™£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. XL VII. No. 15 6._NOME. ALASKA. FRID AY, DECEMBER 28, 194 5_PER COPY — 15c
STRIKES COVER U.S.
■ . — ■ *
Half Million
Electrical Workers
Threaten Strike
CHICAGO, Dec. 28—Threats of
two huge strikes, which if one
hundred percent effective would
I involve about 500,000 electrical
and telephone company employees
darkened the nation's labor pic
ture today.
A walkout of 200,000 CIO work
ers in plants of electrical indus
try's “big three” was termed “in
evitable,” by union leaders in
New' York and may be called late
next week.
A nation wide work stoppage by
telephone employees was seen by
an independent union spokesman
as a possible aftermath of a strike
scheduled for next Thursday by
Western Electric Company work
ers in the New York and New Jer
sey area.
The government was ready to
act to prevent a strike of electric
| al workers at Westinghouse, Gen
eral Electric and General Motors,
but time appeared to be running
short.
The executive board of the CIO
United Electrical Radio and Ma
chine workers was to meet in New
York January 5, to go ahead with
plans for a strike which union
membership authorized on De
cember 13, in support of demands
of a two dollar a day wage rate
increase.
On January 2, Westinghouse
and General Electric have been
invited to a meeting with federal
conciliators, but Edgar Warren,
conciliation director said after a
meeting with CIO-UE union lead
ers yesterday that “I’m afraid it’s
a serious situation.” The union
said negotiations with General
Electric and Westinghouse had
failed, but are continuing with
General Motors.
A walkout at all three compan
ies would affect seventy-six plants
in twenty-two states, with 100,000
employees at General Electric,
75,000 employees at Westinghouse
and 25,000 employees at General
Motors.
A demand for a thirty percent
k wage increase also was the issue
^ in dispute which may result in a
f national walkout of telephone em
ployees. Henry Mayer, counsel
#r the independent Western Elec
Ifctric employees association, affili
§ml Federation of Telephone Work
V frs, said picket lines would be es
STILL GOING STRON G—.Nearing his 80th birth*
day. Ivy Baldwin, retired circus performer living near Denver,
walks tight-wire for exercise. He often entertains neighborhood
children and wears his old red tights.
Union Bans
Foreign Musicians
From U. S. Radio
CHICAGO, Dec. 28—James C.
: Petrillo, president of the Ameri
; can Federation of Musicians said
' that American radio stations have
been told to ban all radio pro
grams originating in all foreign
; countries, with the exception of
Canada, where the musicians are
affiliated with the American AFL
union.
Petrillo said the order, suspend
ed during the war, was being re
invoked “to protect American mu
sicians against foreign competi
tion.” He declared that through
the shortwave radio any foreign
musician could displace the serv
ice of an American without enter
ing the United States.
RED CROSS CLUB TO HOLD
DANCE AT BASE GYM
The Red Cross Club is sponsor
ing a holiday formal dance at the
Army Air Base Gymnasium to
night for army personnel and in
vited guests.
ated with the Independent Nation
tablished around telephone operat
ing companies in New York and
New Jersey on January 3.
Many Dead In
Kentucky Coal
Mine Blast, Fire
PINEVILLE, Ky., Dec. 28—At
least thirteen fires have been spot
ted and put out by rescue workers
attempting to reach from 30 to 50
men entombed by a coal mine ex
plosion more than twenty-four
hours ago, but hopes that the men
would be found alive grew dim
mer.
A. D. Sisk, director of rescue
operations outside the number
one mine of the Kentucky Straight
Creek Coal company, said no more
fires had been sighted, but it was
not known whether any were far
ther back in the tunnel. The
workers had penetrated approxi
mately one and a half miles back
and were about 3000 feet from the
entombed men.
The number of trapped men
still was not definitely known to
day. Estimated of officials ranged
as high as fifty, but others be
lieved the figure would not exceed
thirty.
A company spokesman said
there was no indication how much
*
longer it might take to reach the
scene of the blast. .
