Panama Refuses
To Grant U. S.
Air Bases
(Continued from Page One;
signed Dec. 9 because of opposi
tion to the pact.
Alfaro’s successor, Floren c i o
Arosemena, quit yesterday, a few
hours before the assembly voted,
because of his party’s opposition
to the agreement.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—Rep. En
gel <R.-Mich.) suggested yesterday
that the United States construct a
new Atlantic-Pacific canal outside
Panama if that nation insists upon
denying defense bases there.
Engel, chairman of the House
appropriations subcommittee on
defense, told reporters:
“There is no doubt in my mind
but what the act of the Panama
national assembly was influenced
at least in port by the Communist
movement in the Canal Zone.”
American government officials
said United States forces will con
tinue to use the bases despite the
assembly’s vote, under a previous
agreement.
Panama disputes that inferpre
tation of the 1942 agreement. En
gel said that if Panama continues
its present attitude “it leaves us
no alternative but to look to a
new canal site and stop develop
ment of the present site.”
Truman Celebrates
First Christmas In
White House
(By Ernest B. Vaccaro)
WASHINGTON, (^—President
Truman celebrating Christmas in
the White House for the first time,
had a merry greeting today for all
who came his way.
He invited all White House em
ployees—from maids to aides—
into his oval office for a personal
handshake and an exchange of the
traditional “Merry Christmas.”
Later, at 5:16 p.m. (EST) he Ar
ranged to greet the entire nation by
radio after clicking on the lights
decorating a huge living Christ
mas tree on the south lawn of the
executive mansion grounds.
Upwards of 15,000 persons were
expected to witness the ceremony
k at first hand, and television cam
eras were to broadcast the scene
for the first time.
The President’s sister, Miss
Mary Jane Truman of Grandview,
Mo., and Mrs. Truman’s family
are spending the holidays in the
White House.
After breakfast Christmas day,
the Trumans and the Wallaces will
gather around the family tree on
the second floor to open their pres
ents. Later a turkey dinner, with
all the customary trimming?, will
be served.
Mrs. Truman’s mother, Mrs. Da
vid Wallace; her brothers, George
and Frank, and their families
from Independence, Mo., and a
brother Fred, of Denver, all will
participate in the observance.
Mrs. Truman, Margaret, and the
Wallaces plan to attend midnight
services tonight at a nearby Epis
copalian church. Mr. Truman, a
Baptist, likely will remain in the
White House since his churci is
not planning a similar service.
«N. C. STORE CLOSED
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
In appreciation of tha fine co
operation of our employees during
the Christmas rush we are giving
them a two-day holiday. Well be
open as usual Saturday morning.
N. C. STORE
British Deport
850 Illegal Jews
HAIFA, Palestine, (A*) — The
British transport Ocean Vigor,
sailed for Cyprus late yesterday
with about 850 visaless Jewish
immigrants from an intercepted
refugee ship. Sick passengers and
their relatives, 26 in all, rema ned
in Palestine.
Passengers said the immigrant
vessel, a two-masted schooner,
had been at sea 13 days. She was
intercepted Monday while trying
to run the Palestine blockade and
was escorted to the port of Haifa
by two British destroyers.
* Troops of the sixth airborne di
vision transferred the immigrants
to the British vessel, for shipment
*o Cyprus’ detention camps.
At the same time 303 Jewish
refugee children arrived here
from interment in Cyprus to enter
the “Promised Land’’ under a spe
cial chillren’s quota authorized by
the British.
The children were taken to a
camp near Haifa for processing.
They are to be cared for by the
Jewish agency.
Jews aboard the refugee ship
said they came mostly from Ro
mania and Hungary. Among them
were about 150 children, includ
ing two babies born during the
voyage.
An American correspondent
identified as Meyer Levin was
taken off and detained, along with
two other men and a woman po
lice said the latter were French
motion picture workers.
- —
Pope Broadcasts
Christmas Message
i
VATICAN CITY UP)—Pope Pius
XII, in his annual Christmas mes
sage, declared today that a “policy
of insincerity” among nations was
blocking the path to peace and
called for a “league of honest
men” to safeguard the world
against war.
The Pontiff specifically blamed
“a growing tendency toward in
sincerity” for collapse of the re
cent foreign ministers conference
in London, which he said had left
the world “further than ever from
the true peace.”
He sharply condemned those na
tions which, he said, had adopted
“the lie and the garbled word” as
“accepted weapons of offensive”
in an effort to “win at any cost
the battle of class interest.”
