m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LI. No. 105 NOME, ALASKA. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 194!) Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
YORK, Me. OP)—Supreme Court
justice Wiley B. Rutledge, who is
near death at York hospital, lapsed
into a coma today.
The 55-year-old jurist has been
a patient with a circulatory con
dition since last Saturday.
At the hospital were Justice
Rutledge’s wife, and their son
Neal, and their daughters, Mary
Lou and Jean Ann.
The family was vacationing at
Ogunquit, a nearby seashore re
sort, when he was taken to the
hospital.
BANFF, Alta. (/Pi—Senator Ian
MacKenzie. 59, of British Colum
bia, died today. He had been in a
hospital since last Monday after
suffering a heart seizure while on
vacation at Sunshine Lodge, 14
miles west of Banff.
DETROIT, </P)—A showdown in
the Ford contract dispute has been
put off until next week.
The CIO united auto workers
and the Ford Motor Co., agreed
yesterday to mark time on minor
phases of the contract until Wed
nesday.
JUNEAU, I/P)—The budget bur
eau has increased the maximum
per diem allowance for federal
employees traveling in Alaska
from $8 to $11. Delegate Bartlett
said he had been informed from
Washington, D. C.
PHILADELPHIA, </P) — Alaska
won one of the American Legion’s
nine annual awards for increases
in state department membership.
FAIRBANKS, (/P) — The Ladd
air force base flyers, a baseball
team, has left for Selfridge air
force base, Mich., en route to the
a;r force worldwide baseball tour
nament to be held at New York’s
Mitchell air force base Sept. 5-12.
JUNEAU, l/P) — Rent controls
will continue in Alaska.
Walter Walsh, rent attorney for
the Alaska defense rental area,
said yesterday on his return from
a Washington, D. C., conference.
“With inadequate housing in the
Territory. Alaska remains in the
critical classification. Controls will
continue.”
—
PETERSBURG, <JP) — Fishing
with a gill net Aug. 19 yesterday
cost Frank Richardson $750 in
fines and 30 days in jail suspend
ed. He said he would serve out the
fine in jail. U. S. Commissioner
Dale H. Hirt, passed sentence.
WASHINGTON. </P)—A serious
decline in Russia’s grain crops
was reported today by the depart
ment of agriculture.
In a report on European grain
prospects this year, the depart
ment said its gleaning of news
from behind the iron *curtain
shows that “in the Soviet Union
heavy precipitation and other har
vesting difficulties have caused
considerable reduction of tlfe grain
crop which looked promising ear
lier in the season.”
Committee Sends
Op en Letter 1 o
Washington, D. C.
JUNEAU, (^P)—Following is the
statement adopted by the Alaska
Statehood committee and address
ed to President Truman, Vice Pres
! ident Alben Barkley, and House
Speaker Sam Rayburn:
‘‘President Truman’s inclusion 1
of the Alaska and Hawaii State
hood bills as among the ‘must’
measures on which he asks early
action from Congress after the
House ends it recess on Sept. 21 is
heartening and statesmanlike.
‘‘Recent events indicate more
clearly than ever that the defense
of America and Alaskan statehood
are inseparable and that if the
United States is to carry out its
avowed policy of preventing the
spread of totalitarian communism
it must promptly grant statehood
to the two incorporated Territories
which have asked for it and are
entitled to it.
“From the standpoint of defense
I the world is now at the cross
! roads. At great and unprecedented
: expense to the citizens of the
i United States, with a recent addi
tional appropriation of nearly six
billion dollars, the advance of
communism appears to be tempor
arily checked in Europe, and the
eastern front of the United States,
for the time at least, looks secure.
“But in the west the communist
hordes have overrun Asia and that
entire continent is about to fall
into their hands. A mere 54 miles |
separates Asia from America and
the headlands of Siberia are visi- j
ble to the naked eye from Alaska.:
“At one point Russia and United ,
States territory are only two and
a half miles apart.
