m NUGGET
_ OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. XLIX. No. 88NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1947 PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
LONDON, (iP)—Russia’s whal
ing fleet “is prepairing for its sec
ond trip this year to the Antarc
tic,” Moscow radio announced to
day. It reported also- that the last
expedition to southern waters
caught 386 whales which ex
ceeded the goal by 39 per cent.
, . .S
PENDLETON, Ore., (JP)—Dam
age exceeding $500,000 was esti
mated yesterday after flames de
stroyed the Western Milling com
pany’s flour mill and warehouse,
set fire to other buildings and for
two hours threatened to sweep in
to the business section.
WASHINGTON, (/P) — legisla
tion to permit the Canadian-built
dredge Ajax to operate under U.
S. laws in order to complete an
army contract in Alaska passed
the House yesterday. A similar
bill is pending in the Senate.
Present laws forbid the opera
tion of a foreign built dredge in
U. S. waters unless registered in
the United States.
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Legisla
tion to authorize unrestricted
deeds for town-site lands held by
Alaska natives and permit them to
relinquish all claims on the feder
al government and be considered
non-native under federal law was
passed yesterday by the House.
The measure which now goes to
the Senate permits such natives to
renounce in writing any claim to
membership in a tribe, band or
community and any claim to spe
cial services from the federal gov
ernment.
BULLETIN
LONDON. (/P)—The Moscow ra
dio said tonight that Soviet Rus
sia "cannot agree" to accept a
United Stales invitation to join
with 11 powers in discussing a
Japanese peace treaty Aug. 19 in
Washington.
SAPPORO, Japan, (/P) — The
Hakkaido prefectural assembly to-!
day petitioned Allied headquar-1
ters for the return of Japanese is-1
lands off the east tip of Hokkaido
which were occupied by Russia at
the war’s end.
The petition said the islands
were a rich source of maritime
products badly needed by the
Japanese.
PITTSBURGH, (JP)—A shaft of
lightning which blasted a gaping
hole through the top of a crowded
trolley car during the height of
the traffic rush hour yesterday in
jured 18 persons, two seriously.
Glare-blinded passengers
screamed and tried to battle their
way out of the smoke-filled car.
Two women were trampled.
HAMBURG, Germany, (/P) —
Eleven Germans were killed and!
12 injured today in a railroad ac-|
cident on the South Elbe bridge.
The victims were clinging to
the outside steps of an overcrowd
ed passenger train bound for Han
over and were pulled from their
positions by a train passing in the
opposite direction. Some of the
bodies were mangled beyond j
recognition.
Underground
Violence Mounts
In Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, (/P) — Grenades
were hurled at a British military
truck in Jerusalem yesterday,
raising fear of a renewal of the
wave of violence which in four
days has taken five lives and in
jured 29 persons in the Holy Land.
Approximately 90,000 of Pales
tine’s Jews remained under a
B r i t i sh-imposed dusk-to-dawn
house arrest, but little hope of
peace was in sight. Irgun Zvai Le
umi, Jewish underground organ
ization, appealed to members of
two other underground groups,
Hagana and the Stern gang, to
join in its offensive against Brit
i ish rule.
Today’s attack caused no cas
ualties. But general alarm sirens
—the eighth such alarm in four
days—sent troops to action sta
tions, and security compound
gates were quickly closed as ar
mored cars dashed through the
streets of Jerusalem. The attack
occurred near an army pay sta
tion. Other attacks were made on
military installations in the past.
The attacks apparently were the
result of the British interception
of the refugee ship. Exodus, 1947,
and the subsequent decision to de
port all 4,500 of the vessel’s un
certified Jewish immigrants back
to France.
Dutch Attack
Indonesians; Suffer
Many Casualties
BATAVIA, (£*) — Indone s i a n
sources said yesterday Dutch
troops who stormed ashore on the
north and east coasts of Java Mon-J
day had been engaged in heavy
fighting. The Dutch, reporting all I
objectives reached in the opera-1
tion, said resistance was “less than
expected.’’
A Dutch army communique
placed Dutch casualties Monday
at 150 dead and wounded.
