m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. L. No. 17 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1948_PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
SEATTLE (/P)—An elderly man
whose papers showed he had bank
deposits and treasury bonds worth
more than $11,000 was recovering
at a Seattle hospital today from
the effects of exposure after being
removed from a deserted hotel by
police.
Patrolmen F. G. Wengorra and
J. W. Wright identified the man
as Harry Buerkle, 76. They said
he was dressed in tattered cloth
ing and had his feet wrapped in
rags when he was found in the
abandoned hotel.
LAKE SUCCESS, <^P) — The
United Nations little assembly will
meet Feb. 24 to decide what to do
about Russia’s refusal to permit
the U. N. Korean commission to
enter northern Korea.
WASHINGTON, (/P) — Lee
Pressman has resigned the job of
CIO chief counsel which he held
for 12 years. He wants to be free
to help Henry Wallace run for
President.
MOCLIPS, Wash. (JP) — After
sifting several bushels of ashes,
Tony Norberg found a diamond
ring belonging to Mrs. Percy
Houghton whose home burned to
the ground Jan. 26 in a fire that
destroyed two-thirds of the Mo
clips business district. Norberg
used the same technique he prac
ticed in earlier days as a miner.
SEATTLE, </P)—Shipments last
month from the Seattle port of
embarkation included 17 shiploads
of flour and wheat, 20,739 tons of
rock phosphate fertilizer and 12,
362 tons of pease and seeds for
Japan, Korea and Okinawa. The
wheat and flour, totaling 171,222
tons, were for civilian consump
tion.
TARANTO, Italy, (JP) — Vice
Admiral Forest Sherman assumed
command of the United Merlter
ranean fleet Saturday in ceremon
ies aboard his flagship, the cruiser
Portsmouth.
MOUNT VERNON, </P) — 200
packages prepared by school chil
dren for overseas shipment were
destroyed Friday as an early
morning fire swept through the
one-story Vaux building in the
business district. They were stored
in Red Cross headquarters which
was badly damaged by flames that
also spread to a dental clinic,
photo studio and doctor’s office.
Loss was estimated at more than
$20,000.
SHANGHAI, </P)—'This Chinese
metropolis increased its police
force by 1,000 men Saturday be
cause of fears the worsening eco
nomic situation might result in
new riots.
P H I L A D ELPHIA, (ffi) — An
earthquake was recorded on the
Franklin Institutee seismograph
at 8:10.12 a.m. (EST) today and
Dr. Goy K. Marshall said it prob
ably occurred in Kamchatka on'
the eastern end of Siberia.
Dr. Marshhall said the quake
was registered at a distance of
5,300 miles from Philadelphia. It
may have been felt in the Aleu
tian Islands, he said, adding there
was no destruction.
Much Damaged
Done To Shipping
In N. W. Storm
(By the Associated Press' j
A gale that battered shipping
off the Pacific Northwest coast
and took the lives of five seamen
over the week-end was weakening i
fast today.
Winds up to 75 miles an hour
and mountainous seas had imper
iled some 160 men aboard eight'
vessels in two days, had grounded
a freighter, swamped and sank a
fishing boat and damaged others.
Injuries were numerous among
fishermen and sailors in the storm
area.
The gale, born off the Aleutians
in the North Pacific last Thurs
day, reached its full fury Satur
day and early yesterday. Waves
have now subsided and the wea
ther bureau said the southwester
would blow itself out sometime to
day. Winds were down to 25-30
miles an hour velocity.
Six crewmen of the fishing
boat Fearless were rescued by the
coast guard cutter Balsam early
yesterday eight miles off Tilla
mook Rock, Ore. They had sur
vived a night long battle with seas
that swept away the pilot house,
| flooded the engine room and in
j jured one of the crewmen. Their
| plight was expressed by crewman
Bill Lodwig, Portland, who said
i “I’ve never been so close to
1 death.”
Four fishing vessels, a small
! Puget Sound mail boat and the
tankers Tidewater and J. L. Han
; na were battered by the storm.
The freighter Colorado grounded
in Coos Bay, Ore. It was refloat
ed at high tide yesterday.
