the man and women of the organized
reserves are to be found in all walks of civilian life. But
they are distinguished from other civilians because they
dedicate a large part of their spare time to familiarizing
themselves with the problems of national defense and
security and to perfecting themselves in the military
duties that would be required of them in the event of
war.
This is an arduous, and often sacrificial, service to the
country. The meager remuneration offered by the gov
ernment leaves the reserves very much out of pocket af
ter they have participated in the drills and study courses
essential to this phase of military preparedness.
In wartime, these same men and women comprise the
•major striking force of an endangered nation, and they
constitute its main reliance for the repulsion of invasion.
For it must be remembered that the United States is
not now, never has been, and must never be, a militarv
nation in the sense of maintaining vast professional
peacetime military industries and establishments solely
for the purpose of wagng war.
Whenever the United States gets into war, it turns its
civilian citizens into soldiers as quickly as possible, and
after the war is over it turns them back into civilians
even more quickly.
The United States has always
developed amazingly good mili
tary forces in that manner when
neffepsary, and it has won all its
wars.
But since the development of
aviation and atomic weapons and
the virtual elimination of the time
element in global communications,
the safety of that system depends
upon a very vital factor.
The citizen soldier can continue
to be the main reliance of the
country in future national emer
gencies, but when the emergency
comes he must be ready and not
just willing.
That is what the organized re
serves of the United States are
doinng—making themselves ready
to serve.
As makeshift and haphazard as
the reserve organization was be
fore the last war, due to the lack
of government interest and sup
port, it was able to supply the
armed forces with 100,000 trained
and competent officers who made
it possible for the United States to
put a combat army in the field at
least one year and probably two
years earlier than would other
wise have been possible.
With an adequate reserve or
ganization now, such ns the men
and women of the citizen branches
of the armed forces are trying to
maintain, the country would al
ways be able to get a combat army
into action in sufficient time to
prevent invasion and defeat.
The availability of such a re
serve force will be absolutely es
sential to the full and early effec
‘iveness of the universal military
training program now awaiting
the approval of congress.
The men and women of the or
ganized reserves of the American
armed forces are to be congratu
lated for their sponsorship of the
National Security Week Observ
ance, and they are to be commend
ed and honored for the high sense
of patriotism wh'ch inspires them.
International News
(Confined from Page One)
trial.
Argentina’s economic position
caused growing uneasiness among
residents of that South American
nation. The country is faced with
a serious shortage of dollars and
other foreign exchange. It has
spent heavily out of its . credits
abroad, accumulated during the
war.
President Juan D. Peron is ex
pected to take some action next
week to try to stop the sharp
plunge in market prices. Even filt
edged stocks have been hard hit
i nthe past month.
Buenos Aires is without news
papers for the 12th day—due to
the printers’ strike. Humors ran
rampant. Wild stories have had
their reflection on the stock mar
ket.
President Peron went on the ra
dio last night to allay the fears of
the people. He scoffed at the ru
mors. He denied that he was plan
ning to negotiate of big Ameri
can loan.
The largest and longest war
crimes trial in the Philippines
ended today. All 14 of the Japan
ese defendants were sentenced to
hang. A Philippine army commis
sion convicted them on 20 counts
of murder and rape. They weix;
convicted of attacking Filipino
and Chinese civilians on the east
coast of Luzon Island in 1945.
Monday, February 21, 1949
The Palestine war between Is
rael and Egypt—lately fought only
with words—appeared today to be