m NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LI.~~Na 12 NOME, ALASKA. FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, i949 - Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON, </P)—President
Truman yesterday nominated Er
nest Gruening for reappointment
as Governor of Alaska.
The President also sent to the
Senate his nomination of Llewel
lyn M.. Williams for re-appoint
ment as secretary of the Territory
of Alaska.
BELLINGHAM, (/Pi — A fish
support price program similar to
that subsidizing farmers was ask
ed in a resolution adopted Wed
nesday by the international fisher
men and allied workers' <CIO> con
vention here.
Seventy-five delegates were
present from 28 Pacific coast and
Alaska affiliates. Among them was
Joe Hashoalook, 53-year-old na
tive from Norton Sound who made
a 3,000 mile trip to attend the 10th
annual convention.
TOKYO, (/P)—Three Washing
ton State persons were among six
Americans killed Sunday when
their jeep was hit by a train near
Nagoya.
They are M/Sgt. and Mrs.
James F. Gordon of Spokane and
Lt. Ernest H. Harper of Kahlotus.
The Gordons are survived by a
two-year-old son who is being
cared for by friends.
NEW YORK, (/P)—While some
200 of the nation’s top weather
men were attending a session of
the 101st national meeting of the
American Meteorological Society
Wednesday, a downfall of snow
and sleet turned sidewalks into
sticky puddles.
An enterprising newsman
checked up nad found that only
about one-fourth of the wreather
p men had brought galoshes, rain
coats or umbrellas.
LONDON, '(#*) — Princess Mar
garet became boss of the Girl
Guides* Sea Rangers section today.
Her sister, Princess Elizabeth,
had the job from 1945 to 1946,
when she became chief ranger of
the British Empire.
LONG BEACH, Calif. </P)— Car
bon monoxide from a burning
heater is responsible for the
deaths of newlyweds Herman and
Avis Patterson, police believe.
Patterson, 25, employed by an oil1
survey firm, married his 21-year-'
old bride at Hooks, Tex., Jail. 8.'
Transferred here, the Pattersons!
rented the apartment with the
deadly heater less than two weeks '
ago. Their bodies were discovered I
yesterday.
NEW YORK, (/P)—'The five-cent
cigar staged a comeback in New
York today. For the first time
since the war nickel stogies were
on sale again in this city.
They represented the smoker’s
dividend on a general three-month
prick decline reported by the bur
eau of labor statistics in Washing
ton.
SEATTLE, (ffi) — The Alaska
freighter Lucidor, after being tied
up 14 hours in a labor dispute,
was on her way north yesterday
carrying a full army cargo for
Southwestern Alaska. The dispute
huernation’l News
At A Glance —
• By The Associated Press)
Thursday. January 27. 1949
Chinese communists and nation
alists accused each other today of
stalling, dimming the prospects
To peace. The Reds want a de
facto surrneder of the established
regime.
Nationalists were reported bol
tering a new defense line below
’he Yangtze Valley. Nanking and
Shanghai both appeared doomed
o surrender to the communists
and in both great cities, separate
peace moves were on.
The new defense line would
stretch from Hangchow southwest
to Manchnng and then northwest
to Wuchang. Behind it would be a
much larger part of China than
Chiang Kai-Shek held when the
war with Japan ended.
Nanking was in near panic. Sol
diers outside the city stopped a
train evacuating foreign office of
ficials, ejected them and rode on
themselves.
Moscow newspapers printed a
Shanghai dispatch saying peace
talks in China may continue a
long time. The article said Chiang
Kai-Shek still has a hand in the
nationalist government although
he turned over his duties last week
to vice president Li Tsung-Jan.
The British labor government
won a vote of confidence by 90
votes on its Palestine policy after
Prime Minister Attlee said Britain
accepted in principle the recogni
tion of Israel. It was the narrowest
margin labor had had in three
years. Some labor members de
<Continued on Page Three)
Airlift-Hay lift
Saving Livestock
ELY, Nev. </P) — The Nevada
haylift had its biggest day Wed
nesday with 23 flying box cars car
rying alfalfa to more thousands of
snow-stranded, starving livestock.1
Continued cold but clear wet
ther is forecast for both Ely, the
receiving end of the haylift opera
tion, and Fallon, the loading base.
