• THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO. .
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Brx 618
■ $1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
/ E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1951
HIRE THE HANDICAPPED WEEK OCT. 7-13
We are engaged today in a great struggle for the
preservation of our American way of life.
In this struggle against the isms and ideologies in
conflict with our way of life, we must utilize every
human resource. We must muster the skills and ener
gies of all our people in this crusade for world freedom.
As we man the Nation’s work benches, the vast
reservoir of relatively untapped skills that lie within
millions of our country’s physically impaired men and
women must not be overlooked. These skills constitute
a mighty bulwark against those inhuman forces that
confront us.
Charles E. Wilson, Director, Office of Defense Mo
bilization, said recently that “As our search for skilled
hands intensifies, let us not look upon the physically
handicapped as the blind, the deaf, or the lame, but as
mechanics, machinists, and carpenters; as competent,
skilled workers who constitute an indispensable ele
ment in our defense program.”
Thousands of employers learned, through neces
sity, the worth of physically handicapped workers dur
ing World War II. Many employers continue, however,
to reject the physically impaired in today’s tight labor
market on the basis of physical impairments.
As Vice Admiral Ross T. Mclntire, Chairman of
the President’s Committee on Employment of the
Handicapped, has said “This is the common sense way.
America needs all of us.”
* * * *
The “Hire the Handicapped” campaign by the
Advertising Council is in cooperation with the Presi
dent's Committee on National Employ the Physically
Handicapped Week. This year, NEPH Week is October
7-13.
Chamber of Commerce
Albert Bernh-ardt, pioneer Teller ,
resident, treated the members of
the Chamber of Commerce yes
terday noon at their luncheon with
samples of his specialties of j
smoked fish for which he is fa- :
mous in this area. All enjoyed the ;
delicious salmon, smoked white- 1
fish and smoked trout which were I
served.
Mr. Bernhardt, who is over 80
years old, is seeking a partner for
next summer to -assist him in the
work of curing these fish in his 1
own special method. Without a
doubt it is a wonderful opportuni
ty for a commercial enterprise for j
someone to learn a fast disappear
ing trade. It should be very profit
able, as there is much demand for
this type of prepared fish.
The following letter was sub
mitted to- the Chamber from Brig
adier General Richard Prather,
chief of staff of the Alaska Com
mand and guest of the Chamber at j
their recent banquet:
“Please accept my sincere thanks
for the courtesies which you and
the people of your city extended
to me when I was there in connec
tion with the visit of the Congres
sional party. In addition to enjoy
ing the splendid dinner and the
privilege of meeting you and the
citizens of Nome, the opportunity
of panning gold on the historical
beaches brought to fruition a
childhood ambition.
“I particularly appreciated the
invitation to be present at the
briefing which your very capable
committee presented to the Con
gressmen. It was extremely well
Italy No Longer Subject
Treaty Arms Limitations
PARIS, (/P)—The United States,
Britain and France will publish a
joint declaration Wednesday say
ing Italy “is no longer subject” to
her peace treaty arms limitations.
Russia was the fourth major
power involved in imposing the
treaty terms on Italy.
Diplomatic informants in Paris
said the three Western powers
would say in the declaration
“changing circumstances” since
the Italian treaty was written
have made it no longer necessary
to compel Italy to abide by cer
tain treaty clauses.
These clauses mainly are those
i
that restricted Italy to an army
of 250,000, an air force of 350
planes and 25,000 men, and a
navy of no more than 132 ships
of all kinds.
129 Degrees In The Shade
CAIRO, Egypt., (TP)—An Arab
News Agency dispatch says tem
peratures reaching 129 degrees in
the shade have caused the deaths
of 700 Moslem pilgrims at Mecca.
The heat wave comes at the peak
of the yearly pilgrimage season.
planned I thought, and I was
amazed at the quantity of the re
sources which the Seward Penin
sula boasts.
I hope to return to Nome in the
near future so I can learn more
about the history and romance of
Alaska’s most famous city.
Sincerely yours,
Richard G. Prather
Brigadier General, GS
Chief of Staff
Washington Lawyer Says
He Bought Boyle’s Law
Practice For $150,000
WASHINGTON, (£>)—Max Sis
kind, Washington lawyer, testified
today he bought some law prac
tice from William M. Boyle, Jr.,
the Democratic National Chair
man, in 1949 for $150,000 but
balked at giving senators a list of
the clients.
In an often stormy session, Sis
kind insisted to a Senate investi
gations subcommittee that the ac
count of American Lithofold Corp.
was not among those he purchased
from Boyle. And he declared that
Boyle gets no part of a $500-a
month retainer fee he now re
ceives from Lithofold.
The senators are looking into
a $565,000 government loan to
American Lithofold, a St. Louis
printing firm, and the question of
whether Boyle exerted political
influence to get the RFC to make
the loan.
Boyle is to take the witness
! chair tomorrow.
Senate Committee Put Off
Action on McCarthy Ouster
WASHINGTON, (TP)—A Senate
rules subcommittee again put off
action on a resolution raising the
question whether Senator McCar
thy <R-Wis> should be ousted from
Congress.
Chairman Gillette <D-Iowa> said
; after a two-hour closed meeting
that the group would assemble
later. He said no decisions were
I reached.
In advance of the meeting Mc
Carthy said administration forces
“don’t have the guts” to press for
a show’down Senate vote on
whether he should be expelled.
