m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. Lil. No. 1 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1950 Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
SAN FRANCISCO, (JP) — Pan
American Airways announ c e d
yesterday the appointment of Her
bert F. Milley as traffic manager
for its Pacific-Alaska division. He
has been Pan Ain’s region sales
manager for the central United
States. He will have charge of
traffic for all Pacific and Alaska
routes.
• •
BENTLEY, Kas. (/P)—A ram
charged into a two-year-old boy
and injured him fatally
The boy. Robert Dosien, was on
a tour of his grandparents’ farm
near here. His father, Lt. Robert
W. Dosien of Pensacola, Fla., was
with him but had his attention di
verted.
The ram slammed the boy into
the side of the barn.
WASHINGTON (/P)—Rear Adm.
Allen E. Smith, wartime com
mander of Alaska’s 17th naval dis
trict, was named last week to be
come commandant of the 13th na
val district headquarters at Seat
tle.
He will succeed Rear Adm.
Howard H. Good, who reaches re
tirement Sept. 1, 1950.
Prior to his Alaska command,
Admiral Smith commanded the
battleship South Dakota which
supported World War II opera
tions in the Marshall and Gilbert
.Islands and later against Kwaja
lein, Tinian, Saipan and Guam.
He also led a cruiser strike against
Paramushiro Island and command
ed a cruiser division in the battle
lor I wo Jima.
SITKA, (/Pi — The first daily
newspaper in the history of this
one-time Russian capital of Alas
ka made its debut yesterday.
The Sitka Sentinel, formerly
published as a tri-weekly, was
changed to a five-day a week daily
by Harold A. and Ernestine C.
Veatch, owners and publishers.
Veatch is the son of an old-time
Pacific Northwest newspaperman
who once published weeklies at
Montesano, Wash., and Rainier,
Ore.
TRONA. Calif. UP)—George Pal
mer Putman, published-husband
of the late aviatrix, Amelia Ear
hart, died today.
The 63-year-old Pntnam, re
cently had opened Stove Pipe
Wells Resort in Death Valley.
He has been under treatment for
uremic poisoning and internal
hemorrhages for four weeks.
Miss Earhart. who vanished on
a Pacific flight in 1937. was the
second of his four wives.
WASHINGTON, (JP) — The de
fense department’s housing com
mission will leave by plane today
to look into the military housing
situation in Alaska.
The commission is headed by
Bertram E. Giesecke of Austin,
Tex. Defense secretary Johnson
appointed it last November to find
ways to improve military housing
cyirtditions. He asked for a report
f,y spring.
The commission is to stop at
Gov. Gruening
Pays Visit to Nome
Governor Gruening arrived in
1 Nome via military aircraft last
Friday for the dual purpose of in
specting the Guard unit at Nome
and meeting with the Nome City
Planning Commission. The Gov
ernor arrived about 1:30 p.m. and
was taken immediately to theBer
! ing Sea Club where the members
of the commission met with him
: and held an informal luncheon
discussion. In addition to the mem
bers of the commission, Mayor
Anderson and a delegate from
the Chamber of Commerce were
in the group. The Governor ex
pressed grave concern regarding
the closing of military bases in
Alaska adn urged group and indi
vidual action with regards to get
j ting off wires to members of the
coming session of Congress urging
I that appropriations be made to
continue the already established
bases in the Alaska area.
Mony of Nome’s problems were
discussed, chief among them being
the need for a completely new fire
protection set-up, including mains,
zoning, alarm system, etc. Another
problem discussed was the need
for additional space in our over
I crowded school building—the sug
gestion was made that a separate
gymnasium and community cen
ter. utilizing funds from the Alas
ka Public Works funds, be built
adjoining the present school build
ing, and utilizing the present
school heating plant. This would
leave the space occupied by the
j present school gymnasium for
i additional class rooms which are
I badly needed. During his vLsit, the
I Governor looked at the old Native
School building and discussed
(Continued on Page Five)
1 Ex-treasurer Olson
! Sentenced To Ten
Years. And Fined
- ■
JUNEAU. f/P)—A former Terri
torial treasurer, who admitted em
bezzling $23,000 in Territorial
funds, was sentenced to prison
yesterday and fined $46,475. Sen
tence was passed by federal judge
George Folta.
