%
THE
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LI. No. 7 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1949 Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
I
- I
BRATISLAVA, Czechoslovakia,
</P)—Prime minister Stalin is to
get a huge tapestry, more than 36
feet square, for his 70th birthday
next Dec. 21. Five thousand Slo
vak women have started work on
the gift, hand embroidering it with
Slovak folk symbols.
OTTAWA. i/P)—Finance minis
ter D. C. Abbott reports a Canadi- '
an budgetary surplus of more than
$6,000,000 for the first nine
months of the current fiscal year.
As of Dec. 31, revenues were
$1,956,208,479 and expenditures
were $1,346,258,780.
OTTAWA, </P>— Tourist traffic
from the United States hit a new
high in 1948, with 1,824,000 cars
entering Canada. The statistics
bureau announced the figure.
SHANGHAI, (/Pi—The cost of
living index in Sahnghai has ad
vanced 163 per cent since Jan. 1.
The index governs wages paid
almost every worker here.
The Jan. 1 index was 18.3, the
new index is 48.00.
TOKYO, (/P)—Two-way over
seas radio telephone service be
tween Japan and Germany was
started Saturday.
It is the first time the former
-Axis countries have had direct
communication since the war.
INDEPENDENCE. Mo. (JP) —
President Truman will rest his
left hand on a Bible furnished by
his home town when he takes the
oath of office Thursday.
The chamber of commerce un
derwrote the cost of the Bible—
$5,000.
A two-volume work with an es
timated weight of 25 pounds,
bound in Morocco leather, the
Bible is an exact replica of the or
iginal Gutenberg Bible printed
about 1456. The Bible is one of 300
printed in 1913-14 at Leipsig. Ger
many.
The President has approved the
use of the Bible.
VAN COUVER, B. C., UP) —
Ground parties searched the rug
ged Canadian wilderness today for
an RCAF jet plane and pilot, miss
ing since yesterday noon in the
Capilano river area just north of
here.
Bad weather prevented air
search yesterday.
The pilot was identified as fly
ing officer John Allen Borrie, 25, i
whose wife was visiting her moth
er in Spokane.
SYDNEY, Australia, </P) — A
man at Gympie, Queensland, Aus
tralia, recently found one of his
hens dead with the head of a small
brown snake protruding from its
crop. The pullet had swallowed
the snake' and it had forced its
way through the skin of the crop.
The snake was also dead.
WASHINGTON, UP) — The na
tional park service has a $7,500,
000 roads-and-trials budget for
1950. Major projects include:
Mount McKinley national park,
Alaska (work to be done for the
service by the Alaska Road Com
Internation I News
At A Glance —
_> i
Saturday. January 15. 1949
(By The Associated Press*
Chinese communists captured
the great northern commercial city
of Tientsin today. The triumph
may unseat President Chiang Kai
Shek.
The communists shelled Tient
sin, which was described as a
scene of death, fire and desola
tion. As they marched through the
city of 3,000,000, they stopped and
fired impudent rifle charges into |
. the air before the U. S. consulate,
and the American information
office.
The victory fortified the com
munis* peace terms which amount |
almost to unconditional surrender.
The Red radio blared out the
terms again, including punishment
of “war criminals” headed by Chi
ang; junking the constitution and
government political party; split
ting the army; severing treaties
with ‘‘imperialistic powers,”
which to communists means the U.
S. and other democracies; and the
setting up of a communist-domin
ated government.
Chiang’s government and army
both appeared bankrupt. It is dif
j ficult to see what he can do about
the conquering communists.
The victory at Tientsin was cer
i tain to have terrific repercussions
' in Nanking, the shadow capital
which other Red armies are' ap
proaching. It opened the way for
all out assaults on Peiping, Tang
ku and Taku, all invested by the
Reds in the north.
Egypt negotiated at the armis
tice table at Rhodes for the re
| lease of 3,000 Egyptina soldiers
! trapped by Israel in southern Pal
! estine. The peac talks under U. N.
auspices are going well, through
the first stages.
