THE PT
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LIV No. 10_NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1952_Per Copy— 15<r
U.S. First Cavalry
Sent To Defend
Japanese Island
CAMP CRAWFORD, Hokkaido,
Japan, (/P>—The battle-hardened
U.S. First Cavalry Division has
been pulled out of Korea to de
fend Japan’s northernmost island.
Russian troops on Habomai is
land are only 3Vz miles away. The
Russian-occupied Kuriles are 10
miles to the east. Russia’s Sakha
lin is less than 30 miles to the
north.
Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Harrold,
division commander, said today,
“I can assure you of this: If they
land here we’ll be ready for them
with everything we have.
“We feel we are as much on
the front line as we ever were
in Korea.”
It is an ironic touch that the
famed dismounted cavalry is now
the key division in the U.S. de
fense force for Japan.
The cavalrymen were flown
into Japan from the Philippines
to cement the surrender in 1945.
Five years later the division
was rushed to Korea to help stem
the Red invasion.
Now, after 17 months of bitter
combat, it is back in Japan—to
defend a former enemy.
Father, Returning From
Korea, Lost In Crash Of
Airlift Plane Saturday
EL PASO, Tex., (/P)—Sgt. and
Mrs. John M. Waldrep of Canut
illo, Tex., expected it to be a
great day — the birth of their
first baby.
The sergeant even managed or
ders to return from Korea for the
big event. Mrs. Waldrep has a
heart ailment and has not been
well for some time.
Their first born, a daughter, ar
rived Tuesday but neither parent
could celebrate.
Mrs. Waldrep lapsed into a
state of shock just after the child
arrived by Caesarean section. Her
condition was “poor.”
Word -arrived Tuesday that
Waldrep was aboard the airlift
plane which crashed enroute to
the United States from Tokya. His
name was among the 33 passen
gers listed as missing.
Allies Kill, Wound or
Capture 3,483 In Week
SEOUL, Korea, (/P)—Allied jets
shot down two communist MIG
15s over northwest Korea today,
probably destroyed another and
damaged a fourth.
The Russian-type MIGs were
out in force all day, but there
k was only one aerial battle. Allied
pilots said the MIGs fled across
the Yalu when the U.S. F-86
Sabre jets headed toward them.
Despite the lull in ground fight
ing the U.S. Eighth Army said the
Allies killed, wounded or cap
tured 3,483 Reds in the past
week. Total communist casualties
• since the first of the year were
put at 13,292.
Parrier-based planes Tuesday
•hit hard at the battered Commun
ist rail links in Northeast Korea.
U.N. warships pounded Red tar
gets on both the east and west
coasts.
Army Mother Who Killed
Four Children, In Mental
Hospital for Observation
LOUISVILLE, Ky., (/P) — A
former Alaska army wife’s hear
ing on a charge of slashing the
throats of her four little children
has been postponed until March.
The accused woman is Mrs.
Lois Ruth Coonan, who is in a
mental hospital for observation
and with injuries which the pro
vost marshall at Fort Knox said
were self-inflicted in a suicide at
tempt.
Mrs. Coonan, her husband, Lt.
Joseph Coonan and three of their
children lived at Anchorage, Al
aska, for three years prior to last
April. Mrs. Coonan was an army
nurse there.
Lt. Coonon found his wife and
the bodies of the children at
their apartment near Fort Knox
last Wednesday. Her throat was
cut and she had swallowed a dis
infectant which burned her
throat.
The slain children were Patricia
Marie, 4V*> months; Clair, 2; Jo
seph, Jr., 3V£; and Constance 5.
A bloody butcher knife from a
carving set was near the dead
children.
Army Signal Corps
Intelligence Leaks
Being Investigated
WASHINGTON, (/P)~ At least
eight investigating groups are re
ported looking into complaints
that vital secrets may be seeping
out of the Army Signal Corps in
telligence agency.
This agency collects reports of
fact and rumor from various U.S.
agents around the world.
The inquiry was set o'ff by com
plaints from 10 of the agency’s
employes, including three Army
officers, Rep. Cox (D-Ga) told the
House Monday. The agency em
ploys 90 civilian and 21 military
personnel.