President Soekarno of the Indo
nesian republic announced that
former Premier Sutan Sjahrir had
left Java on a mission to explain
the republic’s position abroad.
(Arriving at Singapore, Sjahrir
said he would visit the United
States, India and Australia on his
mission.)
A royal Netherlands navy com
munique said landing craft of the
navy and warships disembarked
troops at Banjoewangi on the
east coast of Java and at Pasir
Putuh on the north coast. It was
the first amphibious operation
since the end of World War II. A
Dutch army communique said the;
troops gained initial objectives,
and made additional advances.
A severe five-hour engagement
in the Padang sector of Sumatra
Monday and other clashes on that I
island were reported by an Indo-j
nesian army communique. The
bulletin also said that bn Sunday,
two Dutch warships off Merak on
the extreme western tip of Java
were shelled by Indonesian mor
tars and left the area after suffer
ing damage.
Indonesians
^Scorch The Earth’
To Halt Dutch
(By Stanley Swinton)
BATAVIA, Java, (/P)—Scorched
earth tactics were begun tody by
Indonesian Republican forces
ahead of a determined Dutch
army to slice Java in two, a
broadcast Indonesian army com
munique announced.
At the same time official Dutch
dispatches from Sumatra said ir
regular Indonesian soldiers of
“the people’s army” on the big
neighboring island of Sumatra also
were applying the tactics. These
dispatches said the irregulars
burned more than 100 homes be
fore evacuating the town of Arn
hemia, a few miles south of Dutch
held Medan. Arnhemia now is in
Dutch hands, the dispatches said.
An Indonesian communique
acknowledged that Dutch troops
in east central Java were only 12
miles from the key Indonesian
stronghold of Malang, and were
driving southward to a town only
seven miles from the stronghold.
Other Dutclv units threatened
the republican capital of Jogjakar
ta with a two-pronged drive. One
Dutch column driving south from
Semarang on the north central
coast took Slatiga, key town on a
highway winding 46 mountainous
miles to Jogjakarta.
Just ahead of the Dutch drive
on Malang, the broadcast Indone
sian bulletin said, Republican
forces successfully scorched the
earth. Fighting was under way in
the area of Lawang, 12 miles north
of Malang, the communique said.
On Sumatra, the Dutch dis
patches said, damage of at least
$200,000 was caused when Indone
sians poured gasoline on Arnhe
mia’s homes and fired them. The
town’s police instructor barricad
ed himself and his men in the po
lice barracks and fought off the
Indonesians irregulars who sought
to burn the barracks building, the
dispatches added.
Advices from Jogjakarta said
the Indonesians had imposed a
nightly 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in
their capital as officials took an
increasingly grave view of the
military situation. The city re
mained calm, however, despite a
bombing attack by Dutch planes
at noon, the dispatch said.
Pickets Routed
With Fire Hose
■ ■■ — ■
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. UP)—
Police used a fire hose today to
rout 500 CIO pickets massed before
the gates of the Remington-Rand
Corp., in the third skirmish in as
many days.
Two unidentified pickets were
arrested, bringing to four the
number taken into custody this
week. No injuries were reported
today.
Approximately 400 employees
of the plant walked out June 23 in
a demand for a 15 cent an hour
wage increase. Striking local 931,
CIO united electrical workers, es
timated the average wage at the
plant as 70 cents hourly for wo
men and $1 for men.
Survivor Tells Of
Slaying Of Seven
Burmese Ministers
(By Douglas Lackersleen)
RANGOON, Burma, —Finance
Minister U Mva. a survivor of the
assassination Saturday in which
seven top Burmese leaders were
slain, said yesterday a lone gun
man invaded the ministerial coun
cil chamber and calmly perpetrat
ed the crime.
Thakin Nu, successor to the
murdered U Aung San as deputy
chairman of the governor’s exec
utive council, said Aung San
learned two months earlier that a
“terrorist murder plot” was being
readied but discredited the re
ports. He said the de facto leader
of the Burma government did not
believe anyone in the country
would plot against his life.
