■m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LI. No. 100 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1949 Per Copy—l5c
NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON, </P) — Legisla-!
tion to permit the interior depart
ment to sell public land in Alaska
was passed Saturday by the House
and sent to President Truman.
Sales would be limited to tracts
not exceeding 160 acres and must
be by public auction after adver
tisement.
SEATTLE, (/P)—A young coast
guard seaman, whose leg was am
putated after a shipboard accident
in Alaska, was still in serious con
dition at Seattle’s Marine hospital
Friday, after a flight from Sitka.
The seaman, Henry M. Parra,
19, of Pomona, Calif., was crushed
by a 3,500-pound channel buoy
which fell on deck of the cutter
Hemlock near Peril Straits. His
right leg was amputated in a Sitka
hospital.
FAIRBANKS, (/P) — Edward
Wiehl, 17, drowned Thursday in a
lake four miles northwest of Ram
part. He and a companion were
crossing the lake when their tin
boat sank in rough water. The
other boy managed to reach shore.
Wiehl lived at Rampart, 120 miles
northwest of Fairbanks.
FAIRBANKS, </P)—Don Hutch
ison, 18, started saving his money
three years ago for a college edu
cation. He carried the hoard in his
wallet until he had nearly SI,600
in cash and postal savings.
He reported yesterday he had
lost the wallet somewhere be
tween his home and his job on the
Alaska Raliroad.
CHICAGO (/Th— The number of
new cases of infantile paralysis
took a sharp upward turn last
week, boosting the nation's total
of victims for the month to more
than 8.000.
It brought the total for the year
to 15,500. compared with only
8.430 cases reported by the nation
al office of vital statistics through
Aug. 13. 1948. a near record year.
Last year's 27,080 total was ex
ceeded onl yby the 30,000 in the
1916 record year.
/
FAIRBANKS, <£>)—'The body of
Lt. John M. Bylander of Beres
ford, S. D., was brought to Ladd
Air Force base Thursday night by
the tenth rescue squadron.
Bylander’s plane crashed into a
mountain p'eak southeast of Ais
hihik in Yukon Territory, Canada,
Aug. 10. Poor flying weather had
prevented earlier attempts to
reach the body.
WASHINGTON (7Pj—Represen
tative Beckworth (D.-TexJ today
introduced a bill to authorize ap
propriation of $17,000,000 for con
struction of public airports in
Alaska.
It would also authorize appro
priations each year of funds need
ed to maintain and improve the
airports.
WASHINGTON, </P)—Gen. Carl
Spaatz said today that if it were
not for the B-36 bomber and the
atom bomb, Russia could subdue
“practically all of Europe and
Asia is a relatively 3hort period
(Continued on Page Eight)
Broadcasters To
Fight To Finish
FCC ‘Lottery’ Edict
(By Wayne Oliver
NEW YORK, (/P> — Radio and
television broadcasters girded for
a finish fight to save their profit- 1
able giveaway programs from the
guillotine of the federal communi- j
cations commission.
At stake is their jackpot in sales
of broadcast time running to many
times the estimated $5,000,000 or
more a year dished out to lucky
listeners.
Industry observers predicted the i
American Broadcasting Co. would
have plenty of company in its an
i nounced plan for a court fight
against the FCC order issued Fri- |
day to become effective Oct. 1.
While the FCC order did not j
flatly ban giveaways, its new rules
are so stringent it appeared they
would silence such as “Stop the
(Continued on Page Three)
;
Strike Deadlocked;
Call for Conciliator
Cyrus Ching
__
HONOLULU, I/P) — Deadlocked
union and employer negotiators in
Hawaii’s 112-day dock strike
asked for federal mediation Satur
day.
After three days of renewed
peace talks got nowhere, both
sides cabled federal conciliator
Cyrus Ching to come to Hawaii
“as quickly as possible.”
Harry Bridges, head of the strik
ing CIO longshoremen’s and ware
housemen’s union, and chairman!
W. R. Starr of the struck steve
doring firms’ negotiating commit
tee joined in sending the cable i
Friday.
Then they called a recess until
Ching replies. Ching has indicated
he won’t be able to come here but
, would be glad to meet both sides
in Washington, the union is will
ing to go. Employers don’t like the
idea.
