OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_,
VOL. T.TTI No. 65 NOME, ALASKATfRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1951 _Per^Copy—15^
Wide-Open Price
War In New York
Department Stores
NEW YORK, (/P) — Bargain
grabbing customers stripped some
store stocks bare today in the
third day of New York’s wide
open price war.
Opening gongs at big depart
ment stores found hundreds surg
ing against barriers at entrances.
As soon as the way was clear
they ran and stumbled down stair
ways and escalators, each dash
ing to get a front-row post at a
•particular sales area.
Here were some of the lower
prices listed in various stores tor
day, compared with the manufac
turer-set retail prices that pre
vailed before Tuesday:
Lewyt vacuum cleaner, $52.97
vs. $89.95.
Toastmasters, $14.72 vs. $23.00.
Mixmasters, $26.59 vs. $46.50.
The big price war developed
suddenly this week, in the wake
of a United States Supreme Court
ruling that retail prices set by
manufacturers are not binding on
stores that have not signed Fair
Trade agreements.
Although the extreme price
cutting thus far is limited to New
York, trade sources were divided
in opinion whether it eventually
would spread elsewhere.
Mrs. Mildred Hermann Is
Honored By National
Federation Press Women
SEATTLE, UP) — Mrs. Mildred
Hermann of Juneau was among
the women honored by the Na
tional Federation of Press Women I
today.
A story she wrote for the Alaska
Sunday Press was rated the sec- :
ond best news story in a weekly
paper, among the entries in the
group’s national competition. Mrs.
Hermann is a Juneau attorney.
RFC Orders 3-Cent
Cut In Price of Tin
WASHINGTON, (IP)—The Re
construction Finance Corporation
ordered another three-cent cut in
its price o*f tin today in a new
effort to drive down the world
price.
The cut, the fourth in a row,
was from $1.39 to $1.36, a pound.
The RFC price is the one at
which it sells the metals to Am
erican producers.
Lee Wallard Wins 35th
Annual Memorial Day
Race With 126.244 MPH
INDIANAPOLIS, (£>)—Lee Wal
lard, 40, won the 35th annual 500
mile Memorial Day auto race at
a record-smashing pace which left
only eight cars on the track at
the finish.
Wallard, o*f Altamont, New
York, took sixth place last year,
and seventh place in 1948. His
average speed for Wednesday’s
race was 126.244 miles. per hour.
Placing second was Mike Naz
aruk of East Meadow. Long Is
land, and in third place was Man
uel Ayulo of Burbank, Calif.
There were no serious accidents
in the race.
Memorial Day Celebration
Safest Since End of War
(By the Associated Press)
The nation’s celebration of
Memorial Day appears to have
been one of the safest since the
end of World War II.
The death toll in violent acci
dents—116—was one of the low
est for a single Memorial Day
holiday in several years.
A new record low was set in
the traffic death -toll. The 71 killed
on the highways was far below
the National Safety Council’s es
timate of 110.
The Safety Council, noting that
the toll was running below the
estimate, termed the record “a
marvelous achievement.” Millions
were on the highways for the
season’s first holiday outing.
Navy Officer Calls
U.S. Foreign Policy
“Red-Inspired”
WASHINGTON, (JP) — A Navy
officer, fired for writing a letter
that called the Roosevelt-Truman
Acheson foreign policy Commun
ist-inspired, said today his views
are shared by “an overwhelming
majority” of American fighting
men in the Far East.
Former Lt. William H. Evans,
Jr., 27, of Edgwater, Md., said
there is widespread belief among
officers and men of all services
engaged in the Korean war that
the State Department is “the en
emy behind the enemy.”
That contention already has
been disputed by Admiral Forrest
P. Sherman, chief of naval opera
tions, who disclosed Evans’ dis
missal in questioning at the Sen
ate MacArthur investigation Wed
nesday. Sherman declared he did
not think that was so and said a
thorough investigation showed
Evans’ shipmates did not share
Evans’ views.
At a news conference the curly
headed ex-officer produced a copy
of the letter that led to his dis
missal and said he felt it was his
duty to write it.
In the letter Evans referred to
Secretary of State Acheson as
“Red Dean Acheson” and spoke
of “ihis pro-Red gang.” He wrote
also of “that pro-Soviet, one
world administration of ours and
our senile, ignorant Congress.”
Evans wrote the letter to Alfred
Kohlberg, New York importer and
administration critic, while serv
ing as assistant operations officer
of the Destroyer Rogers off the
coast of Korea last April, and gave
Kohlberg permission to publish it.