Cox said one of the three Army
officers, Lt. Col. Ollie J. Allen,
was transferred to California only
last month and had expressed the
fear this was done to silence him.
Allen recorded his obserations
and requested an investigation,
the congressman said.
The Chicago Tribune reported
Saturday night that the ten Sig
nal Corps employes had requested
the inquiry. And the newspaper
said the inquiry had uncovered
there was no record c/f 57 “top
secret’’ documents. It quoted
Army intelligence officers as say
ing a recheck had accounted for
all except 11 of the documents.
Canadian Dollar Reaches
Parity With U.S. Dollar
NEW YORK, (JP)—'The Canadi
an dollar reached parity with the
United States dollar Tuesday for
the first time since the outbreak
of war in 1939.
The Canadian dollar, set free
to find its own level when it was
at a discount of 10 percent 16
months ago, has climbed steadily.
Its upward climb picked up speed
last fall as active buying of min
ing stocks spurred' the demand
for Canadian funds among for
eign investors and speculators.
I
UN Acknowledges
Strafing Of Red
Truce Convoy
Assert They Were
Military Trucks with
Illegal Truce Marking
By ROBERT B. TUCKMAN
MUNSAN, Korea (/P) — The
Allied Command acknowledged
today that U.N. planes dropped a
bomb on Kaesong, former Korean
truce site, and may have strafed
a communist armistice convoy.
The bomb was dropped last
Thursday by a pilot who pushed
the wrong button when he was
trying to drop a wing tank, the
Allies said.
The Allies did not question that
a convoy was hit by strafing
planes Friday, but questioned
whether they were truce trucks
or military trucks illegally bear
ing truce markings.
Armistice negotiators failed
again to make any progress. The
U.N. Adm. R. E. Libby com
mented “it looks like a complete
stalemate” ahead.
The new prisoner safeguards
resulted from a Red report that a
POW camp was bombed Jan. 13.
The Reds said 20 prisoners were
killed and scores injured.
Communist staff officers agreed
to supply a map marked with the
exact location of the 11 POW
camps in North Korea.
Communists also agreed to
mark these camps so they may be
identified from the air by day
light.
RFC Ups Tin Price
From $1.03 to $1.21
WASHINGTON, (/P)— The Re
construction Finance Corporation
raised the price of tin yesterday
to American industry from $1.03
a pound to* $1.2114.
The old price had been in effect
since Aug. 1.
The RFC was given a monopoly
over tin in the United States last
year in an effort to bring down
prices, which began to skyrocket
when the Korean war broke out.
The government agency is the
sole importer of tin from abroad.
It sells about 50,000 tons a year
to American industry.
The price hike to American bus
iness is a result of an agreement
with Great Britain under which
the U.S. will sell Britain more
than a million tons of steel in
return for 20,000 tons of tin at
$1.18 a pound.
The RFC said the difference
between $1.18 and the new price
of $1.21 Vfe to American industry
represents actual handling costs
by the RFC.
The agreement opens the way
for large-scale buying of foreign
tin by the RFC. The agency had
stopped most purchases to bring
down prices which had gone as
high as $1.83 at one time.
The new price could affect neg
otiations between the RFC and
Bolivia over tin prices. The two
have been deadlocked for weeks,
with Bolivia demanding a price
of $1.50 and the RFC holding out
for $1.12. .
•i
Senate Consideration Of
Alaska Statehood Bill
Will Be Delayed
WASHINGTON, (£>)—Delegate
Bartlett said today that Senate
consideration of the Alaska and
Hawaii statehood bills will be
delayed.
Bartlett told a reporter that
Senator McFarland (D-Ariz), Sen
ate majority leader, informed him
that the Alaska bill will be called
up for debate “a week from next
Monday, at the latest.”
Upon passage of the bill grant
0
ing home rule to the District of
Columbia today, a bill to repeal
a section of the Defense Produc
tion Act relatihg to fats and oils
importation was made the pend
ing business of the Senate.
