THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER .Editors
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, October 8, 1947
Fire Prevention Week
Since president Harding’s administration Fire Pre
vention Week has always been celebrated in the Unit
ed States and Canada during the week that includes
October 9th, the anniversary of the Chicago fire of
1871. This year, President Truman and the govern
ors of the several states and territories have designated
the week of October 6 to 12 as Fire Prevention Week.
In reality, every day should be Fire Prevention
Week, just as the spirit of Christmas should not be
limited on the calendar to December 25th. Anything
worthwhile to be truly effective is dependent on con
tinual day-to-day application. This is especially true
in fire control for by concerted daily thoughtfulnesss
we can prevent 90 per cent of all fires just by observing
a few simple rules—mainly good housekeeping. Sav-j
ing our lives and property from fire is as simple as
that.
Yet it has been a habit in our national week ob
servances to put our maximum fire control drive on
during Fire Prevention Week. The more success
ful and complete we make the 1947 Fire Prevention
Week Campaign, the longer its lessons will remain
with us throughout the year. Public education will
prevent fires.
—
One of the first group activities in America con
cerned with fire prevention and fire protection oc
curred in 1569, when Governor Peter Stuyvesant of|
New Amsterdam (later New York) purchased and:
distributed 250 leather buckets and a supply of ladders
and hooks. A tax of one guilder for every chimney,
in the town was alsov instituted for the maintenance
of this equipment.
The post of “Fire Chief” seems to have been inaug
urated in this country by tKe appointment of a “Brent
Master” in 1689, to supervise the fighting of fires in
a little town which was to become New York City.
The first U. S. fire fighting organizations of any im
portance were “fire societies,” volunteer organizations'
composed of friends and neighbors who combined
fire control with social entertainment. In time of
fire, societies confined fire fighting activities to mem
bers* property only. Admision to the “society” was
looked upon an a warrant of social standing.
The first known police regulations on fire were in
Paris in 1371 when each householder was bidden to
place a hogshead of water at his door.
Lightning caused a fire in St. Paul's Cathedral in
London in 1444. Water being scarce, fire was exting
uished with vinegar. A fire was also extinguished in
Chatham, England in 1774 with beer.
Carelessness
Carelessness is the largest single cause of fire. A
community and its homes may be well-planned, but
fires will occur if we smoke in bed or are generally
careless with matches and smoking; if inflammable
cleaning fluids are used or stored in the home; if
papers, rags, magazines, old furniture and the like
are accumulated in attics or basements, and closets;
or if we misuse or fail to repair defective electrical
equipment.
If all the homes in the United States, Canada and
Alaska had efficient heating plants properly installed
and adequately safeguarded; if roofs were covered
with fire-resistant materials; and if electrical wiring
was adequate and sound, the residential fire loss would
be cut approximately 50 per cent. Additional con
struction features to look for include fire-stops in
walls; and use of non-combustible interior finish ma
terials. j
"COME AND 6ET IT!**
“Now, If I Was Down In Washington""
(The Gilcrafter)
THAT’S JOE TALKING. Every night when he stops
in for his coffee and sinkers he has plenty to tell the
boys about how the government should be run. Maybe
he’s right and maybe he isn’t.
The important thing is that he can say what he thinks
—out loud. Right in front of Tom Burke, the cop. He
couldn’t doihat in Russia ... or in any of the nations
that have been “liberated” by the New Order.
But Joe is an American.
And because Joe is an American, he has more privil
eges—and more opportunities—than can be found any
where else in the world.
If he doesn’t want to work for somebody else, he can
operate a business of his own—anywhere. Joe is a free
agent. His future is under his hat. Like millions of other
Americans on the way up, Joe can cash in on a way of
life that has brought America the highest standards of
living in the world—by a big margin.
American boys fought for the inherited right of all
of us, wherever we live, or whatever we do, to live our
lives the way we want to live them. And when those
boys came home they wanted to find again, the basic
rights and freedoms on which this country was built.