The white-haired defendant, Os
car Olson, was sentenced to 10
years on each of two counts. The
terms will run concurrently.
Olson took office in 1935 and
resigned last May after an investi
gation of his records.
Sentencing of Olson took 15
minutes yesterday, after he plead
ed guilty and threw himself on the
mercy of the court.
Two embezzlement counts, one
involving more than $19,000 and
the second more than $23,000,
were filed by information after
(Continued on Page Five)
Great Falls. Mont., and is to be in
Anchorage, Alaska, Jan. 5 and 6.
It will go to Fairbanks Jan. *7, and
return to Anchorage Jan. 8. The
commission will possibly visit
| Whittier and Kodiak before re
turning to Washington an. 11.
IkeP. Taylor
To Retire From
Road Commission
Mr. Ike P. Taylor, chief engin
eer of the Alaska Road Commis
sion since 1932, has announced his
retirement effective February 1,
1950.
On that date Mr. Taylor com
pletes a record of achievement
which has been recognized by the
department of the Interior With
its Distinguished Service Award.
The award will be presented to
Mr. Taylor prior to his retirement.
Having spent thirty-six years in
I the federal service, 34 of which
: have been in Alaska, Mr. Taylor
i has played a major part in the de
j velopment of the Territory. He
arrived in Alaska for the first
; time, May 10. 1916. Prior to com
mencing work with the Alaska
Road Commission in 1921. he was
engaged as a young engineer upon
the construction of the Alaska
Railroad. Starting with the Alas
ka Road Commission as district
superintendent of the Fairbanks
! District, he was promoted rapidly
| to assistant chief engineer in 1923.
and chief engineer in 1932.
At the start of his career with
the Alaska Road Commission Mr.
Taylor came under the supervi
sion of General James G. Steese,
president of the road commission
from 1920 to 1927, who built the
; Steese Highway, and started the
modernization of the main road
system. Later Mr. Taylor served
under Major Malcolm Elliott, pres
ident of the Alaska Road Commis
sion from 1927 to 1932. In 1932,
he became chief engineer and as
sumed complete responsibility,
under the Governor of Alaska, for
all the operations of the Alaska
t Road Commission throughout the
, Territory.
A man of great energy and de
termination. Mr. Taylor provided
a personal example of industry
and efficiency which has always
characterized the work of the Road
Commission under him. Constant
ly on the alert to reduce costs, he
made the small appropriations
(Continued on Page Six)
Governor Inspects
Local Guard Unit
The recently established 1st
Alaska Scout Battalion Headquar
ters of the Alaska National Guard
went through its first official in
spection by the Commander in
i Chief, Governor Ernest Gruening,
who arrived here by army plane
Priday afternoon.
The Governor reviewed the reg
ular formation of the Headquar
ters Detachment and the Nome
platoons comprising Company “A”
at 7:00 p.m., Friday, Dec. 30, 1949.
All under guidance of Capt. How
ell, the newly arrived National
Guard officer assigned to here.
After the formation, in an informal
gathering, the Governor addressed
all present and the resulting open
forum was devoted to the prob
lems coincident to proper func
I tioning of the Guard.
Truman’s Message
Expresses Great
Optimism—Wants |
More Taxes
1
WASHINGTON, (TP)—President
Truman advocated a “moderate
amount” of new taxes today in a
glowingly optimistic State of the
Union message voicing hope of an
eventual trillion-dollar economy.
If America keeps growing as it
has in the last 50 years, he told
Congress, the total national pro
duction 50 years hence will be
nearly four times what it is now,
or at the rate of more than one
thousand billions of dollars a year.
In a mixture of humility and
pride. Mr. Truman said:
i “Today, by the grace of God. we
! stand a free and prosperous na
i tion with greater possibilities for
the future than any people have
i ever had before.”