Three Canadians drowned when
their fishing craft sank 350 miles
north of Victoria, B. C., Saturday.
Tanker crewman Jack O’Brien,
55, Portland, was swept overboard
from the Tidewater off Cape Flat
tery. The fifth victim was Peter
Anderson, Astoria, drowned when
a dinghy capsized at the mouth of
the Columbia. Anderson was one
of two seamen rowing to take a
pilot off the Dutch freighter Over
ijsel. His companion was saved.
Suspect Maharajah
Planning Gandhi’s
Assassination
NEW DELHI, (/P)—The govern
ment announced Saturday it was
investigating the state adminis
tration of a Sikh maharajah for
possible complicity in the Gandhi |
assassination.
The Official Gazette said the
MaharajahTej Sing, and his prime
minister Dr. N. B. Khare, are di
rected temporarily to remain out
side their state, Alwar.
This was ordered to permit the
unimpaired investigation of al
leged “support or connivance of
the Alwar state administration”
into the activities of Rashtriya
Swayam Sevak Sangh (National
Volunteer Corps), and “its possi
ble complicity in the assassination
of Mahatma Gandhi and other se
rious crimes.”
The RSSS is an extremist or
ganization.
Strikes Seek To
i
Force U. N. Party
From South Korea
_
(By Roy Roberts)
SEOUL, Korea, (/P) — Wide-;
spread sabotage of rail traffic and
telegraph communication lines
was reported Saturday—incidents
regarded by U. S. authorities as
pressure to force the United Na
tions commission to leave Korea.;
Handbills circulated through
out South Korea called for a gen
eral strike. Two notices delivered
to Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, U. S.
occupation commander, warned of
a three-day strike to force the
comission’s departure.
The commission voteftl Friday to
refer back to the U. N. little as
sembly the problem of conducting
elections preliminary to Korean
independence. Russia’s refusal to
permit entry into North Korea has
stumped the commission.
I The U. S. Army, which occupies
| South Korea, reported a 12-car
train was derailed about 30 miles
east of Seoul, and that tracks
were damaged elsewhere in five
places. Gauges, valves and drive
; rods were removed from 49 loco
motives.
Telegraph «lines from Seoul
were cut in many places.
The army announced 22 persons
had been arrested.
“All along,” said Hodge, “I’ve
, been expecting physical efforts to
sabtage the work of the commis
■ sion.”
He added, however, that no
; troop alert was planned because
1 “there is nothing to indicate that
(Continued on Page Four)
Tanana River lee
32 Inches Thick
NENANA—The ice on the Tan
ana River averages about thirty
two (32) inches thick. We had over
a foot of snow this last week and
this will protect the ice from the
sun and increase its thickness.
The tripod on the river is being
erected this week, and is a first
class job.
Will let you know conditions'
of the Pool every week, and w.il,
test the ice for thickness at least
once a week.
Chas. Wilson,
Manager Nenana Ice Pool
Aid Plan Will Help
Britain Keep Gold
EDINBURGH, Scotland, (/P) —
Sir Stafford Cripps hopes the|
Marshall plan will enable Britain
to stop using up gold reserves,
"all that now stands between us,
and disaster.”
"Even if, as we hope, we get aid
under the Marshall plan, that will;
not re-establish our reserves,” he
said Saturday. “It will help us, we
hope not to draw on them further;
it will give us time in which to
carry through those measures
which are essential to our full re
covery.”
Britain has drained $613,000,000
worth of gold out of the sterling!
area’s reserves since September,
in order to buy imports.
Ohio River Rising
Rapidly As Ice
Dams Stream
CINCINNATI, <>P) — The Ohio
river rose three and a halt feet
between 5 and 8:30 a.m., today as
a mass of packed i.ce broke loose
at dam 36.
Located at Coney Island just
above Cincinnati, the ice moved
slowly down stream, endangering
tied-up shipping valued at mil
lions of dollars.
A spokesman for the navigation
section of the Ohio river division,
corps of engineers, said:
“It looks like the river ice is
really on the march.”
The engineers said they had
“received a report” at 9 a.m., that
a gorge was beginning to form in
the river at Anderson’s Ferry, just
below the downtown section of
Cincinnati.
