™I NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL~L~~No. 41. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 5, 1948 PER COPY — 15c~
UMW Coal Strike
In Fourth Week
I
PITTSBURGH, —(/P)—Soft Coal
pits in West Virginia and Pennsyl
vania remained virtually deserted
today as the pensions walkout of
the United Mine Workers began
its fourth week, despite govern-,
ment injunction.
Among the silent mines were
those of the steel companies which
had kept blast furnace operations
going at full capacity here on the
chance the coal stoppage might
last only a few weeks.
An early survey today yielded
no reports of any major UMW
bituminous mines operating in
such big producing states as Penn
sylvania, West Virginia, and Ken
tucky. The union claims 400,000
members across the nation.
Pits of the H. C. Frick Coke
Co., U. S. Steel subsidiary in the
Uniontown, Pa., coke area, were
among those unworked.
The miners’ apparent refusal to
return to work came despite a
government .injunction ordering
them to end the walkout. A double
barreled injunction issued in
Washington Saturday directed the
miners to return to work immed
iately. The operators were told
to try to settle the pension dispute.
Arctic lndoctrina’n
School Closes ‘Till
Next Winter
—
Alter a successful winter sea
son of indoctrinating military and
civilian personnel in the principles
of arctic survival, the Arctic In
doctrination School is conducting
the final class of the current sea
son. The school, commanded by
Captain Harold L. Strong, an old
timer in the arctic, opened on
August 15, 1947. Since that time, i
approximately 604 students of
military and civilian status have
for five days, faced the severest
arctic conditions, learning the
cardinal rules of survival under
arctic conditions.
The school is staffed with sur
vival experts—whites who have
lived in the outdoors most of their
life and, who during the recent
war learned much with Uncle
Sam’s fighting troops in the us
age of modern equipment. Natives
are utilized for their inherent cap
abilities. The combination, under
the command of Captain Strong. I
did much to aid and maintain the
degree of success which is already
established by the approval of
high ranking officials visiting the
school.
During the winter course of
training, the school was attended |
by representatives of all arms and;
services of the U.S. and also, by j
a number of Canadian Air Force;
representatives. Major General
Atkinson, commanding general of
the Alaskan Air Command, was|
the only high-ranking officer at- j
tending the full course, however
the school was visited by Generals
Spaatz, Twining, Kimball, Ever- j
est, Tartarge, Gaffney and Llew-|
elyn. Admirals Montgomery and
Titus represented the naval forces.
(Continued on Page Four) ‘
VERA NELSON
1948 QUEEN of NOME
Margaret Bjornstad
Second Place
Vera Nelson
QUEEN
Jennie Sayers
Third Place
Pres. May Name
ERP Head Soon
WASHINGTON. — (/Pi—Presi
dent Truman may speed the start
of the European Recovery pro
gram by naming its director with
in the next 48 hours.
Presidential secretary Charles
G. Ross told reporters today that
Mr. Truman hopes to be able to
announce the appointment very
soon.
Ross said: “I think it will not
be today. Possibly, but not cert
ainly, it will be by tomorrow.”
He added that Mr. Truman is
not ready to name th*e roving am
bassador called for by the $6,093
000,000 program aimed at stop
ping communist expansion. Seven
teen nations, including Western
Germany, will benefit.
Ross said several officials of the
National Association of Manufac
turers will offer their help in get
ting ERP under way. They had
a white house date to see Mr.
Truman.
Notice Served On
Lewis and Union
WASHINGTON, — f/P) —John
L. Lewis and the United Mine
Workers made no move today to
obey a court order directing them
to end a 22-day old mine walkout.
Reports from the mine fields
indicated few if any miners bowed
to a federal court order signed
Saturday night by Judge Matt
hew F. McGuire.'
Lewis himself gave no sign he
planned to comply with the court’s
directive, issued at the govern
ment’s request.
“No comment,’’ was Lewis’ snap
py reply as he arrived at his union
headquarters in mid-morning and
was asked about the order.
Five minutes after the UMW!
chief’s arrival, deputy U.S. Mar
shals H. B. McCauley and Mich-!
(Continued on Page Eight)
^ By Neva Whaley
I Saturday nigtht, April 3rd, wit
nessed the crowning of a new
Queen of Nome. Miss Vera Nel
son, popular and lovely brunette,
won the coveted honor by a large
margin. Her votes totalled 147,
000. Second place went to Margaret
Bjornstad with 71,000 votes and
third place to Jenny Sayres with
1 56,000 votes.
I Nome’s first choice in the Junior
Queen Contest went to darling
Lurisse Lowe with 40,000. Runner
up was little Judy Schall with 12,
000 votes.
Gordon Osborne, president of
the Arctic Club, very ably acted
as Master of Ceremonies in the
crowning ceremony. # He intro
duced Miss Clara Seiffert, Nome’s
Queen of 1947, and also Lurisse
Lowe, Junior Queen for 1948.