It was 25 degrees below zero in !
Ely Wednesday. Even air force1
crewmen who had just returned
from Operation Yukon in Alaska
shivered in their fur-lined cloth
ing. Plane engines were slow in
starting.
“It was cold m Alaska,” com-,
mented one flight engineer, “but j
it didn’t hurt you like this stuff
does.” j
The bitter cold also will take its
toll of livestock despite the emer- •
gency air force feed program.
Ranchers agreed much of the j
stock would pull through for the
time being because of the speed
with which food has been dropped.
1 !
involved payment of overtime to;
the chief steward. Members of the j
marine cooks and stewards’ union
(CIO) had refused to sign on 'the
ship Tuesday. i
It were referred to San Francis
co union headquarters and the Pa
cific American steamship associa- j
tion. j
LIFTING THE LID
AT JUNEAU
Thursday, January 27, 1949
JUNEAU, i/P) — The general
property tax bill which was passed
by the House special session comes
back to the floor again today.
The bill which proposes a one
per cent levy come up again la4e
yesterday but was hel-d over for
continued debate after controver
sies developed over proposed1
amendments.
The House adopted one amend
ment to make an exemption of
$2,500 for personal and/or real
property. The vote was 16 to 8.
The exemption allowed when the
bill was previously passed was for
personal property only. The
amendment was by Representative
Franklin, Fairbanks Democrat.
The first order of business on
the bill today was resumption of
debate over an amendment to re
mit all property tax monies to
boards in citeis and school dis
tricts.
Education commissioner James
C. Ryan told the House yesterday
such an amendment is desirable to
give school boards financial au
tonomy instead of leaving them
dependent on city council whims
in disbursing funds.
The House yesterday passed, 23
to 1, the bill to raise old-age pen
sions in Alaska to $90 a month.
George Miscovich. Fairbanks
Republican, cast the only dissent
ing vote. He said he opposed it be
cause of an approved amendment
making aliens (to Alaska) eligible
after a year’s residence.
Friday, January 28, 1949
JUNEAU, (JP)—A one per cent
property tax bill was through the j
House today, virtually in the same
form in which it was passed by the,
special session.
It includes a $2,500 exemption
for personal property but no real
property exemption.
It went on to the Senate behind
a 17-7 vote after hours of wrang
ling including efforts to send the
measure back to the ways and
means committee.
Five Democrats and two Repub- :
licans opposed the bill.
The main controversy was over
what exemptions should be al
lowed.
Marcus Jensen, Democrat from
Douglas, challenged the whole
property tax proposal as one not
based on ability to pay.
Democratic leader Stanley Mc
Cutcheon left the speaker’s chair
to reply: “It’s -time we remember
the people at th polls said they i
wnated a property tax. We’ve gone
over it thoroughly and it is the
best bill we can arrive at. The lit
tle man must put his shoulder to
the wheel too.”
The House finished yesterday’s
session with unanimous passage of
a memorial to the district attorney
to investigate the failure of the
employers of W. C. Arnold of the
Canned Salmon Industry and A1
Anderson, miners’ association sec
retary to file reports under the
lobbyist law, although both men
filed personal reports regularly,
some legislators wanted to side
track the memorial until they
could see if it should apply to
(Continued on Page Five)
Carl Lomen Works!
On Appropriation
—
WASHINGTON, l/P) — Carl J. ■
Lomen, Alaska businessman, has
arrived to push for appropriation
of $1,020,000 for starting construc
tion of a seawall to protect Nome,
from storms.
That amont was recommended
by President Truman in his bud
get for the year starting July 1.
Lomen, president of the Lomen
Commercial company of Nome,
said he would urge the House ap
propriations committee to allow
the full amount. The $2,250,000
project was authorized by the last
Congress in its closing days. No
appropriation has been made.
Lomen said he is anxious to see
work get under way in time to
protect Nome from fall storms.
The project has been approved
by the Army engineers, who will
construct the seawall. They have
said that $1,020,000 is all they can
use during the next fiscal year.