The engineers said they had
“scattered reports” of damage to
boats and barges, tied up for more
than two weeks because of the ice.
The lockmaster at the Coney Is
land dam said the flow of ice there
i “is the heaviest I’ve ever seen.”
Earlier, the engineers had de
scribed a shore-to-shore jam ex
tending from Addyston, O., 15
miles below Cincinnati, down
stream to Madison, Ind., as “the
key to the situation.”
Should that section gorge, they
added, “the river really would be
dammed.”
■ ■- — ■ —-—- ■ , — —
j Many Moslems
Killed In Battle
In Kashmir
NEW DELHI, (/P)—'The Indian
army said today 2,000 Moslem
raiders were killed Friday in the
greatest battle of the Kashmir
campaign.
Another 2,000 were declared
wounded in the engagement near
Naoshera, 50 miles northwest of
Jammu, capital of the southern
Kashmir province of Jammu.
The predominantly Hindu and
Sikh forces of the Indian army
were led by a Moslem. Brig. Mu
hammad Usman.
An official spokesman said 11,
000 attackers struck in waves, us
ing heavy automoatic weapons, i
They were repulsed in daylight
but came back at night for hand
to hand combat featuring sword
play. The spokesman did not re- j
port Indian losses. Newspaper dis- [
patches said two of the slain ap-!
peared to be foreign officers.
The army said it captured quan
tities of munitions and was heav
ily shelling Moslem positions. Ma
chine gun and mortar fire were
returned.
Indian and Kashmir - s t a t ej
forces have been fighting Moslem
tribesmen in Kashmir since last
October. India, in which the sate
now is included, has accused the
neighboring Pakistan of support-,
ing the tribesmen, the dispute is
before the United Nations secur-'
ity council.
In India, two rival Moslem or
ganizations were under govern
ment ban today in the latest after
math to the assassination of Mo
handas K. Gandhi.
Might Consider
Splitting Alaska
Into Two States
WASHINGTON <£>)—Chairman
Butler <R.-Neb.) of the Senate in
terior and insular affairs commit
tee believes the important ques
tion for Alaska is “developing the
Territory—not of statehood.”
Butler, who visited all sections
of Alaska last summer with other
members of a sub-committee, re
ported to his committee:
“During recent years, public
discussion of Alaska by people in
the 48 states has centered chiefly
on the question of whether the
Territory should be granted state
hood.
“It seems to be evident that the
all-important question is that of
developing the Territory — not
statehood.
“I suggest that if we center our
attention on this problem of de
velopment, we shall make faster
progress.”
The Senator said that south
eastern Alaska will be ready for
consideration as a potential state
“long before the rest of the Terri
tory has reached that stage of de
velopment. particularly if the
pulp development is as successful
as is hoped.
ihe Panhandle is almost com
pletely cut off physiaclly from the
rest of the Territory and already
contains the bulk of the popula
tion. In that case, it might be ap
propriate to consider splitting the
Territory in two.”
Butler said the value of Alaska
“is strategic rather than ecdho
mic.”
He said that Alaska approaches
Russia closer than any other part
of the United States approaches
any other major power.
“la the new strategic world of
air attack and defense, Alaska is
bound to be a key point of nation
(Continued on Page Five)
Peak Of Business
Activity Reached
WASHINGTON. f/P) — A dozen
top businessmen believe the peak
of business activity has been
reached, if not already passed.
But their two-fold prediction to
government experts a week before
the market break that fa) infla
tionary dangers are fading and
fb) a price dowmtum is ahead still
draw’s a don’t-be-too-sure reaction
from at least one federal econo
mist.
The views of the corporation
exeuctives wore outlined at the
first of a series of six meetings
suggested by the government.
There are being arranged by
Prentiss Coonley and Ernest A.
Tupper, private business consul
ants.
Reporting on the first session,
Coonley and Tupper said one big
farm machinery company forecast
a general price drop “after the
middle of the year. ’’Others in the
group represented railroads, in
surance, banking, merchandising
and food precessing. They predict
ed factory building wrill decline
from 1947 but home building will
hold up as costs decline.