OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
v '■r ■ - xLvii. No. 131 no ail:. i rs k a , wed iTes~d a y7~o~ctob e R~iTi, m.- 7^.
ilaif Million
Damage
From Storm
A survey of the wreckage
age wrought by the high winds
and water show that about half
a million dollars damage was done
along Nome’s waterfront at the
time of the season when it will be
hardest to replace and rebuild.
Nome’s harbor revetment in the
part near the Lomen warehouse
gave way and much ground was
washed away on the road which
goes around the waterfront. Hun
dreds of oil barrels which were
piled on the sand spit have been
afloat and lost. Others drifted
across the river and now are on
Belmont Point.
The U. S. Engineer deisel tug
which was on winter ways went
adrift when the blocking floated
away, but is safe again on its side.
The Wallace Hotel, Pete Olsens,
Nome Liquor Store and the City
Hall and Fire Station suffered no
loss.
The North Pole Bakery had
some water in the bake shop,
which is in the rear of the base
ment, and no bread was baked
Monday nor Tuesday. It is estim
ated that it will cost around five
hundred dollars in order to put
the equipment back into shape.
The Paterson Hotel sustained
no actual damage, although there
was water in the basement. The I
Board of Trade, P.A.A. and C.C.
Tanner office sustained no loss
although the law office of C. C.
Tanner had to have a chimney re
placed.
The bulkhead of the Dream
Theater held up well but the base
ment with the heating plant was
filled with sand and water.
The Nome Grill reports no dam
age.
The bulkhead of the N. C. store
gave way with the force of the
breakers which sprayed over the
top of the store and into Front
Street. Fearing the whole bulk
head would go, precaution was
taken to remove the merchandise
in the basement to the main floor.
Loss of equipment in the garage
which was destroyed, and the de
struction by water and sand, is
estimated at above twenty thousand
dollars.
The Alaska Stearpship Co. bulk
head, which is connected with the
N. C. bulkhead began to give way,
but there was no damage to the
building.
• The Coffee Cup, and Nome
Plumbing Co., were left standing
i on piles, with the surf having pen
(Continued on Page Five)
Martial Law
For Nome*
Col. Wilbur Morgan, command
ing officer of the Nome Air Base
Monday afternoon issued a proc
lamation, declaring Nome to be
under martial law, by reason of
the existence of an emergency
above and beyond the ability of
the City of Nome to administer.
Col. Morgan called a meeting of
the city officials and townspeople
in the City Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tues
day evening to explain under
what authority and for what rea
son the proclamation of martial
law was made.
He explained that the first
knowledge of the emergency came
to his attention when Dudley
Warner <an employee of Lomen
Commercial Co., and president of
the Chamber of Commerce* paid
a visit to the Executive Officer
at the Base and stated that the
city needed assistance from the
Army.
The Colonel further explained
that through some misunderstand
ing it was believed Mr. Warner
was a member of the City Coun
cil and the call for assistance was
legitimate.
Throughout the day, Army per
sonnel and equipment was dis
patched wherever needed at the
request of the various merchants
who were moving their merchan
dise and equipment to safe stor
age.
Later in the evening MPs were
set to guard the open buildings
against pilfering and looting.
Mayor Seidenverg, and the City
(Continued on Page Eight)
Slnssia Mav
Participate In
(lontrol Meeting
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31—(i«P)—
President Truman said he expects
Russia to participate soon in the
Far Eastern Advisory Commission
meeting in Washington, to con
sider the Jap control policy. The
President told a news conference 1
he also received a very satisfac-!
tory reply from Stalin to a letter
which Ambassador Harrimon re
cently delivered to Stalin in his I
vacation retreat in Crimea, but1
he didn’t disclose the contents.
The failure of Russia so far to
send a representative to the Far
Eastern meeting here constituted
a stumbling block in American
Soviet relations. The participating
governments met for the first
time yesterday, but adjourned im
mediately for a week.
