■m NOME NUGGET
%
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LI. No. 101 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1949 _ Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
IPSWICH, Mass. </P) — A 700
pound tuna almost too big for
their 15-foot outboard motorboat,
was landed yesterday by two boys [
using a borrowed line and 15
cents worth of mackerel bait.
The fish, hooked by Peter Tyler,
15, and Ellis Hodgkins, 14, both of
Ipswich, was the largest taken,
this season at Ipswich.
An adult fisherman helped them
get the whopper ashore.
ATLANTA, (/P) — An involun
tary manslaughter indictment was
returned yesterday against the
taxi driver whose car struck down
and fatally injured Margaret Mit
chell, author of ‘Gone With The
Wind.”
Conviction on that charge would
mean one to three years in prison
for Hugh D. Gravitt, the 29-year
old driver.
Gravitt was charged with mur
der by Atlanta police, but solici
tor general Paul Webb said he
had made no such charge.
WASHINGTON (JP)—’The army
today announced contracts award
ed to private concerns since the
army’s last announcement of Aug.
18. They included:
Let by Alaska District, Corps of
Engineers, Anchorage:
Slater Construction Co., Fair
banks, Alaska, mess hall. $174,
000.
SEATTLE, </P>—A coast guard
patrol boat reported early yester
day the fishing vessel Lady May
of Ketchikan was “high and dry”
on rocks outside Wards Cove.
The cutter Thistle was sent to
the scene, south of Ketchikan. The
crew was reported safe.
District coast guard headuar
ters said the 40-foot boat’s normal
crew is four. Milton L. Sandstrom
is listed as the owner.
BELGRADE, (/P> — Yugoslavia
expressed willingness last night to
reach a settlement with Russia on
"all disputed questions" bewteen
the two feuding countries.
In a new note to the Soviet gov
ernment Yugoslavia told Moscow
that Premier Marshal Tito was
willing to end the bitter fight with
the Kremlin.
At the same time, Yugoslavia
served a stern warning to Russia s
rulers to keep their hands off the
internal affairs of this Balkan
communist country.
FAIRBANKS. (/P)—A city jail
inmate was found dead Monday
sitting against the bars of a cell
in which he had been placed after
causing a disturbance among
other prisoners.
The dead man was identified by
police chief Dewey Orrell as Rob
ert A. Chingway, 37, whose birth
place was lifted as Walt Hill, Ne
braska.
A doctor said he had been dead
about six hours when found.
Other prisoners in the jail said
he was last heard sobbing.
BORDEAUX, France (>P)—Light
rain fell here early yesterday, less
ening the danger of new outbreaks
'Continued on Page Four)
Gen. Feldman Gave
Five Percenter
Army Information
WASHINGTON, (If)—Maj. Gen. ,
Herman Feldman ackowledged
yesterday that he gave James V.
Hunt information on army buy
ing plans in 1947 but declared it
was not confidential and he did
not know of “Hunt’s position as a
so-called five percenter.”
In the witness chair of a Sen
ate investigating committee, the
suspended army quartermaster
general swore:
“At no time have I abused my
position or misused the influence
of my office.”
The short, balding officer said,
too, that he welcomed the inquiry
and prepared to “justify every ac
tion I have taken and every deci
sion I have made.”
Feldman had a long prepared
statement, the gist of which was
that he had done nothing wrong
and was motivated at all times by
w'hat he believed to be good for
the service and for the country.
Immediately after he finished
I reading it, the hearing was recess
| ed until today when he was to
! take the stand for questioning.
The committee had set the stage
(Continued on Page Two)
House Votes
Itself Holiday;
Senate Vetoes It
W A S H I N GTON, </P> — The
House voted today to take a 25
day holiday, starting Friday and
j ending at noon Sept. 21.
There were only a few scatter
' ed and laughing “noes” as the re
cess resolution shot through on a
voice vote.
It now goes to the Senate, which
; must approve it before the House
can officially start its vacation.
I Senate approval was expected
promptly, even though that cham
ber has no plans for a recess and
the resolution applies only to the
House.
