EE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. L. No. 78. . NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY. JUNE 30, 1948 PER COPY 15^
MUCH DAMAGE
REPORTED IN
FUKUI ’QUAKE
FUKUI, Japan, — (JP) —The
shattered Fukui area felt new earth
tremors last night. Military gov
ernment authorities estimated that
Monday’s earthquake casualties
might mount to 2,500 dead and in
jured Japanese.
No new damage was reported.
All Americans in the stricken area
escaped serious injury.
American relief reached the
quake scene to aid the injured
and homeless.
Military government officers
said 200 children were crushed
to death when a motion picture
theater collapsed in the first shock
at a school 22 more children and
two adults were reported crushed.
Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Swing,
U.S. Army First Corps Commander
returned to Kyoto from Fukui and
said he daubted the death list
for the whole striken area would
exceed 300 but the injured total
may eventually reach 5,000. He
said there was no evidence of
any tidal wave striking the shore
from the Sea of Japan.
The governor of Fukui prefec
ture estimated 3,155 were killed
in the violent quake. (The Tokyo
newspaper Asahi gave the num
ber of dead and injured in the
prefecture as 16,000. It reported
300,000 homeless.) Fukui is 200
mile swest of Tokyo.
Americans here who went
through the quake area said it was
almost as if Fukui, which was
leveled by superforts late in the
war, was hit by an atom bomb.
HOWARD LYNG RETURNS
AFTER WINTERING SOUTH
Howard Lyng, well-known local
mining man, returned yesterday
on the Pan American plane, hav
ing spent the winter in Porters
ville, California.
In the spring blanket primary
election he was nominated on the
Democratic ticket receiving the
second highest senatorial vote on
the ballot.
He has served several sessions
of the legislature from the 2nd
Division, and was speaker of the
house for one term.
CAA OFFICIAL HERE
TO ASSIST AT AIR SHOW
Virgil D. Stone, assistant to the
regional administrator in charge
of private flying development, of
the CAA, of Anchorage, plans to
be in Nome for the two-day holi
day and has offered to assist
the 4th of July Committee in con
nection with the Air Show .
He stated that there is a pos
sibility that the Goodyear plane,
with the new cross-wind landing
gear, may be available for ex
hibit during the Air Show here.
> NATIVES ARRIVE HERE
FROM WALES AND KING ID.
Seven skinboats full of natives
from Wales and King Island ar
rived during the past few days
for the Fourth of July celebra
tion.
Seattle’s Good Will
TrouPe Finds All
1 •
Alaskans Friendly
SEATTLE, — (/P) —Seattle’s
“Good-Will” tour of Alaska
worked both ways.
Sent by Seattle Chamber of
I Commerce to promote good will
; for the city within the Territory,
j the tour resulted in fostering bet
| ter understanding of Alaska’s
i problems among the group of
prominent university students, dir
1 ector dean Charles W. Lawrence
said.
“We found Alaskans the most
hospitable people in the world.”
said dean Lawrence. “Everywhere
we went we found them most
receptive to our music and charm
ing hosts besides!”
I Completing their strenuous tour
of major Alaska cities, the 28-man
group arrived home by Pan Am
erican clipper last night.
- ‘
Canadian Army To
“Plan Seige” On
Alaska Highway
_
: EDMONTON, Alberta, — (/P)—
i In one of the most extensive
■ military maneuvers since the wars’
| end, Canadian Armed Forces will
I stage a ten-day “problem” around
j the Alaska Highway.
The exercise, scheduled for Aug.
j 16-26, was ordered yesterday by
| the Western Command. It will
I be under command of Maj. Gen.
■ M. H. S. Penhale, Commanding
Officer of the Western Command^
It is designed to “familiarize”
[ western officers with conditions
of Canada’s vast northwest, offic
ers said.
Problems will cover the route
between Edmonton, Fort St. John,
B.C., and Whitehorse, Y.T.
Air Force Officials
Here On Tour Of 1
Alaskan Air Bases
I
—
MARKS AIR FORCE BASE—
Yesterday marked arrival at the
Marks Air Force Base of the Hon
orable Arthur S. Barrows, the
Under Secretary of the Air Forces, j
The Under Secretary is accompan
, ied on his visit by Maj. Gen. E.
M. Powers, Asst. Deputy Chief
of Staff Material, and Maj. Gen.
Joseph H. Atkinson, Commanding
General, Alaskan Air Command.
The party remained over night
at the base, and continued today
on an inspection tour of instal
lations in Alaska.
A seventeen gun salute was giv
en the Honorable Arthur S. Bar
I rows upon his departure from the
Marks Air Force Base.