“Alaska could be captured to
morrow by two parachute divi-1
sions coming either across the J
Bering Straits or over the North j
Pole. Congress has blindly refused j
to appreciate the vital necessity of i
defending the most strategic area
in the world, the importance of i
which the late General Billy Mit- j
chell signalized a generation ago. j
“The proposed removal of im-1
portant West Coast defense indus- i
tries to the interior of the United ,
States, beginning with the transfer ;
of Boeing aircraft operations from
the Puget Sound area, is a dis
graceful admission of that weak
ness. It is moreover a flagrant in
consistency with American de
clared policies and professions. It
is inconsistent with the expendi
tures of vast sums to stop com
munism on one side of the globe,
while apparently permitting it to
run unchecked on the other.
(Continued on Page Seven)
TELEGRAM
JUNEAU — The general fund
balance at of August 31 is $109.
535.98. Unpaid vouchers in the
auditor's office amount to $573.
878.59, leaving the general fund
short $464,342.61.
HENRY RODEN,
Territorial Treasurer
Appeal For Com
pletion Of Council
Solomon Road
Ralph Lomen, who is one of the
dredge operators in the Council j
area made a flight to Nome Wed
nesday and appealed to the Cham- !
ber of Commerce for their help in ,
having the Council-Solomon road |
completed this season.
He stated that the road is within
three mile sof completion and urg
ently needed by all the people in
that area. The following telegram
was sent to Col. John R. Noyes at
Juneau by the Chamber which
took immediate action.
Nome, Alaska,
August 31, 1949
Col. John R. Noyes
Alaska Road Commission.
Juneau, Alaska.
We respectively submit that ter
mination of work on Solomon,
Council road now three miles short
of completion is inopportune, will
cause hardship and loss to dredge
operators and miners and will add
several persons to the already
large list of unemployed in this
section. We urge that every effort
be made to secure funds necessary
to complete project this season be
fore men and equipment are with
drawn. We assure our full co-op
eration.
NWA Chamber of Commerce,
Harold F. Harper
Right Or Wrong,
Truman Will Keep
Military Aide
WASHINGTON, o=P)—President
Truman said yesterday he will
keep Maj. Gen. Harry H. Vaughan
as his army aide.
That was just about all the com- i
ment Mr. Truman would make at |
a news conference about the Sen
ate investigation of Vaughan’s ac- ]
tivities.
To other questions, Mr. Truman
said the hearing was held on Cap
itol Hill, and that it would not be
continued up here 'meaning the
White House'. •
A reporter asked whether he
thought Vaughan, got a ‘fair deal”
from the committee,
Mr. Truman declined comment, j
Although the committee has dis
missed Vaughan as a witness,
Senator McCarthy <R.-Wis.> said
it is “just getting started” in its
inquiry about him.
McCarthy, talking with report
ers in advance of the President’s
news conference, also said that for
Mr. Truman to keep Vaughan as
his military aide would amount to
endorsing not only the “new deal”
and the “fair deal” but also “all of
Harry Vaughan’s deals.”
Vaughan himself has indicated
that one former White House fig
ure— John Maragon — won’t be
seen around there in the future.
Vaughan said Wednesday that
Maragon needs to be “washed up,
fumigated.”
A reporter told Mr. Truman
that Vaughan has said Maragon
was his “lovable" friend, but ought
(Continued on Page Seven''
Alaska Statehood
Committee Draws
U | > By-Laws
JUNEAU, (/P) — Alaska’s state
hood committee completed its first
session here Wednesday.
The group that was created by
the 1949 Legislature to chart the
Territory’s route to statehood ad
journed after adopting by-laws
and selecting sub-committees to
continue its work.
By-Laws were drawn to cover
the fields of education, public re
lations, legislation, constitution
and state organization.
Chairman Robert Atwood, An
chorage publisher, described the
session as “harmonious all the way
through.”
The committee issued an invita
tion for Senator O’Mahoney of
Wyoming to bring his committee
on interior and insular affairs to
, Alaska this year to study the Ter
ritory's qualifications and prepara
tions for statehood.