The Pontiff named no names in
placing the blame for the present
state of world affairs, but his
4,400-word address conta i n e d
many passages which western lis
teners, at least, interpreted as con
demnation of Communism and of
the postwar policies of the Soviet
Union.
Simon Benson
Safe In Port
HONOLULU <jP)—The freighter
Simon Benson, battered and torn
by heavy north Pacific seas,
steamed into the safety of Honolu
lu harbor last night.
The Benson, enroute to the Or
ient sent out an SOS Dec. 15, say
ing ihe heavy seas had split its
plates and that water was pouring
in on its cargo of rice. The rice
swelled and#threatened to rip the
ship’s sides.
“We dumped part of the rice,’’
said one crewman, “and then the
weather calmed and we were able
to make it without too much
trouble.”
Errol Flynn Gets
“Fat” Contract
HOLLYWOOD, (/P) — M o v ie
land was a-buzz yesterday over
Errol Flynn’s new 15-year con
tract with Warner Brothers.
It wasn’t the 15-years—in itself
a lifetime in quick-changing Hol
lywood. It was the flat $250,000
annally which reliable sources
said the actor will receive for just
one picture each year and the pic
ture not to consume more than 14
weeks of each year.
The rest of the reported terms
were equally staggering to film
land insiders: Flynn will be free
to do any other work he wishes
the remaining 38 weeks each year;
the studio will take out a Lloyds
of London insurance policy cov
ering him during production; and
the contract is uncancellable and
carries no options.
For 15 years, it figures up to
$3,750,000 gross income.
French Assembly
Passes Drastic
“Austerity” Bill
(By Carl Hartman)
PARIS, <i(P)—The national as
sembly sent to the upper legisla
tive chamber today a drastic new
“austerity” measure designed to
help pay for a two billion dollar
reconstruction program by drain
ing off funds of Frenchmen who
make more than $3,780 a year.
The Deputies passed the bill last
night, 300 to 268, with the far left
—the Communists — joining the
far right—the followers of Gen.
Charles De Gaulle—in opposition
to the government measure, which
was% entitled an “exceptional levy
in the struggle against inflation.”
The upper chamber, the Coun
cil of the Republic, was expected
to begin debate on the bill within
48 hours. The lower chamber was
scheduled to go to work on the
French budget for 1948, calling for
expenditures of 856,000,000,000
francs ($7,193,000,000).
The tax measure req u i r e s
Frenchmen to buy 130,000,00,000
francs ($1,092,000,000) worth of
government bonds or pay that
amount in taxes. The taxation will
be on a sliding scale levy on those
with an income of above 450,000
francs ($3,780) a year.
Funds raised will be used to
help, pay for a 230,000,000,000
franc ($1,930,000,000) reconstruc
tion program. The remainder of
the budget, under finance minis
ter Rene Mayer’s plans, will come
from aid furnished by the United
States.
One major purpose of the mea
sure was to drain off excess pur
chasing power.
Henry A. Wallace
To Broadcast
NEW YORK, i/P) — Henry A.
Wallace, former vice president,
“will state his own position on the
j 1948 election” in a coast-to-coast
broadcast over the Mutual net
work Monday night, Mutual an
nounced today.
Wallace will speak from Mu
tual’s Chicago studio from 4.30 to
4:45 p.m. (Nome time).
.The Progressive Citizens of
America has urged Wallace to
run for the Presidency as an inde
pendent candidate, a move which
has drawn commendation and op
position from various liberal and
labor groups.
Nugget Ads Bring Quick Results
Army Indoctrina
tion School
In Operation
PART III
NOME, Alaska — The students
of the Alaslcan Air Command’s
Arctic Indoctrination School* re
turned from their first night spent
on the tundra, wiser and inclined
to observe just a little more care
fully. During their day and night
spent in the fields, the men had
constructed typical shelters suit
able for barren country. The men
utilized the equivalent of a para
chute in addition to branches of
Arctic willow in the construction
of their shelters, gathering valu
able tips from the instructors as
they progressed. Tips such as us
ing available string or wire to help
form a secure skeleton., lor the
hut, figuring the prevailing winds
before constructing the shelters, to
gain additional protection from
nearby scrub willows and land
contours. During the first day in
the field the “survivors” fared on
parachute rations, a combination
of cheese crackers, candy, gum,
J bouillon cubes and cigarettes. The
'. fare, while not filling contains
sufficient energy to carry the men
along until they are sighted by air
craft of the Rescue units and more
filling rations can be dropped.