The 2,000 ILWU longshoremen,
of Hawaii struck May 1 for a 32- j
cent wage increase. They nowi
(Continued on Page Three)
)
■ ■
CONGRESS
ROUNDUP
WASHINGTON, <7P) — A mys
terious memorandum and a secret
letter beginning “Dear Pop” took
the center spots today in two sep
arate Congressional investigations.
A Senate drive to cut President
Truman’s ’ $1,450,000,000 foreign
arms aid program got a new sup
porter.
And the Senate argued over
whether it would reconsider the
$17,500,000 appropriation it voted
for rent control. Rent director
Tighe Woods has said that if the
amount isn’t upped he will have
to life controls from one-third of
the areas still having them.
Senator Mundt <R.. S. D.> said
the “Dear Pop” letter is shedding
new light on the perfume oil and
home freezer aspect of the five
(Continued on Page Eight)
Earthquake Shakes
Wide Area In
Paeifie Northwest
• By The Associated Press)
A sharp series of earthquakes
rocked a wide area of the Pacific
Northwest last night for about;
five minutes. No major damage,
occurred and no casualties were
reported.
The violent shaking appeared to
center in northern British Colum
bia, primarily in the Skeena River
valley. But tremors were felt
throughout a wide area from
Prince Rupert, B. C., east to Jas
per, Alta., and from Petersburg,
Alaska, south to Portland, Ore.
Store windows were smashed
and cars rolled crazily on streets
at Prince Rupert and at Terrace,
B. C., 90 miles east. A two-foot
wave swept along the waterfront
at Ketchikan, Alaska, moments
after the shock. Dishes were
knocked from shelves and pictures
from walls at Petersburg.
Ten houseboats were torn from
their moorings in Seattle’s Lake
Union. Power lines and water
mains were broken in some parts
of the city.
The Queen Charlotte Islands,
500 miles northwest of Vancouver,
B. C., reported “the heaviest
shocks in the island’s history.”
Chimneys tumbled, buil dings
swayed and windows shattered.
Homes rocked on foundations and |
some communications poles snap
ped.
At Portland, Ore., an amateur
seismologist, F. William Geitz, re
corded the primary shock at 9:04
p.m. (PDT).
As many as eight shocks were
reported by the northern British
Columbia communities.
....
wuiiam Baker, puDiisner oi :
the Ketchikan Daily Chronicle,
said in a telephone interview
that the gangplank of the S. S.
Prince George almost went out i
from underneath him as he step
ped from the ship. Theater patrons
rushed from the building in panic, i
but returned shortly.
Baker said the initial shock was
followed five minutes later by a
lesser one. It was the first shock
ever felt by the Southeastern
Alaska city, according to longtime
residents.
A Tacoma woman said the wa-!
ter sloshed from her swimming
pool. And in Portland another wo
men said her houseboat rocked in
the Willamette river just as it did
in the northwest’s worst earth
quake four months ago.
Then, April 13, the violent trem
bler caused eight deaths and dam
age of more than $15,000,000 in
Washington State.
HARVARD, Mass. (JP) — The
Harvard University seismograph
station reported an earthquake
“ten times as severe as that which
struck Ecuador August 5,” occur
red late last night. It probably
originated 100 to 200 miles off
shore in the vicinity of Vancouver
Island, in the Pacific, a seismolo
gist said.
Prof. L. Don Leet placed the
quake 2,880 miles from the Har
vard station in a direction 30 de
'Continued on Page Five)
Military Aide And
The Battle Of
Grain Rationing
WASHINGTON </P»— Senatorial
sources said Saturday that Maj.
Gen. Harry H. Vaughan once gave
an agriculture department official
“particular hell” about a grain ra
tioning order after alcoholic bev
erage makers reportedly com
plained about the edict.
Senate five percenter investiga- [
tors already have been told that
Vaughan, who is President Tru
man’s army aide, intervened at
the department in another case in
1946.
The testimony was that Vaughan i
at that time tried unsuccessfully
to aid a New Jersey molasses com- |
pany accused of violating sugar |
rationing.
The account of intervention by I
Vaughan in the grain rationing
case came separately from two of
ficials who did not want to be
identified. Their stories are sub
stantially the same.