We Americans—all the Joes, the Tom Burkes and
everybody else—130 million of us—have more to fight
for than any other people in the world. Our stake in
victory is our free way of life. Let’s guard it faithfully!
Private Flying
(New York Times)
After a burst of overoptimism, the personal aircraft
industry dropped into a good deal of a tail spin. En
couragement is to be found, however, in studies of
airport use which have now been made public by the
Air Transport Association. These show that for the
first half of this year civilian private aircraft have an
overwhelming mapority over both airline transports
and military aircraft in airport utilization. Itinerant
and local flyers using such private craft accounted for
more than 74 percent of the landings and take-offs in
that period, as against about 16 percent for commer
cial carriers and 9 percent for army and navy airplanes.
The figures, which are based on summaries furnished
from control towers of the Civil Aeronautics Admin
istration, show that there has been a 61 percent gain
in landings and take-offs as a whole in the United
States and its possessions during the six months. The
growth of its peacetime flying is clearly reflected by
these statistics. Actual movements of aircraft in
creased to 8,219,290 from 5,103,130 in the period as
compared with the corresponding months of 1946, it
self a banner year.
Certainly these figures should stimulate the move
ment to increase and improve the existing system of
airports, especially those best suited to personal air
craft, so that a still wider utility may be provided for
the private airplane. The two pilots now flying round
LOOKING
r AHEAD
ft GEORGE itENSON
k Pruidett—JtirtOuf Mpr^
I to/ry. AAmm
I ■ mj
Planners Dream
“With more miners at work
and more machinery, Britain is
producing 15,000,000 tons less
coal per year than in 1941.”
This statement by Mr, Churchill
aptly describes the results of
nationalization. It is striking
that whereas England used to ex
port large quantities of coal, she
is now importing as much as
600,000 tons from the United
States in the present quarter.
This is the picture 18 months
after nationalization of Bria n’s
coal industry was begun.
Last summer in England l bad
a conference with Mr. Michael
Young, head of the research de
partment of the Labor Party, and
their chief economist. Thirty or
so years of age, tall and slender, 1
Mr. Young expressed great con
fidence in England’s program of
nationalization of industry. He
hoped the program would pro
ceed rapidly to include all in
dustries, and he was confident
it would bring full employment,
high productivity, and greater
prosperity. Mr. Young’s hopes
remain in the dream stage.
What Results
High British officials came to
Washington last month. They <
wanted to discuss new terms on
the American loan. A London
report of their interview with
secretary of the treasury John
Snyder tells of Mr. Snyder ask
ing the British officials “Why
nationalization had not produced
more coal and if it has hampered
output.” Mr. Snyder was also
firm in inquiring whether Bri
tain, under the scheme of nation
alization, was “still going to be 1
a solvent concern.”
Failure Evident
This slow-down in the program
doubtless came because those in
dustries already nationalized have
shown no long-term improvement
in productivity. In coal mining
there was at first an upward surge
of output. But soon the gain wore
off, and turned into a dramatic
loss. This experiment in gov*t
ernment of industry simply did
not come through. Other in
dustries are learning in the same
manner.
The Labor government, which
has urged more construction of
houses, now finds it necessary to
reduce its quota of new houses
by 80,000. The use of petrol is
to be cut down by one-third; for
eign travel is to be reduced by
one-half. An individual can now
buy only 20 cents worth of beef
a week. The fact that the food
situation is extremely critical
plus the failure of nationalized
industries to get production led
to the passing of Britain’s Crisis
Bill.
Dictator Low
This unprecedented law pro
vides powers over people, mon
ey, and property more sweeping
than anything England has ex
perienced. The British press de
scribed the Bill as giving the gov
government power to:
1. Direct labor within an in
dustry or from one industry to
another.
2. Replace inefficient manage
ments in any industry by gov
ernment nominees, which will
the world in Piper Cubs are dem
onstrating that even the least
costly of the little fellows can
go places.