Race rioting between native Af
ricans and Indians raged in the
Durban area of South Africa. Es
timates ranged up to 300 dead.
Damage was set at $1,000,000 be
fore South African troops were i
used to restore a semblance of or
der. The trouble began when an
Indian market peddler injured a
native boy.
An Indonesian spokesman at the
U. N. said there never could be
peace in the East Indies until the
Dutch withdraw troops from Re
publican territory. The Dutch
showed no disposition to do so. j
The security council studied a
rough plan for settlement offered
b^ the U. S. one point was for the 1
gradual withdrawal of Dutch
troops but the Dutch spokesman
said his country would not with
draw because of fear of renewed
disorders.
American officials said they
hoped the “allies only” label on
American arms will coax Sweden
from her place of neutrality in the
cold war against Russia. The state
(Continued on Page Two)
mission) — Savage river bridge,
$125,000.
Other planned physical im
provements:
Mount McKinley — two resi
dences, $57,000 ;gravity water Sys
tem, $82,500.
Special Session
May Be Void Of
w
Any Tax Measure
(By James Hutcheson)
JUNEAU, The 17-day spe
cial session of the Alaska Legisla
ture heads into its final week to
day amid growing indications that
it may not put a single new piece
of legislation on the books.
The income tax bill is the only
one which appears to flave a fight
ing chance of enactment during a
session which some Republicans
insistently contend is invalid. Al
ready approved unanimously by
an overwhelmingly Democratic
House, it reposes today in the Sen
ate taxation committee which is
j split evenly be'ween the two par
I ties.
After emerging, however, it
must go to*a finance committee
which is composed of three Re
publicans and one Democrat. Its
progress is handicapped by the at
titude of some Republicans who
favor a new basic tax program,
the adoption of which should
await the regular session starting
next Monday.
Many Democrats are now recog
nizing that even if the income tax
bill is stymied, the groundwork
has been lai dat the special ses
sion for speedier enactment at the
regular session.
An indication that several Re
publicans stand against enactment
has been laid at the special ses
sion was seen in the treatment ac
corded a routine bill to set up a
new legal code for Alaska. There
(Continued on Page Five)
Catholic Mission
Popular .
At St. Joseph’s Catholic church
Sunday evening an attentive con
greation greeted the missionary
Father Francis Toner, S.J.
In the course of the sermon
Father Toner explained the pur
pose of a mission. “A Mission,” he
said, “is an honest consideration
of the most fundamental ideas of
life. Let each of us face the fact of
our own personal existence and
then present ourself with three
questions.”
In answering the first question,
“Whence did I come?” the mis
sionary maintained that the only
adequate answer to the question
of my origin is God the Creator.
“And due to the fact that God did
create us, He has rights over us,
—the right to command, the right
to demand our eternal fealty. And
since every right has a correspond
ing obligation, we on our part
have an obligation to obey and
adore our God.”
The second and third questions,
“Why are I here?” And “Where
am I going?” Were answered in
the logical manner and interesting
delivery that has made Father
Toner popular in the Northwest.
The Mission exercises begin at
7:30 each evening during the
week. To accommodate the over
flow crowd Father Murphy, the
pastor of the church is making ar
rangements for folding chairs. The
public is invited.
36 Paratroopers
Jump From Plane
In Seven Seconds
FAYETTEVILLE. N. C., (/Pi—A
veteran paratrooper prodded 36
trainees out of a stricken “Flying
Boxcar” and then rode the ship
until it crashed and burned. The
crew of three was killed.
Sgt. Robert Lee Hodgkiss of 3VI .
Pleasant, Ohio, the 26-year-old
jump master, who was unhurt,
told interviewers:
“I heard the jump bell and knew
there was trouble because we
were only halfway to the drop
zone. The other guys knew it too
bu‘ they were calm.
“We didn’t have time to final
check parachute harne-s. I just
yelled ‘Standup! Hookup! Jump’!”