The Alaska bill was to follow
that, but Bartlett said McFarland
indicated to him that bills re
lating to lead and zinc production
and a call of the Senate calendar
may also be placed ahead of the
statehood bills.
" " I
McGrath Missionary
Gets New Stinson Plane
SEATTLE, (JP)—The Rev. John
Phillips, Jr., and his wife, Alaska
missionaries the past five years,
are preparing to fly a new plane
north in March to use in their
work.
Their plane (Stinson Voyager)
will be dedicated at the Bellevue
Airport Saturday. Rev. Phillips
has been taking flight instruction.
They make their headquarters at
McGrath, Alaska.
TORNADO WRECKS 20
BUILDINGS IN GEORGIA
MOULTRIE, Ga., (/P) — Eight
persons suffered minor injuries
and about 20 buildings were
wrecked when a tornado struck
near here Tuesday night.
Among the buildings demol
ished was a Congregational
church.
The big blow came about night
fall and caught many persons at
the supper table.
Sen. Magnuson
Makes Appeal For
Alaska Statehood
WASHINGTON, (/P) — A new
appeal for Alaska statehood was
made today by Senator Magnuson
(D-Wash), who said:
“It would serve as notice to the
world that we mean what we
profess as to the superiority of
government of, by and for the
people.”
His appeal for favorable Sen
ate action on the statehood bill
followed disclosure of a possible
new delay in Senate considera
tion of the Alaska bill.
Magnuson said in his prepared
statement that he was convinced
“the territory is qualified, in the
best American tradition, to as
sume the rights and responsibili
ties of full partnership in the
union.”
“Alaska’s population, growing
rapidly, is already greater than
was that of fully half the present
states at the time of their ad
mission,” he declared. “The terri
tory’s finances are in excellent
condition, betokening the ability
of Alaskans to run their affairs
capably.
“In short, Alaska meets every
prerequisite for statehood.”
DiSalle To Quit As
Price Boss To Run For
Senate From Ohio
WASHINGTON, (JP) — Michael
V. DiSalle anounced today he will
quit as price boss to run for the
United States Senate in Ohio.
DiSalle would seek the Demo
cratic nomination. Sen. Bricker,
Republican, comes up for re-elec
tion this year.
DiSalle made the announce
ment after he had talked with
President Truman at the White
House for some 50 minutes.
There had been reports that Di
Salle might be offered another
high post in the Truman admin
istration. DiSalle himself had
hinted it might be at the cabinet
level.
23 Passengers and 5 Others Die In
Crash of Airliner In Elizabeth, N.J.
By Geoffrey Gould and <S
Frances Levine
ELIZABETH, N.J., *(^P)—A fog
bound American Airlines passen
ger plane, groping its way into
Newark airport on instruments,
nose-dived into' a residential area
Tuesday and brought flaming
death to its 23 occupants and five
other persons.
Robert P. Patterson, 60-year
old former Secretary of War un
der President Truman, was one
of the plane’s victims.
The silver, twin-engined Con
vair, inbound from Buffalo,
hurtled into a three-story frame
apartment building and exploded
in a mass of leaping, orange
flame that enveloped two nearby
dwellings.
A mother and her two children
were killed as their home col
lapsed about them in a hurricane
like blast. A third child, trapped
in another building, and an un
identified persons also died in the
flames, . ‘ y•? .
For 90 minutes, no one could
>
get near the raging inferno, where
the 18 passengers, three crew
members and two company per
sonnel aboard the plane were
burned beyond recognition.
Clouds of steam and smoke
blanketed the area, which is less
than a mile from the spot where
a Miami airline, non-scheduled
plane crashed in the shallow
Elizabeth river 38 days ago, kill
ing 56 persons in the nation’s
second worst commercial plane
disaster.
Yesterday’s crash brought im
mediate demands from New Jer
sey’s two Senators and a congress
man for a full investigation of
the plane and Newark airport
facilities.
Mayor James Kirk said this city
of 112,000, about 12 miles south
west of New York City, has been
living under an “umbrella Of
danger” and that Newark airport
should be relocated “regardless of
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