The resolution before the sub
committee is sponsored by Sena
tor Benton (D-Conn.) It calls for
an investigation to determine
whether there are grounds to oust
McCarthy. If the matter came be
fore the Senate later it could re
quire a two-thirds majority of
I those voting to force out the Wis
consin lawmaker.
FLOWERY. EH. WHAT?
SPOKANE, UP)—Charles Potter
of Rhododendron, Ore., and Nick
olas Shroeder, Hyacinth, Wash.,
were named secretary and trea
surer, respectively, of the North
west Florists’ Association vester
day. . .
" . ■■ ■ ■ — ■ ■1 —
ALASKA AIRLINES
Passengers to Anchorage: Geo.
Cooper, H. Carlson, John J. Haley,
L. T. Brake, A. M. Cofferty, S.
A. Jeaving, K. Kadow, Nils W.
Johanson, E. Bourgeois.
From Anchorage: Mrs. Bjorn
stad, Mrs. K. Jackson, W. Lind- I
gren, Scott Betterff, Hugo Gron
lund, Geraldine Gronlund, T.
Richardson, Barger, Don Fanning,
William Suddeth, James Leer, Leo
Lance, Tifnothy Twitched.
Jack Dillon to Unalakleet and
F. R. Ford to McGrath.
WIEN AIRLINES
Passengers to Kotzebue: Hava
lan, Don Frazier, Arthur Morris,
Frank Elesanga.
To Fairbanks: James Krohn,
Dan Martin, Gordon Johnson, M.
Mann, Mr. Wiese, B. Grossclose,
Jack Hecla, Frank Holert, Donald
Carter, A. Paglia, Jack Stege,
Eugene Geffe.
From Kotzebue: Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Anderson, R. McGinnis,
Herman Porter, Gerald Kempton,
V. Earley, R. Newed, H. Little,
Paul Doyal.
Jack Stege from Galena.
Dave Dudley from Tanana.
Jack Hoogendorn to Utica.
Mildred Lindbergh to Deering.
VENOM PRODUCER SEES
HOPE FOR POLIO SERUM
Adam and Eve never did this with a snake. Clarita Haasi extracts
the venom, while husband Bill squeezes deadly reptile, not
minding bites.
By BEN FUNK
AP Newsfeatures
MIAMI, Fla.,—Clarita Haast, a
shapely blonde, wonders what
would happen if her husband,
Bill, ever bit her.
Bill has as much venom in his
system as the meanest Cobra that
ever slithered through an Indian
bush. He’s so full of it, he can
laugh off a Cobra bite. The ques
tion is, how would the Cobra
make out if he bit back?
Bill and Clarita operate the
Miami Serpentarium, home of 500
poisonous reptiles gathered from
all parts of the world. Bill takes
venom from the snakes for use
in research laboratories, and does
it as nonchalantly as a farmer
juices a gentle Jersey cow.
When he started his business,
which he believes is the only one
of its type in the United States,
Bill knew he was going to he
bitten sooner or later. For any
kind of a life expectancy at all,
he had to somehow immune him
self to snakebite.
He began injecting Cobra
venom into his system, starting
with a tiny amount and gradually
working up to a lethal dose. He
figures that in three years he has
absorbed enough venom to kill
50 men.
Bill didn't have to speculate
long about whether his system
would work. His snakes proved it
for him. He has been bitten by
nine Cobras and 21 other times by
rattlers, mocassins, corals and
various other kinds of reptilian
killers.
The University of Miami re
search department, acting on a
theory by Haast, has been experi
menting for several months with
Cobra venom in treatment of
polio. No announcements have
been made, but reports of aston
ishing results have been drifting
out of the laboratory.
Wiry, reddish-haired Bill Haast
loves to wo'rk with snakes. That
has been his ambition since, at
the age of 12, he argued his re
luctant mother into letting him
keep snakes in the house as a
hobby.
His first bite, by a copperhead
when he was 15, didn’t sway him
from his goal of building a labor
atory for venom production.
“My idea,” he says “was to de
velop a good, standard grade of
venom that could be dispensed at
lower cost.”
Venoms imported from India
and Africa, in powdered form,
now cost about $1,200 an ounce.
Haast has cut that price in half.
Even $600 an ounce sounds high,
#
but the venom goes a long way.
It’s an effective pain-killer when
diluted 3,000 times.
It takes extractions from 600
shakes to produce an ounce. For
Haast, that means six days of
work so dangerous there isn’t an
insurance company in the world
that would give him a ten-cent
policy.
To get the venom, he grasps a
snake at the back of the head and
thrusts it toward a glass vial cov
ered with a rubbery material that
gives the snake something to sink
his fangs in. When the snake bites,
the clear, amber-colored venom
drips from the fangs into the vial.
Snakes are nervous creatures
and often the venom extraction
upsets them so badly they quit
eating. The result is a high death
rate and high overhead costs. To
overcome the eating problem,
Haast developed a method of force
feeding.
A trip to Africa led indirectly
to Bill's theory of venom’s possi
bilities in polio treatment. For )
four months, he discontinued his
regular injections of venom and
much of his immunity wore off.
On his return, he was bitten in
quick succession by two Cobras.
Bill nearly died that time. His
wife, Clarita, carefully noted his
reactions on a chart. After his re
covery, Bill noted while studying
the chart that his symptoms had
been exactly the same as those of
polio.
He suggested to the University
of Miami research staff that
venom mgiht be used to make a
polio serum. Work on the idea
was started immediately and the
project has reached the stage
where venom has been tried on
human polio victims, although no
announcements have been made
of the results.
I
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