False Ileports
(iiven Out On
Storm in None
Through reliable sources the
Nome Nugget has traced the er
roneous and fantastic reports
which were broadcast on the In
ternational Shortwave Radio sta
tions under Army News Service,
and headlined in various news-.
papers under United Press date
line by Rusty »corroded > Anabel.
Even the Anchorage Times car
ried the story written by this
United Pi'ess ififth> columnist.
But there the shoe pinches. It
seems that the story was reported
to Anabel by one of his friends
in Nome.
False reporting such as this
should be throttled.
Three All j
Have Knowledge
1 )f Atomic Bom!)
WASHINGTON. Oct. 31—i/P)—
President Truman said Britain
and Canada, as well as the United
States have ‘’knowledge of how”
to produce the atomic bomb. This
information was given in response
to a reporter’s inquiry, but he
said in answering another ques
tion, that he didn’t believe it was
Teslas Vt arrant
Furl her Search
For Harrow ()i!
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31—CP)—
Evidence uncovered this year
makes Navy oil experts “more
confident than ever that there is
every justification for continuing
the search for oil” in the Barrow
Naval o:l reserve. Capt. Gillespie,
head of the petroleum section of
the Navy’s bureau of yards and
docks, expressed the belief that
the work should be carried on by
civilian contractors for the Navy
and work the test well site at
Umiat. three hundred thirty-one
miles southeast of Point Barrow.
Colville river is now closed
down for the winter, and the
work to date has been done by
Navy Seabees, but all of these are
expected to be back home by
early next year, before the new
working season opens. Gillespie
said the test drill thu< far had
produced no oil, but there was
every evidence, including oil
seepage throughout the area
which indicates its presence and
warrants further investigation.
__ ___ _ I
I
true that the late President Roose
velt and Winston Churchill had
reached an agreement at Quebec
as to the peacetime use of the
atomic discovery.
CONFIDENTIALLY SPEAKINC —Edward A. O’Neal
(left), president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, whis
pers an aside to President Truman during a recent visit to the
White House.
Upon advice from the Alaska
Department, martial law ended
today at 1:00 o'clock p.m., and all
restrictions thereunder are lifted,
it was reported by Lt. Col. Wil
bur B. Morgan, Commanding Of
ficer Nome Air Base.
Governor Ernest Gruening,
General Anderson, Commanding
General of the Alaskan Depart
ment, and Captain Clark, Gener
al's aide, arrived in Nome at noon
today, to make a survey of the
wreckage caused by Monday’s
storm.
Governor Gruening stated that
his office was ready and willing
to give every assistance possible
to the citizens of Nome who have
sustained loss or damage in the
storm.
The party has been in confer
ence with Mayor Edward Seiden
verg and the Council members,
and other citizens of Nome to as
certain the extent of the damage
and whether or not relief or assist
ance is required.
Ask Congress To
Pass Legislation
Before* Recess
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31—(&)—
President Truman backed up
some pointed criticism on Capitol
Hill with the expressed hope that
Congress will not recess until it
acts on his legislative program. A
reporter asked him in a news con
ference whether he would assent
to a Congressional recess. His re
ply was that Congress had the
authority to quit when it desired,
but he hoped they wouldn’t re
cess until they finished the legis
ation endorsed by his Administra
tion.
The President’s criticism of two
House committees on his wage
and price policy address last night
was based on their failure to act
on the full employment bill and
more liberal unemployment,
brought signs of resentment from
some quarters.
U. S. ARMY CLEANS
UP STREETS
Yesterday afternoon the equip
ment of the U. S. Army was put
?o work cleaning and grading the
streets of Nome. Much debris
blown onto the streets during the
storm, as well as snow and ice
were removed, putting the streets
into excellent condition. The Lo
men Commercial Co., has also
been busy removing quantities of
drift wood and rubbish which
washed over the north revetment,
blocking the River Street road.