™£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. L. No. 3 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1948_PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
I
BULLETIN
WASHINGTON. (/Pl-Ma. Gen.
Bennett E. Meyers, accused of ly
ing to the Senate war investigat
ing committee about his private
wartime business deals and of in
ducing another witness to com
mit perjury, pleaded innocent in
federal court today.
Federal judge David A. Pine be
* fore whom Meyers was arraigned,
set the trial for Feb. 16.
Judge Pine gave defense coun
sel 10 days in which to file mo
tions attacking Meyers' indict
ment.
ANCHORAGE, (/P)—The feder
al bureau of investigation here re
vealed Monday that the bodies of
Harold W. Griffin, 45, prominent
Bristol Bay businessman, and
Martin Ernestus, 42, fisherman
and cannery worker, were found
Saturday under mysterious cir
cumstances near the Willow Tree
Inn two miles from Dillingham.
Mrs. Avis K. Griffen, Griffen’s
wife, was reported in a serious
condition as a result of a beating.
A Dillingham coroner's jury re
turned a verdict Monday that the
men met their deaths “at the hand
of a person or persons unknown."
Agents of the F.B.I. are at the
scene of the slayings.
TOKYO, <JP)—General MacAr
thur’s message to Wisconsin men
tioning the great satisfaction “re
flected in the selection by one’s
neighbors for public service” has
no bearing on whether he will run
for President, informed headquar
ters sources emphasized today.
MacArthur himself was silent,
and the opinion is growing here
that he will remain silent on this
topic for some time.
His only comment has been that
he would remain in Japan until a
peace treaty is signed.
JUNEAU (jT*)—Territorial Dele
gate E. L. (Bob) Bartlett has filed
for re-election on the Democratic
ticket.
FAIRBANKS, </P) — Memorial
services were held yesterday af
ternoon in the Ladd Field chapel
for 1st Sgt. Santhell London of
Kinta, Okla., 34, found frozen near
*$he wreckage of the B-29 “Clob
bered Turkey” after he had para
chuted in an effort to aid its
stranded crew.
I
Two other ’chutists, Lt. Upbert
C. Kinney, Jr., and T/5 Leon J.
Casey, still are missing.
London was one of the army’s
most experienced “frigid zone” j
’chutists with a record of more
than 70 jumps.
JUNEAU (/P)—Week-long hear-[
ings on the safety and sanitation j
code for Alaska salmon canneries
continued here today.
The Alaska code will be based
wherever possible on Uni ted
States’ standards and recommen
dations of the National Safety
Council, spokesmen said, at open
ing sessions yesterday.
4 WASHINGTON, {^—Propos
als to sat up maat rationing ma
chinary on a atand-by basis won
tha andorsamant yastarday of San-(
Truman Seeks
Cut In Personal
Income Taxes
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Here,
briefly, are President Truman’s
recommendations on major issues
in his state of the union message
today:
Taxes—
Cut income taxes $3,200,000,000
by granting a reduction of $40 for
each individual taxpayer and for
each of the taxpayer’s dependents.
This “cost of living tax credit”
would be made up by increasing
corporation taxes proportionately.
Foreign Aid—
Congress should promptly au
thorize an outlay of $6,800,000,000
to start the Marshall plan for Eu
ropean recovery next April 1 and
carry it on for the ensuing 15
months.
Anti-Inflation—
“We must deal effectively and
at once with the high cost of liv
ing.” Immediate enactment of the
full 10-point anti-inflation pro
gram he proposed to the special
j session is “essential.”
Rents and Housing—
Until the housing shortage is
licked, rent control expiring Feb.
1 29 must be extended and strength
ened. Ultimately, “We must see
j that every American family has a
decent home.” An “immediate"
step should be a long-range hous
(Continued on Page Four)
Senators Say Aid
“Dead Date Line”
Will Not Be Met
WASHINGTON, WP) — Senators
Taft <R.-Ohio> and George D.-Ga.)
predicted today it probably will
be July 1—three months later than
the administration’s target date—
before any long range European
recovery program goes into effect.