It also authorized a telegram to
President Truman to thank him
for calling on the House rules
1 committee to bring out Alaskan
and Hawaiian statehood bills for
action when the House reconvenes
Sept. 21.
The telegram cited Alaska as
being a vital area in national de
fense plans, but said it was vir
tually undefended. It cited the air
force proposal to remove Boeing
bomber production from Seattle to
the mid-west as “a disgraceful -ad
mission of weakness.”
It declared that “Congressional
policy is almost an invitation to
invasion and attack. Is this to be
another Munich?”
The statehood group did not em
ploy any personnel, but plans to
send some members and other
Alaskans to Washington if the
(Continued on Page Two)
Will Call “Slot Ma
chine King” In
Vaughan Hearing
WASHINGTON. </P) — Senator
McCarthy <R.-Wis.> said today he
will insist that Frank Costello of
New York, reputed “slot machine
king,” be called at a witness in
the Senate investigation of “five
per centers.”
“I think Costello is a very neces
sary and important witness,” Mc
Carthy told a reported today.
McCarthy is a member of the
Senate investigations sub-commit
tee which has been digging into
the question of whether there has
been improper influence in letting
of federal conti acts. He has men
tioned Costello's name several
times during the hearings.
On one occasion, McCarthy ask
ed Maj. Gen. Harry H. Vaughan,
President Truman’s military aide,
whether Vaughan got any cam
(Continued on Page Eight)
STORES AND OFFICES CLOSE
FOR LABOR DAY
All Federal Offices, including
the U. S. Postoffice, and most busi
ness houses will be closed on Mon
day in observance of Labor Day.
There will be no newspaper issued.
News of the World
At A Glance —
Thursday, September 1, 1949
Today is the 10th anniversary of
the beginning of World War II in
Europe and the fourth anniversary
of the Japanese surrender cere
mony.
The Moscow weekly New Times
seized the occasion to declare the
Soviet Union won the European
war single-handed.
“The Soviet people bore the en
tire burden of the war against the
German fascist invaders,” it said.
In Tokyo 'where is was Friday,
Japanese time', Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur reviewed Japan’s four
j years under allied occupation and
declared communism is no longer
a major threat to Japan.
; “The Japanese people,” said
! MacArthur, "have fully and faith
fully observed their surrender
commitments and advanced stead
ily along the road to spiritual re
generation and physical recon
. struction.”
In four years Japan’s population
; has grown by 9,500,000, MacAr
thur reported, "yet there has been
| no mass unemployment, no social
unrest and no large-scale dole.”
West German newspapers noted
the 10th anniversary of Hitler’s
march into Poland with a chorus
of "We don’t want another war.”
S o v i et-Iicensed newspapers in
Berlin said the American army is
preparing for another war on Ger
man soil.
The Russians are just conclud
ing their summer military maneu
vers east of the Elbe. The Ameri
. cans will marshal 1 10,000 men in
mock warfare in West Germany
next week.
In China, communists continued
their march southward. Canton
dispatches said communist irregu
lars have captured Hsingning, 125
miles east northeast of Canton, and
another town, Meimsien. was
abandoned by nationalists without
a fight.
Rightist rebels have made fur
ther gains in Bolivia. The middle
of-the-road government reported
the national revolutionary party,
which began the revolt Saturday,
now holds at least four key cen
ters. The government said the reb
els had taken over Yacuiba, an oil
center on the Argentine frontier;
and Sucre, 250 miles southeast of
La Paz. The rebels also control
Santa Cruz and Potosi.
Friday, September 2, 1949
In a statement commemorating
the fourth anniversary of victory
over Japan, acting president Li
Tsung-Jen of nationalist China ap
pealed today to “all peace loving
peoples ol the world” to join in a
fight against international com
munism.
Chinese communist forces were
surging into Kwantung province
in which Canton, the nationalist
provisional capital, is located.
Li said: “Unless our freedom is
protected, our sacrifices during
World War II will have been made
in vain. The brutal force employed
by the communists and their total
itarian idea far surpass those of
the fascists, and their threat to
the cultural and spiritual achieve
(Continued on Page Four)