The Senate refusal by a vote of
58 to 25 today to give its consent
to the proposed 25-day House va
cation. The Constitution prohibits
either chamber recessing more
i than three week days without con
| sent of the other.
*
Sunday ’Quake
Damaged Craig;
New Tremors Felt
CRAIG, Alaska, (£*)—Sunday’s
earthquake toppled chimneys,
smashed mirrors and did $10,000
to $15,000 damage in this little
Southeastern Alaska fishing vil
lage.
Mayor John Sommerville and
councilman Cliff Anderson made
the damage estimate yesterday
after four additional tremors were
felt Monday and another at 6 a.m.,
Tuesday.
No buildings collapsed but a
| number of chimneys fell, damag
(Continued on Page Five>
Armed Services
To Slash Many
Civilian Jobs
WASHINGTON, (^—Secretary
of defense Johnson announced to
day the armed services will chop
off 135,000 civilian jobs in his
drive to slash military spending.
Anguished cries came quickly
from Congressmen whose home
districts were hit by the proposed
cutbacks. There were suggestions
that the armed forces instead,
weed out “soft snaps, flunky posi
tions and baby sitters.”
Johnson told a gathering of the
lawmarkers at the Pentagon that
the economy program is aimed at
getting “a dollar’s worth of de
fense for every dollar Congress
| gives.”
I “It goes back to my conviction
not to tolerate a defense WPA,’’
Johnson declared.
Senator Pepper D-Fla.> agreed
there shouldn’t be a defense WPA.
but he said he doesn’t “want to see
I a WPA elsewhere.” He told John
son that not only are 135,000
i breadwinners losing their jobs
j “but the corner grocery store,
the landlords and merchants will
be affected too.”
Navy installations were the
hardest hit in the civilian cut.
They were ordered to reduce by
76,000, the army by 41,000 and air
force 18,000.
This program, going into effect
immediately, will result in an es
timated saving of $200,000,000 in
the current fiscal year ending
(Continued on Page Eight)
Second Hurricane
Developing
_
MIAMI, Fla. (/P)—A small but
j vicious tropical hurricane raged
j off the coast of North Carolina to
| day as a new storm gathered
| strength north of Puerto Rico, a
thousand miles away.
Square black and red hurricane
warning flags flapped along a 45
. mile stretch of the desolate upper
j Carolina capes from Manteo to
i Cape Lookout.
The Diamond Shoals lightship.
] 20 miles off Cape Hatteras, radi
| oed it was in the thick of “Harry’s
hurricane.”
“Wind estimated at 115 knots
• about 130 miles per hour). Seas
mountainous. Hope anchor will
hold,” the lightship messaged.
Grady Norton, chief forecaster
of the Miami weather bureau, said
it appeared the center of the hur
ricane now’ was between Cape
Hatteras and the Diamond Shoals
lightship. He added:
“It appears that the storm will
now begin to swing to a more
northeastern course, away from
the coast. Its my opinion the cen
ter will brush pretty close to
shore—'but stay in the Atlantic—
and turn away from the land.
Meanwhile, the second hurri
cane of the season was growing
larger and more vicious hourly.
“This storm could give us real
trouble,” Norton observed.
Norton said that military ob
servation planes would track the
new storm throughout the day.
High Wind Whip
States Forest Fires
Out Of Control
Fast-moving fires whiplashed
new areas of the nation’s forests ,
today.
Flames were reported out of
control in at least three States. In
other areas fires were still burn
ing but had been checked.
Fire has blackened more than
40,000 acres of national forest 1
lands in Idaho, California and
Montana alone so far this month, i
The fire conditions are considered
the most critical in the past dec
, ade.
The Idaho’s national forests, an
aerial survey showed fires had
gained 2,000 acres in the last two
days. The flames have blackened
71.000 acres in the State.
Winds up to 40 miles an hour
sent a forest fire in the Black
Hills of South Dakota out of con
, trol. The flames swept out of the
, hills into the plains country.
All available men and equip
ment were massed between the
fire front and the town of Tilford,
IS. D.
While western States struggled
to halt the flames, forest fires also
flared in northeastern United
i States and Canada.