The 36 men cleared the plane
! in about seven seconds, using
doors on both sides, Hodgkiss said.
After his men “hit the silk,” the
(Continued on Page Seven*
i
Truman Asks Two
Year Rent Control
Extension
—
WASHINGTON, bP> — Senator
j Sparkman (D.-Ala.) said Saturday
he prefers a 15-month extension
of rent controls to the minimum
two-year continuance asked by
President Truman.
Sparkman heads the new Senate
sub-committee named to consider
rent legislation. And Senator Cain
iR.-Wash.), a member of the group
who is cool toward the whole idea
of rent control, told reporters he
is “absolutely against” extension
beyond one year.
An administration bill calling
for at least a two-year extension
is due to reach the sub-committee
this week, Sparkman said. The
present law expires March 3i. The
! group plans to speed actio i on a
inew measure.
Senator Myers <D.-Pa.> already
has introduced a bill providing
; for a 27-month extension and gen
eral tightening of controls.
LIFTING THE LID
ATJUNEAU
—
(By James Hutcheson)
Saturday, January 15, 1949
JUNEAU, (/P)—Both the Senate
and House of the Alaska Legisla
ture scheduled Saturday sessions
although no major bills were ex
pected to reach either floor.
The House-approved income tax
bill still was in Senate commit
tee and was not expected to reach
the Senate floor before Monday at
the earliest.
This measure, which sailed
through the Territorial House
without opposition and to the ap
plause of the gallery, calls for an
Alaska income tax of 10 per cent
of what individuals and firms now
pay in federal income taxes.
Another Monday probability
was Rep. Alfred Owen’s bill to
boost the lobbyist registration fee
from $10 to $100. The ways and
means committee gave it a “Do j
(Continued on Page Six)
Abandon Search
For M issing
King Islanders
The U. S. Air Force officials at
Marks Air Force Base have an
nounced that the search for the
three missing King Island hunters
has been abandoned after a thor
ough five-day search during
which time four air force aircraft
have been out on a total of 14
sorties, one of which was a night
mission. The 10th Search and Res
cue plane made five trips.
Assisting the Air Force were
three natives familiar with the
terrain, two being King Island na
tives and one from St. Lawrence
Island. Assisting also was Tex
Zeigler, bush pilot and owner of
he Igloo Commercial Co.
The search covered the area
from Point Hope to St. Lawrence
Island and concentrated within an
area of 20 miles south of King Is
land to 20 miles north of Shish
maref and as far west as up to 20
miles off the Siberian coast.
Congress Cool To
Truman's Income
Tax Proposal
(By Francis M. LeMay)
WASHINGTON, </P) — Capitol
Hill gave a chilly reception to
President Truman’s implied sug
gestion that individuals making
$6,000 a year and up might pay
more federal income taxes.
Economy-minded lawma k e r s
shouted again for less spending—
instead of tax increases—to bal
ance the federal budget.
Mr. Truman asked Congress for
four billion dollars in new taxes.
He said new levies against corpo
rations should collect most of it,
but he suggested that Congress
consider a tax boost on individuals
in the “middle and upper” income
brackets.
When a reporter pressed for a
defintiion of “middle” income the
President told his news conference
• Continued on Page Four)
Clark Prop oses
Stronger Power In
Espionage Laws
WASHINGTON, </P)—A sweep
ing revision of the espionage laws
has been proposed by attorney
general Clark as protection against
‘‘the treacherous operations of
those who would weaken our na
tion internally.”
He asked Congress for unpre
cedented peacetime power to press
spy charges no matter how long
ago the offense occurred and said
law officers should have the legal
right to tap wires for evidence in
such cases.
The bill Clark sent Friday night
to the House Speaker Rayburn
«D.-Tex.» and chairman McCarran
<D.-Nev.) of the Senate judiciary
committee embodied the unani
mous recommendations of an in
terdepartmental committee mad*
up of FBI, army and navy intelli
(Continued on Page Four)