! *
—
| Truman Signs
“Reserve” Bill
WASHINGTON, —<»0P) —Pres
ident Truman yesterday signed
a bill providing retirement bene
fits for reserve officers and men
of the army, navy and air force.
In a statement, the President
said “the way is open now to the
development of an everready res
erve as an integral part of the
United States Armed Forces.
For the first time, reserves are
given retirement credit for the
time spent in the reserve. Hereto
fore, they have been entitled to
pensions only if they had enough
time on active duty or were dis
abled in active service.
Upon reaching the age of 60
reserves can retire if they have
been in the reserve 20 years or
longer. Those now in the reserve
must have been in active service
! during World War I or World
I War II.
Alaska Will Get
$100,000 Annually
For Hospitals
WASHINGTON, — UP) —Pres
ident Truman signed legislation
yesterday to allot a minimum of j
$100,000 annually to each state
for construction of hospitals un
der the federal aid program.
During congressional debate it
was brought out that present al
lotments under a complicated for
mula go as low as $41,400 for
Alaska and $40,575 for Nevada,
with Delaware getting. $88,625.
Under the new law they will
get at least $100,000—which all
other states now exceed.
Operation Vittles
Gets Underway To
Feeding Of Berlin
WESTOVER AIR FORCE BASE
Mass., — (/P) —“Operation Vit
tles” gained momentum today as
a parade of Air Force planes roar
jed off on a mission aimed at
breaking the Russian blockade
of Berlin.
Taking off at half-hourly in
tervals were the vanguard of 16
of 39 big cargo airships assigned
to help maintain emergency supply
routes over Soviet-held territory.
Ten of the big ships—five each
from the Elmendorf Air Force
Base, Alaska, and from the Berg
strom Air Force Base—landed here
yesterday. The Alaska group had
stopped at Great Falls, Mont., en
route.
Six C-54 Skymasters were, over
the Atlantic by noon today and at
least twice that number were ex
pected to be airborne by nightfaLl.
Other planes ordered to the Ger
(Continued on Page Four)
FIVE KILLED WHEN "FLYING WING" CRASHES AND BURNS
A Military Policeman stands guard over the wreckage of the North
rup Flying Wing bomber which crashed and burned near Muroc Air
base in California. The five-man crew of the bomber, all Air Force mem
bers, were killed. (AP Wirephoto) t
•
Tito Calls For A
Balkan Bloc To
Independent
.. UNDATED INTERNATIONAL ..
By the Associated Press
YUGOSLAVIA
Defiant Yugoslavia called today
for a Balkan bloc with Bulgaria
and Albania and a stronger army
to protect its shadowy indepen
dence.
A few hours earlier, Yugoslav
ia’s Communist leaders called the
Kremlin-ruled Cominform criti
cism of Marshal Tito and his
Red cohorts “lies” and “slander.”
The Cominform assertions that
the premier was conniving with
the Western Powers, being hate
ful to Russia and a heretic to the
Marx-Lenin dictum were termed
| absurd.
The very hot potato was tossed
with vigor right back into the
lap of Russia, unaccustomed to
such strange words of opposition
from Communists either at home
or abroad.
Many diplomats expressed the
view that if Tito gets away with
his refusal to follow orders of the
Cominform, other restive satellite
states might decide that they too
need not knuckle down any long
er.
Tito remained elusive. He was
variously reported in Bled. Bel
grade, Austria and Moscow. Re
gardless of his defiance of Rus
sia, there was no sign of any such
(Continued on Page Two)
Unfair Practices
Charged Against
Lewis’ Miners
WASHINGTON, — m —Rob
ert N. Denham, National Labor
Relations Board general counsel,
issued an unfair labor practice
complaint today against district
31 of John L. Lewis’ United Mine
Workers of America.
Denham charged that UMW
members obstructed entrances* of
four West Virginia coal mines and
refused to let non-union workers
come up from underground un
til they signed UMW membership
cards.
The incident occurred during
the six-week mine shutdown over
the miners’ pension dispute in
March.
The complaint is based on
charges filed by four companies.,
SALES TAX ENDS TODAY
The Alaska Veterans’ tax on
wholesale and retail purchases
ends tonight at midnight, accord
ing to information by the Terri
torial Bureau of Taxation.
The tax was imposed to create
an Alaska World War II Veterans
revolving fund. It now exceeds
$3,250,000. It was established by
the Territorial legislature to pro
vide bonuses and loans to veter
ans. Under the law the tax would
terminate at the end of the quart
er during which the fund reached
he $3,250,000 total.