During the evening, in the large
school gymnasium hundreds ,of
persons crowded the many en
joyable and diversified games in
progress and partook of the hot
dogs, coffee and pink lemonade.
On the stage at midnight, the
curtains opened revealing the new
Queen with the other girls on both
sides of her. Those who were
less fortunate in not winning first
place, nevertheless lost no time
in revealing their good sportsman
ship by congratulating Miss Nel
son with great sincerity and admir
ation.
Junior Queen, Lurisse Lowe,
brought the crown to the Queen’s
throne where Miss Clara Seiffert
placed it on the new Queen. Then
the trophy for first prize, cups for
second and third prizes and for
the Junior Queen were presented.
Many other prizes were awarded
and Jane Atcheson, Vera Lonergan
and Faye Carver received beauti
ful items in jewelry.
Miss Vera Nelson, then stepped
to the microphone and very gra
ciously thanked those who had
so loyally assisted her. Bob Doyle
received a big kiss from the Queen
for his assistance, which Bob and
the audience both enjoyed im
mensely.
Afty the ceremony was com
(Continued on Page Seven)
Congress Overrides
President eVto On
Tax Reduction Bill
WASHINGTON. — </P) —Some
52.000,000 taxpayers, now figur
i ing how to use $4,800,000,000 they
got in tax relief, were put on not
ice to expect a swift tax boost
if national security demands it.
The tax cut was put into law
Friday as Congress, by an over
whelming vote, overrode Presi
dent Truman’s veto. He had said
this reduction in federal revenues
“would undermine the soundness
of our government finances at a
time when world peace depends
upon the strength of the United
States.”
This is the general tax picture
now:
1. The 52,000,000 income tax
payers get reductions, effective
January 1, ranging from 100 per
(Continued on Page Eight'
U.S. Pressmen On
Alaska Tour, Here
I
On a tour of army installations
j throughout the Territory, a group
of press representatives stopped
i in Nome for almost an hour.
The gentlemen of the Fourth
Estate were squired about the
base and through town by Col.
Burkhalter and Captain Griffin
who stated that the visit was to
be very ^hort.
Those represented on the press
tour were James Lucas, Scripps
Howard; Wayne Thomas, Chicago
Tribune; Leon Schloss, Interna
tional News Service; Martin Sheri
dan, Boston Globe; William Ship
pen, Wash. Star; Ben Pearse, Air
Force Mag.; Ralph Howard, Na
tional Broadcasting Co.; Ansel
Talbert, New York Herald Trib
une; rtarold LaVine, Newsweek;
Murray Young, Mutual Broadcast
ing Co.; Milton Widder, Cleve
land Press; and Tom Cowley, Gan
nett News Service.
Transport Crashes
After Collision
With Russ Fighter
BERLIN, —(iP)—A British trans
port plane crashed in flames today
after colliding with a Russian
fighter craft, British authorities
announced. The British plane,
a Viking, carried 10 passengers and
four crewmen.
RAF officers said all 14 were
killed. Two of the passengers
were understood to be Americans.
The Russian fighter also was
wrecked.
The transport, belonging to the
British European Airways, crashed
as it was about to make a landing
after a flight from London.
Both dropped near the Spandau
International Prison, which holds
the Nuernberg war crimes trial
defendants who drew penitentiary
terms. It is on the edge of Ber
lin.
There have been frequent ru
mors in Berlin that Soviet fighters
were diving on American and
British planes, but there was not
immediate indication whether this
was true today.
In London, the airline said the
crash occured after the Russian
fighter flew across the transport’s
nose.
German police reported the
fighter fell into the Heerstrasse,
a main street in the British sector
of Berlin, and the Russian pilot
was killed.
This incident came only a few
hours after an apparent easing
in the East-West tension that has
gripped Berlin several days. Brit
ish authorities today accepted a
Soviet offer to talk over the dead
lock on Russian restrictions on
railroad traffic, and suggested a
full four-power meeting.
The United States had previous
ly had accepted a Russian pro
posal for discussion of the re
strictions, which have harassed
the movement of rail traffic be
tween Berlin and the Western Al
lies’ zone of occupation.
The plane crash seemed cer
tain to renew tension in Berlin.
Congress Urged To
Sneed Un Bills For
Alaska Airports
WASHINGTON. — </F* —The
Senate Commerce Committee has
been urged bu Senator Magnuson
<D*Wash> to speed its study of
bills providing super airports for
Alaska.
Magnuson stressed the need for
quick astion in a letter sent yester
day to Senator Tobey (R-NHh
The House has approved a meas
ure to appropriate $8,000,000 for
a super airfield in Alaska, with the
site to be selected by the Civil
Aeronautics Administration.
Another bill to construct an air
port at Fairbanks is pending.
ICE POOL NEWS
Ticket sales indicate the pool
will be larger than last year.
The ice is nearly three feet thick
across the Nenana river in line
with the tripod, and there is a
! foot of new snow on the river.