And Senator Ball (R.-Minn.)
said, without naming a new date,
that “there is no chance” Congress
will meet the April 1 deadline set
by the state department for final
Congressional approval of the
Marsh.aH plan.
Taft and George agreed in sep
arate interviews, however, that
Congress might vote additional
stop gap assistance to tide some
European nations over a part of
the April-July interval they fore
see.
Last month during the special
session Congress appropri a t e d
$540,000,000 in stop gap aid for
France, Italy, Austria and China.
This program is scheduled to wind
up April 1, but Taft and George
said they believe the money may
last until June.
ators Ives (R.-N. Y.) and Murray
(D.-Mont.).
.. .While the meat issue simmered.
President Truman's cabinet food
committee decide^ to eliminate
eggless Thursdays after this week
but to continue its appeal for
meatless Tuesdays.
James A. Stillwell, food con
serration director, annou need
that this step is being taken be
cause of a seasonal increase in the
supply of eggs.
Search for Missing
Airmen Continues
—
FAIRBANKS. </P>—One of the ;
three paratroopers missing since |
they leaped to the aid of six B-29 I
crash survivors on the icy Seward
t Peninsula Dec. 27. has been found
frozen to death near the wreckage
of the big bomber, Ladd Field au
thorities announced last night.
| The victim was identified as
1st Sgt. Santhell London of Kin‘a,
Okla., whose wife, Roberta, is ti /
ing in Fairbanks.
London’s body was recover^ d
I Monday and flown to Nome, 95
| miles south of the wreck scene. It
j will be brought here by plane lor
! memorial services in the Ladd
Field chapel.
Planes and dog teams are stul
scouring the area for the oth^r
paratrooper and a Ladd Field
doctor who made a midnight jump
i in 30-below zero weather to help
the surviving crewmen of the
“Clobbered Turkey” which crash
ed into a low hillside on a train
| ing flight Dec. 23.
An intensive search also is be
ing continued for the B-29’s pilot
and navigator. Lts. Vern N. Arn
ett, and Frederick Sceetz, both of
i whom are feared dead from ex
posure. The two left their six com
i panions Christmas night in an at
' tempt to walk 50 miles to the Es
kimo village of Shishmaref.
NOME. (/P) — Army planes as
i well as many dog teams have been
i combing the area north of Nome
for the missing airmen as the
weather has been clear, but no
further news has been released.
There is little snow on the ground
it is reported and it is packed hard
yet no sign of the missing men
has been seen from the air.
Fire Razes Reader
Bros. Garage
Another well known landmark I
burned to the ground yesterday
when the Rowe barn on the cor
ner of 1st Ave. and Mettler Way,
now used as a garage by Reader
Brothers caught fire late in the
afternoon. The fire was held in
check for a long time by chemical j
and later by water. The U. S. (
army- hose truck stood by with
additional hose should it be neces
sary. All trucks and cars in the
garage were moved to safety ex
cept one flat bed truck owned by
the N. C. Co., who also owned the
building.
The fire burned all night and is
still smoldering today as there
was considerable oil and grease in!
the building. The old structure
was insulated with sawdust be
tween the walls.
Fortunately there was no wind
to carry the high flames to ad-!
joining buildings.
*_
GOTTCHALKS PURCHASE
GORDON SHOE STORE BLDG.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gottchalk
arrived from Fairbanks yester-,
day. They are reported to have
purchased the Gordon Shoe Store!
building from Howard Green, J
where it is understood they will
open a bar. I
Coast Guard
Rescues Thirteen !
Wreck Survivors
KODIAK, (/P) — Thirteen per
sons, including a mother and six
children, sped toward Kodiak
aboard a coast guard cutter and
navy tub yesterday for hospital
ization after being rescued from
an ice-sheathed point of the Alas
ka Peninsula where they had been
stranded for up to five days.
Ten of the frost-bitten survivors
were aboard the wrecked cannery
tender Spencer, which smashed
into the rocks opposite Kodiak Is
land New Year’s Eve and broke
up in the pounding swells.
All are reported suffering from
frost bite and exposure but are
not believed to be in serious con
dition.