U Saw, former premier whom
the British ousted and jailed on
charges of collaboration with the
Japanese, and 19 assistants were
placed under arrest soon after the
| assassinations.
1 Speaking to a news conference,
U Mya gave this first eye witness
account of the murders:
“One lone gunman advanced si
lently without speaking upon the
council table and aimed steadily
at Aung San. . . . Within a few
feet of the table, he halted. . . .
“Then he opened fire, swung
the gun leftward and continued
firing at those seated on the left
of Aung San.
“As Aung San fell and the gun
man turned hie attention to the
others further from me, I seized
the opportunity to escape. I leaped
for the door.
“There was no guard at the
door. The executive council so far
has never been guarded. The only
police at the secretariat that day
were the traffic men at the gates.” t
RANGOON, China, (^ — Bur
mese newspapers said today that:
one of the suspected killers of,
Maj. Gen. U Aung San and six
other Burmese executive council'
ministers was shot dead while at-!
tempting to escape from custody.;
There was no official confirms-!
tion.
Newspaper reports said a man
arrested on suspicion near Daiku
about 90 miles north of Rangoon,
was found to have in his posses-1
sion documents outlining the plan
of assassination and listing the
names of the intended victims.
Coal Short; Halts i
Ruhr Production
BERLIN, (/P) — The American
military government said today an
increasingly acute shortage of coal
caused by lagging production in
the Ruhr has halted the spring
summer upswing in industrial
production in the U. S. zone of
Germany. The reports and statis
tics branch of AMG’s economics i
division said that while the reces
sion during June was fractional
for industry as a whole it was
sharp in major industries. Iron
and steel production declined 10
per cent and chemicals eight per
cent.
Congress May
Solve Alaska
Shipping Problem
WASHINGTON, (>P)—Rep. John
J. Allen, Jr., (R.-Calif.) chairman
of a House sub-committee investi
gating the Alaskan shipping situa
tion, expressed the opinion today
the group will present a plan for
permanent relief of the Territory
from excessive freight rates.
"Some program of legislative
assistance to insure adequate serv
ice at reasonable rates is neces
sary if the Territory is to con
tinue to develop and to grow,”
Allen said in a statement.
Expressing confidence that the
group will work out an overall
program, Allen said:
‘‘If we are successful in doing
so, and I feel sure we will be, I
foresee continued and growing de
velopment of Alaska. Should we
fail, I fear that the Territory’s
growth will be strangled through
the cutting of its life line to the
Continental United States.”
His sub-committee of the House
merchant marine committee start
ed hearings yesterday to obtain
data on which to base legislation.
It will have another session to
morrow.
At the hearings it was suggested
that the Alaska shipping compan
ies might operate from Oregon
and California, as far south as
San Diego and Los Angeles.
Allen said the committee wanted
to hear testimony from all inter
ests in those states as well as from
shipping interests in Washington
State and the people of Alaska.
He received with favor a sug
gestion by Delegate Bartlett that
the committee hold hearings on
the Pacific Coast, in the three
states, and in Alaska.
Allen reviewed the shipping
problems of the Territory, includ
ing recent freight rate increases
under which the interim plan of
operation to remain in force until
next July 1 which, he said, the
people of the Territory have said
they cannot bear,
Allen, Reps. Bradley OR.-Calif.>
and Jackson (D.-Wash.) and Bart
lett urged that the committee have
its recommendations ready when
the next session of Congress con
venes in January.
Foreign Aid To
Poland Cancelled
WASHINGTON, UP) — The
state department announced today
that Poland’s share of the $350,
000,000 American foreign relief
program has been cancelled.
The action was taken on the
recommendation of Col. R. H.
Harrison, a special assistant to
Secretary of Agriculture Ander
son, who made a survey of Po
land’s minimum food needs for
Secretary of State Marshall.
Harrison reported that “Grain
and other foods are available to
meet the minimum food needs of
the Polish people generally for the
balance of the calendar year.”
He said imports of medical sup
plies and supplementary foodstuffs
for special groups appear justified
and that some imports of grain
seed and fertilizer might be helpful.