Upon returning to the school
headquarters, the men were put
through a thorough briefing on
how to survive on the ice pack, by
i Captain Strong, the commanding
: officer of the school. The subjects
covered were how to construct
snow caves, shelters and the build
ing of a snow hut (igloo to the
1 Cheechako or tenderfoot*. They
were informed with words and
diagrams on how to do such tilings
as catch fish through the ice, the
use of barbless hooks, and last,
[ the native invention of using twin
poles to fish with. The fisherman,
; upon snagging a fish, uses the
poles in a weaving motion, wind
| ing the line between the poles,
bringing the fish to the surface
without wetting his mittens or
gloves. The only danger of any
emergency structure, carbor mon
oxide, a by-product of oil fire,
was stressed heavily, with the men
learning how to make vents in
their shelters near floor level to
drain the gas as it is created. The
students were informed that their
fare, during the next two days,
days spent on the shore and ice
pack of the Bering Sea, would
consist of*Army Field Rations.
The next day, the men were
loaded into trucks to begin the
long haul from the school site to
the shore line west of Nome.
There they would be segregated
into airplane crews and under the
watchful eyes of the instructors,
would begin the sequence all over
again . . . the selection of a suit
able spot near their “theoretical”
crash scene and the beginning of
shelters. This time, however, the
shelters would be made entirely j
of ice and snow.
I
The students are now on the
second phase of their training,
they have lived and survived on
the tundra and after being rescued
have been “crash landed” on the
shore line of the Bering Sea. By
this time, the men have begun to
gain confidence . . . they have been
instructed, have seen demonstra
tions, and have carried out their
new-found knowledge. They know
the type of shelters that it is pos
sible to construct and the terrain
that best suits each type. They
know a saw is far superior to an
axe or knife in the Arctic when
•
It WAS A Beautiful
Christmas Tree!
• -
BROOKLYN, N. Y. I/P}— If Clar
ence Horn, Jr., wakes up this
Christmas and finds an iron rail
ing around his Christmas tree, you
can’t blame his father.
Last year, Clarance, Jr., at the
! age of 3, didn’t want to go to sleep
on Christmas Eve, preferring tp
stay awake to see Santa Claus.
This created a serious handica )
for Clarence Horn, Sr., faced wit!)
a seasonal decorating job.
But the Sand Man finally pre
vailed over Santa Claus and Pop
was able to get that job done.
It seemed to Horn that he had
just got to sleep when he was
awakened at 3 a.m., by Clarence,
Jr., dragging into the bedroom a
big Christmas tree leaving a wake
of baubles.
“Look, Daddy! What Santy
Claus brung me!” cried the de
lighted youngster.
Boy Wins Fight
With* Spinal
Tuberculosis
PHILADELPHIA, (/P) — Jimmy
Carrick—the 10-year-old victim of
spinal tuberculosis who was adopt
ed by the navy Seabees as the’r
: mascot four years ago—is due to
j arrive home today, Victor is hig
, valiant battle to walk.
Jimmy’s mother, Mrs. Lou s
j Carrick. was waiting yesterday as
I her son walked through the gate of
! Philadelphia’s Shriners hospital
| into her arms.
1 Behind that short walk was n
story of a youngster’s courage an t
determination — a determinateoi
that won for him the admiration
1 of Seabees at posts all over th‘^
i wo/ld.
i Jimmy, who was stricken wiV*
the disease at the* age of two, left
the hospital yesterday wearing •
! sailor suit sent him by the Seabe< ^
commander, Admiral J. J. Ewin ^
He was carrying a seabag brought
by his mother.
building with snow . . . they know/
that an injured man has a greater
chance to use a saw than an axe.
After their first night spent in
snow shelters, the students w:!>
realize that this type of shelter
far superior to most other types
of emergency shelters in the An -
tic .. . it is practically rain-pro* f
wind-proof, and very warm com
pared to sleeping on the open su -
face.
A situation typical of the A'r
[Forces, which will continue to ex
ist in the future, was demonstrate ♦
in a recent class. A group of pile's,
were enrolled,#who, four days pr -
or to their “crash” at the Aret e
Indoctrination School, had be* >
basking peacefully in the war i
sun in the southern United Stat< \
It is understandably human th: l
their comments such as “What’s
the sense of freezing us to deal >
before we get to know the coun
try” and “Why do we have to d *
holes ip these snowbanks in ord*■»*
to live” were forthcoming. This,
however, is a situation peculiar to
air force crews all over the glob \
They must be accustomed to rapid
change and adapt themselves
readily. It is certain that the grad
uates will never again utter such
complaints for they will know just
what may happen when the emer
gency arrives.
Many authorities believe that
scurvy has killed more soldie.s
than ever died in battle.