NEWS IN BRIEF
AURICH, Germany, Dec. 28 —
(/P) — Maj. Gen. Kurt Meyer,
former Elite Guard regimental
commander was sentenced in a
Canadian military court to be shot
after he was convicted on three of
five charges in connection with
the deaths of forty-eight Canadian
prisoners of war.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28—I/P>—
The Veterans Administration an
nounced Wednesday night that be
cause of a shortage of beds and
doctors in veteran hospitals, it will
put twenty thousand ex-service
men in civilian hospitals, and as
many more in Army and Navy
hospitals.
TOKYO, Dec. 28—General Mac
Arthur announced the consolida
tion of five army airforces in the
Pacific into a single command,
called PACUSA — Pacific Air
Command United States Army.
The consolidation comprises the
5th, 7th, 8th, 13th and 20th air
forces, and will be commanded by
General George C. Kenney.
YOKOHAMA, Dec. 28 — Tatsuo
Tasuchiya (Little Glass Eye> a
prison camp guard who was the
first war crimes suspect to be tried
in Japan, was convicted Thursday
of killing an American prisoner of
war, and was sentenced to hard
labor for life. The war crimes
commission found he “wilfully,
unlawfully and unmercifully beat
and killed Pfc. Robert Gordon
Teas,” of Streator, Illinois, a sur
vivor of the Bataan death march.
HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 28—Mary
Astor of the movies and Thomas
Wheelock, Chicago broker, are
honeymooning in Arizona after
their December 24th marriage,
which had been kept secret until
Thursday. It was the fourth mar
ital venture of the 39 year old
actress and the third for Wheel
ock, who is 41.
BERLIN, Dec. 28 — American
military authorities and German
civilian police pressed a house to
house search in the Tempelhof
airdrome district Thursday for the
persons responsible for the Xmas
Eve slaying of two American sol
diers. The soldiers were shot
through the head with a 38 cali
ber gun, and police said they were
unable to discover the motive for
the shootings.
Atomic Energy
To R(» Controled
By United Nations
•/
WASHINGTON. Dec. 28—CP)—
Agreement on the drafting of the
blueprint of machinery to control
atomic power, and accord on other
problems ranging around the
globe, was announced by the for
eign secretaries of United States,
Britain and Russia.
They concurred in a plan pro
posed by United States, Britain
and Canada, that the United Na
tions handle the controls of atom
ic energy to “ensure its use only
for peaceful purposes.” In a com
munique outlining the results of
the eleven day conference in Mos
cow, the three foreign ministers
announced an agreement on prob
lems arising from Japan, Korea,
China, Romania, and Bulgaria,
and proposed that the United Na
tions Security Council take on the
job of atomic control and elimin
ating fearsome atomic weapons
and “all other major weapons
adaptable for mass destruction”
from the arsenals of the nations.
The question of establishing a
control commission will be laid
before the United Nations genera!
assembly, the first meeting of
i which will be held in London next
month.
Russia got a louder voice in the
running of conquered Japan. She
has been hammering for months
for the Allied control council the
three foreign ministers agreed on.
Russia will sit on it with an Amer
ican and a Chinese member. The
fourth representing Britain, Aus
tralia, New Zealand and India.
General MacArthur will still
play the dominant role as Ameri
can representative on the council
and sole executive authority for
the Allied powei*s in Japan.
Russia also joins the revised
Far Eastern commission eleven
nation agency to consider the pol
icy for governing Japan.
The Big Three agreed there
must be a unified democratic
China under a national govern
ment. United States and Russia
will withdraw their troops as soon
as possible. United States and Rus
; sia will form a joint commission
to unify Korea and help form a
provisional government.
A four-power trusteeship will
be established for a period up to
five years for the governments of
Romania and Bulgaria, now rec
1 ognized by Russia, to be broad
ened, looking toward recognition
by United States and Britain.
Final peace treaties with Italy,
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and
, Finland will be concluded along
* the lines announced Christmas.