The President’s message was
' one in which he (1) looked far into
the future—when, he said, the av
erage family may make the equiv
alent of more than $12,000 a year
—and (2) dwelled on what he
i called the present day needs for
such things as continued rent con
| trols and repeal of the Taft-Hart
: ley labor law.
The President gave no inkling
of how much new revenue he
wants now or where he would
I turn to get it. Nor did he disclose
j what existing taxes he would
drop of lower to, as he put it, “re
duce present inequities” and
“stimulate business activity.”
He simply said there should be
“some changes” in the tax system
to produce these results.
His tax proposals will come
later, in a special message. He is
expected to yield to demands for
an end to the bulk of the war-time
excise levies on such things as
transportation fares and telephone
bills, provided the loss is more
than offset by taxes from corpo
ration profits and other sources.
Mr. Truman said the budget he
will submit Monday, for the fiscal
year starting July 1, holds spend
ing to the lowest levels consistent
with cold war requirements and
essential economic needs at home.
He declared that his fiscal pol
icy offers “the quickest and safest
way of achieving a balanced bud
get” but he did not hold out any
hope that government spending
can be held within income during
the forthcoming fiscal year.
In fact, his talk of moderate tax
boosts in the face of continued
heavy obligations pointed to an
other year or more of red ink fi
nancing.
Mr. Truman spoke out against
“the folly of attempting budget;
slashes which would impair our j
prospects for peace or cripple the
programs essential to our national
strength.” He laid particular em
phasis on funds for the European
recovery program for non-com
munist nations.
The President appeared before
a joint session of the Senate and I
House, many of whose members
have been demanding sharp cuts
(Continued on Page Six)
News of the World
At A Glance —
Tuesday, January 3. 1950
(By The Associated Press)
Three mysterious Russia ships
have been reported in the Carib
bean area where the biggest U. S.
peacetime maneuvers in history
soon will be held. American au
thorities are keeping a wary but
diplomatically correct eye on the
vessels.
The three ships are theTrepanv,
Permautr and Chiaka, reportedlv
en route frpm the Baltic to Vladi
vostok by way of St. Thomas in
the Virgin Islands.
Authorities said this brings to
15 the number of similar type
Soviet vessels that have crossed
the Caribbean on their way to
Russia’s important Siberian sea
port in the past two and a half
years.
One informant expressed doubt
that the Russian ships’ primary
aim is military information. He
suggested that Russia may be plan
ning to take over fishing grounds
1 that the Japanese used before the
war.
But naval men recalled that last
year three Russian vessels ar
rived at St. Thomas just a few
weeks before spring maneuvers
i were held.
Naval authorities say Soviet
ships have a right to put in at St.
Thomas, but point out that the
Caribbean route is the long way
around for a vessel on the Europe
Vladivostok run.
The Russians themselves have
, volunteered no explanation.
U. S. military planners are com
pleting arrangements for combin
ed services exercises involving
some 80,000 men. in the Caribbean
area due to be held from January
through mid-March.
The government of India has
recognized the Chinese commun
ist regime of Mao Tze-Tung and
cut off relations with the Nation
alist government of Chiang Kai
Shek.
India is the first government of
the British commonwealth of na
tions to take such action. Britain
and other Dominions are expected
to follow the Indian lead shortly.
The announcements of further
Commonwealth recognition of the
Chinese communists may come
following an Empire foreign min
isters’ conference in Colombo,
Ceylon, which begins Jan. 9.
Burma, a former Empire coun
try but now independent, has al
ready recognized Communist Chi
na.
In Washington, the United States
was reported to be shaping a vig
orous new policy on China to re
place the previous wait-and-see
plan. External and internal forces
compel such a policy. Impending
recognition of Red China by Bri
tish and other countries is one
force. Pressure from certain Amer
ican quarters for supporting Chi
ang is another. Convening of Con
gress is speeding an Administra
te decision.
The Natioalists reported the
communists have begun an infil
tration of Formosa. The reports
said communist troops in small
(Continued on Page Three)