Apart from those sources, Sena
tor Mundt <R.-S. D.» told newsmen
he has heard reports about the
matter. He said he plans to ask
for an investigation by the special
Senate sub-committee conducting
the five percenter inquiry. Mundt
is a member of the group, which
is checking whether improper in
fluence has figured in the hand
ling of government business.
In the grain rationing episode,
Vaughan in 1946 or 1947 reported
ly asked Clinton P. Anderson,
then secretary of agriculture, whe
ther any change was contemplat
ed in the federal order which re
stricted the amount of grain which
(Continued on Page Seven)
_
Attorney General
Seeking To Raise
Loan In Seattle
_
SEATTLE, </P)—A new effort to I
obtain a $1,000,000 loan for Alas
ka has been started in Seattle by
J. Gerald Williams, Territorial at
torney general.
The money would be used to
pay $400,000 in existing Territo
rial warrants plus expected ex
penditures between now and Feb
ruary 1, proposed expiration date
of the loan, Williams said.
An earlier attempt to secure
$1,000,000 fell through and
brought the charge from treasurer
Henry Roden that Seattle inter
ests were attempting to force the
Territory to repeal some taxes
which had been enacted by the
1949 legislature.
Other sources said the loan ne
gotiations collapsed when it was
learned that Alaska owed more
than the amount represented.
Williams said his negotiations
also were with Seattle interests,
although he would not name them.
He also said he did not want to
comment on whether or not he
though prospects were bright.
“We’re going to try to raise the
money in Seattle,” he said. “We
think Seattle should help us—that
Seattle has a greater responsibil
ity than eihter Portland or San
Francisco.”
News of the World
At A Glance —
Friday, August 19, 1949
The council of the organization
for European economic coopera
tion tOEEC» began consideration
of a rock-bottom estimate of $3,
621,600,000 for Europe’s 1949-50
Marshall Plan needs. The U. S.
Senate and House have named a
committee to split the difference
in the total amount of Marshall
aid money voted. The House has
voted $3,568,000,000, and the Sen
ate $3,778,000,000. Disappointed
European delegates here had
hoped for more.
The Truman administration’s
foreign arms aid program, bat
tered by the House, looked to the
Senate for gentler treatment. The
program was slashed and restrict
ed before the House passed it last
night, 238 to 122. A 50 per cent cut
has been imposed on the $1,160.
990,000 earmarked to help West
ern European nations face up to
the possibility of Soviet aggres
sion.
In China, the battle for Canton,
the capital of the battered nation
alists, moved nearer. The com
munists took Tavu, key city 170
miles to the northeast, virtually
clearing the road to Kukong,
where the battle for Canton will
begin in earnest. Kukong is 120
miles north of Canton on the rail
way to Central China and the
Yangtze valley. Its loss would iso
late Canton from the 200,000 man
army of Gen. Pai Chung-Hsi,
commander of the nationalists’
front to the north. ,
In South America, the govern
ment of Chile, armed with new
emergency powers, moved three
army regiments into Santiago to
help halt rioting it said was com
munist-inspired. Eight perso n s
have died and 300 have been in
jured in street fighting in the last
few days, touched off by protests
over increased bus fares.
Saturday, August 21. 1949
Press reports said today the na
tionalists had sped strong rein
forcements into the mountains less
than 170 miles northeast of Can
ton in an attempt to check the
Red’s southward rush.
These reports probably are true,
because large numbers of troops
have been passing through Canton
for the north the past few days.
The loss of Tayu, 170 miles
northeast, put the communists
only five miles’ from the border
of Kwangtung province, of which
Cneon is the capital as well as the
temporary haven of the govern
ment.
The nationalists also admitted
the loss of Anjen, 250 miles north
of Canton and a key point on the
western flank of the Canton-Han
kow railroad.
The fall of Anjen means the
Reds are by-passing the Hunan
province defense bastion of Heng
yang on the east and suggests they
are trying to cut the rail line at
Leiyang. Leiyang is 230 miles
north of Canton and 70 miles
north of the Kwangtung border.
Monday, August 22, 1949
Premier Marshal Tito of Yugo
slavia drew surprise support from
(Continued on Page Five)