The other three were volunteer
rescuers from the navy tug Mata
co who struggled to shore after
their small boat overturned Sat
urday night in a daring attempt to
reach the stranded party.
The Mataco and the cutter Clo
! ver were expected to reach here
around noon yesterday.
The rescue, balked for three
days by 60-mile an hour winds
and gale-tossed seas, was com
pleted yesterday during a lull in
(Continued or* Page Five)
Administration
Removes Total Of
Foreign Aid
WASHINGTON, (/P) — The ad
ministration took some—but not
all—of the opposition heat off the
Marshall plan yesterday by junk
ing the $17,000,000,000 cost estim
ate for long range economic aid to
Europe.
Suggested by Chairman Van
denberg (R.-Mich.) of the Senate
foreign relations committee, the
action was generally hailed in
Congress as removing »one major
stumbling block toward approval j
of a four-year recovery program, j
However, Senator Millikin of j
Colorado, who heads the confer- j
ence of all Republican Senators,!
made it plain that many in his1
party want still other changes
made.
Speaking on a radio program
sponsored by the Republican na- (
tional committee last night, Milli
kin predicted eventual approval of
a “sane” foreign assistance pro- i
ject. But he told his listeners:
“A decent regard for what is in ,
the hearts of the American people
requires that the aid shall not im
peril our own economy and shall
be of a nature that will help out
friends abroad help themselves.
In announcing the administra
tion’s decision to drop the request
for authority to spend up to $17,
000,000,000 toward the recovery of
16 western European nations out
side the Communist orbit, Van
denberg said there is no change
in the $6,800,000,000 estimate for
the first 15 months of the Mar
shall plan’s operation. And he
told a news conference this figure
may lead to “a hell of a lot of
trouble” in Congress.
Trygve Lie Sets
Up World Centers
Of Information
LAKE SUCCESS, ^ — Secre
tary-general Trygve Lie has laid
confidential pipelines to siphon
information from many of the
world’s major capitals, including
three cities in the Russian sphere,
it was learned today.
Materials is fed into the lines
from a network of United Nations
information centers established
and still being set up around the
globe. The twelfth office in the
string—the one at Moscow—will
be in operation by the end of the
month.
U. N. offices already are func
tioning in Warsaw. Prague. Lon
don Paris, Washington, Shanghai,
Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Co
penhagen, New Delhi and Geneva.
Another will be opened in the
middle east—it may be in Jeru
salem—and still others in three
cities to be selected in Latin
America, Asia and Africa.
Publicly, the offices are respon
sible for dissemination and col
lection of U. N. intelligence by
parcelling out documents and
pamphlets, arranging for speakers
and reporting reaction back to
Lake Success. These reaction re
ports cover newspaper and radio
tratement of U. N. news and are
distributed here weekly in an
opinion survey.
Fender Master
Hero Of Cannery
Tender Craek-Up
KODIAK. (A3)—A cannery ten
der master, bound with his bride
to-be for their wedding, was cred
ited today for the safety of him
self and nine others aboard the
motorship Spencer which crashed
on the rocks and left them strand
ed for five shivering days and
nights on an ice-coated ledge
above an Alaska Peninsula beach.
The 10 persons, including a
mother, her five children, and a
7-year-old grandson, were re
turned here yesterday along with
three navy men whose small boat
overturned during a daring res
cue attempt last Saturday night.
All were rescued by the coas‘
guard cutter Clover and navy tag
Mataco Monday after fiO-mde an
hour winds and heavy seas had
balked efforts for three days.
Four of the group suffered from
badly frost-bitten feet, and four
were running temperatures and
were “potential pneumonia cases ”
a Kodiak doctor said. All were
hospitalized for frost bite, ?xoos
ure or observation.
In interviews, the survivors at
tributed their safety to the cool
headedness of Capt, Axel Carlson,
a man in his 20's. He led 'hem
from the broken ship and up a 25
foot bluff to a shelter in the rocks.
The tender left Chignik for Ko
diak where Carlson and Alva
Skonberg, one of the survivors,
were to be married.
The 65-foot craft ran into a
storm the second day out, but
when the weather cleared sought
(Continued on Page Five)