Pension Boost I o
Place Alaska
High Up On List
JUNEAU. (JP)—House-approved
old age pension boosts would put
Alaska on a par with the top five
states, welfare director Russell
Maynard said today, but there
were some indications the Senate
might cut the $90 monthly maxi
mum set by the House.
Maynard said the $90 top would
mean average payments of about
$75 monthly. He estimated the
cost of such a pension schedule
for approximately 1450 recipients
would be nearly $1,600,000 for the
Territory plus about $1,044,000 in
Federal matching funds up to $30
monthly.
This would be about $500,000
above the department’s budget re
quests fro the coming biennium
and twice the appropriation by the
last legislature.
The House voted 23 to 1 for the
increase yesterday. The present
maximum is $60.
Several House members said j
during floor debate they believed
the Senate might reduce the pen
sion figures. Proponents of higher
pensions argued that they would
not bring an influx from the
States because of higher living
costs in Alaska and an unfavor
able climate for oldsters.
VANCOUVER. B. C., </P> — The,
Vancouver Sun said Monday the
Aluminum Company of America
was studying British Columbia’s
power resources with a view of i
setting up a plnat at Skagway,
Alaska.
The watershed in the for north
ern sector of the province has been
surveyed by company engineers,'
the article added.
Two other companies, the Alum
inum Company of Canada and the
Reynolds Metals company, have
announced they would like to set
up plants on the British Columbia
coast, tapping interior streams for
the needed power.
The Canadian company is dis
cussing with provincial govern
ment officials the possibilities of
building a $300,000,000 plant.
Gregory A vac Fells
Story Of Fatal Ride
On Ice Floes
Gregory Ayac, sole survivor of
the three Eskimos who went hunt
ing off King Island on January 7,
is resting at the local hospital with
frozen feet and exhaustion due to
his hardships on the ice for ten
days.
In an interview with a friends
he told yesterday of the fierce
storm which carried him and his
companions Lawrence Mazenna
and Raphael Ignatius away from
King Island and how the ice floe
rm ved westward, carrying them
up the Siberian coast, in sight of
land, then past Diomede Island
into the Arctic.
He told how Lawrence, whose
wife died here last summer of tu
berculosis and whose children are
cared for at the Holy Cross Mis
sion, made him and Raphael go on
and leave him when he could
travel no farther, and then how
Raphael begon losing his reason,
and he had to take care of Ra
phael as well as himself until it
was impossible for Raphael to go
on farther.
Gregory explained how two
seals were caught for food, but af
ter eating a meal, most of the re
maining food had to be left behind
as it was necessary to travel as
lightly as possible while jumping
from iceberg to iceberg.
He states that he does not be
lieve he would have frozen his
feet had not the mukluk on one
foot gotten torn and his foot im
mersed in the icy water w’hile
crossing from one floe to anothre.
After entering the Arctic on the
Siberian side Gregory tells how
the ice he was on was caught in
the current which goes southerly
on the Alaskan side and wWch
carried him to the mainland. Ear
Mountain was his guide in choos
ing a course to follow, although he
thought it was Cape Prince of
Wales.
He finally reached shore at Ik
pick, by crossing from floe to floe
Continued on Page Three
Truman Makes
Nominations
WASHINGTON, (/P>—President
Truman nominated Ernest Gruen
ing for re-appointment as Gover
nor of Alaska yesterday.
The President also sent to the
Senate his nomination of Llewel
lyn M. Williams for re-appoint
ment as secretary of the Territory
of Alaska.
Mr. Truman also nominated for
re-appointment:
Joseph W. Kehoe, U. S. District
Judge for Alaskan Division Two,
now serving under an appointment
which expired December 7.
Frank C. Bingham, U. S. attor
nef for Division Two, whose last
appointment expired last June 29.
Anthony J. Dimond, U. S. Dis
trict Judge for Division Three. He
is serving under an appointment
which expired Feb. 10, 1948.
Harry O. Arend, U. S. attorney
fro Alaskan Division Four, now
serving under an appointment
which expired last May 9, 1948.