Maine’s fire hazard was rated
class A—very dangerous—by state
j forestry commissioner Albert D.
, Nutting.
I More than 200 fires were scat
tered through the Canadian pro
vinces of Quebec and Ontario.
Rains have checked Yellow
i stone Park’s largest fire since
1931. Forestry officials estimated
the fire covered 6.000 acres. Ear
lier estimates had placed it at
4.000 acres.
Lyle F. Watts, chief of the U. S.
forest service, said in Washington
that more than 40,000 acres of na
tional forest lands in Idaho, Cal
ifornia and Montana have been
burned so far this month.
Losses in timber, water shed,
wild life and recreational value
have been tremendous, he added.
Sixteen men, most of them para
chutists, have died in the past
three weeks while fighting the
fires.
Gen. (dark Heads
Army Field Forces
J
. ... i
WASH INGTON, UP) — Gen.
Mark W. Clark, one of the top
generals in the last war, is the
new chief of army field forces.
Army secretary Gray announc
ed today that Clark, now sixth
army commander at San Francis
co. Calif., will succeed Gen. Jacob
Devers who is retiring in Septem
ber after 44 years on active duty.
Lt. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer,
now deputy chief of staff for
plans and operations, is going to
California to take over the sixth
army.
Clark at the end of the last war
was in command o fthe 15th army
grqup in Europe. This group was
composed of the U. S. Fifth Army
and the British Eighth Army. Un
til his return home to go to the
West Coast he Was postwar U. S.
military governor in Australia.
News of the World
At A Glance —
#
Tuesday. August 23. 1949
(Bv The Associated Press)
Moscow stepped up its propa
ganda war against the Yugoslavia
government of Premier Marshal
Tito today.
The propaganda barrage still
gave no hint of what effective ac
tion the Kremlin will take against
communist heretic Tito. Such ac
tion had been threatened by the
Soviet.
A pro-Russian spokesman, vice
premier Gheorge Gheorghiu-Bej
of Romania asserted last night
that Tito is “plotting to set ablaze
the Balkan powder keg.” He made
the charge in a speech before
8,000 Romania communists in
Bucharest.
At the same meeting. Marshal
Klementi Voroshilov, a member of
the Soviet politburo, said Tito is a
j “traitor who has become the most
bitter enemy of the Soviet Union
I and the people’s democracies.”
So far it has been a wordy war
of nerves with the recalitrant Tito
| striking back as hard as he is hit.
British newspapers said the Sov
iet threats are akin to the lan
guage of Hitler before he march
| ed his troops into neighboring
countries.
Both Moscow newspapers, Prav
da and Izvestia, played up the
Russian-Tito quarrel today. The
newspapers, in cartoons, portray
ed Tito as a fascist and a tool of
Wall street.
A Czech communist newspaper
in Prague said Tito’s government
is fascist and warned it is the pol
icy of the Soviet Union to ‘‘exter
minate fascism wherever it may
i appear—now as during the war.”
Chinese communists were
) poised, ready to strike into the
province holding Canton, nation
alist provisional capital. General
issimo Chiang Kai-shek burned
to Canton with other nationalist
| leaders to try to forestall any Can
I tonese move for a quick local
peace with the Reds. The national
ists plan to make Chungking their
capital, if and when Canton falls.
Former premier Paul Reynaud
( of France urged today that the
! council of Europe’s consultative
I assembly become an elected body.
I In a speech at Strasbourg. Rey
naud advocates the assembly be
1 come a regular legislature, elected
by the peoples of the 12 nations
supporting the European council.
The communist strike offensive
in Finland dwindled today as the
Finnish government offered to re
store original wages to pulp work
ers in one struck town. The action
was seen as a move to end nation
al labor strife. Employers said the
government’s new stand is a re
treat in the face of communist
threats.
Wednesday, August 24. 1949
The North American treaty for
mally becomes effective today
when France deposits her note of
ratification in Washington.
The pact of collective security
ties in the defenses of the United
States with Canada and 10 Euro
pean nations. It comes into west
ern powers focus international at
(Continued on Page Eight>