ANNAPOLIS, Md., (/P)—A select
company of Navy men welcomed
a new “anchor man” today —
Midshipman John G. Alvis of
Palos Verdes, Calif.
He finished at the foot of -his
class.
Graduating midshipmen save a
special cheer at every commence
ment for the new ensign farthest
removed from the honor man. Al
vis finished at the bottom of this
year’s order of merit for 722 grad
uates.
The 23-year-old midshipman is
the son of a retired navy officer,
Capt. John D. Alvis. He hopes to
be an aviator.
Acheson On Stand
In Far East Probe
WASHINGTON, (iP)—Secretary
of State Acheson took the witness
chair today in the Senate’s Mac
Arthur inquiry, but the first two
hours brought only debate over
whether to make public a 1949
State Department document deal
ing with Formosa.
Some members of the commit
tee have said the document in
dicated Formosa might fall to the
Communists and questioned its
strategic value. Formosa is the
island where the Chinese Nation
alist forces took refuge after they
were driven from the mainland
by the Communists.
Senator Tobey (R-NH) told re
porters he would cast his ballot
against making it public since the
State Department contended “It
is in the best interest of the
country that it remain confiden
tial.”
But Senator McCarthy (R-Wis)
said he had listened to a reading
of the text at the closed door
sessions of the inquiry panel. He
told reporters: “I don’t think its
release would endanger the secur
ity of the country. It might en
danger the security of Acheson.”
Since the present hearings be
gan, all the top U.S. military men
have testified Formosa should not
be allowed to fall into the hands
of an enemy.
1,060,000 Words Recorded
In MacArthur Inquiry
WASHINGTON, (JP) *r- When
Secretary of State Acheson took
•the witness chair today, the Sen
ate hearing on the dismissal of
Gen. MacArthur already had piled
up 1,060,000 words of questions
and answer testimony.
The estimate was made by
Ward and Paul, secretarial firm
taking the official transcript. That
wordage would make a shelf of
books of usual novel size.
The hearings are in their 24th
day. Six witnesses preceded Ache
son.
U. S. Chamber Commerce
Urges Congress Abolish
Price and Wage Control
WASHINGTON, (/P)— The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce urged Con
gress today 'to wipe out the gov
ernment’s authority to control
wages and prices and adopt in
Jheir stead an indirect program to
combat inflation.
Herman Steinkraus of Bridge
port, Conn., president of the
Chamber’s executive committee,
said in a statement prepared for
the House Banking Committee,
that price controls can only ag
gravate the inflation program by
stifling production and that the
present Wage Board is encourag
ing wage boosts rather than con
trolling them.
CAB Grants Ellis Air Lines
Permit Fly To Prince Rupert
WASHINGTON, (£>)—'The Civil
Aeronautics Board today author
ized Ellis Aiir Lines to establish
regular passenger and cargo ser
vice between Ketchikan, Alaska,
and Prince Rupert, B. C. The air
line is a Southeastern Alaska ser
vice.
Two Valdez Men Killed In
Early Morning Joy Ride
VALDEZ, Alaska, (A5) — An
early morning aerial joy ride
killed two men early yesterday.
The victims were Stanley
Knuteson, 25, Alaska-born war
veteran, and a youth still un
identified.
Joe Dieringer, owner of the
crashed Luscombe plane, said he
was not aware his plane was miss
ing until informed of the tragedy.
The plane was heard flying low
over Valdez after 4 ajm., and
crashed on the flats a mile and
a half north of here presumably
at 4:30 a.m., the time shown on
Knuteson *s smashed wrist watch.
Knuteson is survived by his
widow, four young children, and
two sisters.
North Pole Flight
“Awfully Easy”
Says Blair
NEW YORK, (IP) — Charles
*
Blair, the first man (to fly alone
over the North Pole in a single
engine plane, says the record trip
was “awfully easy” but he doesn’t
want to do it again.
The 41-year-old airlines pilot
flew across the top of (the world
Tuesday in his converted F-51
Mustang fighter plane, (the “Fly
ing Gas Tank.” His 3,300-mile
non-stop flight from Bardu, Nor
way, to Fairbanks, Alaska, took
10 hours and 27 minutes.
About eight hours later, Blair
took off from Fairbanks and flew
another 3,450 miles non-stop to
New York, where he arrived at
3:40- p.m. Wednesday.
Blair said he is ready to dis
pose of his plane which he used
to set a non-stop transatlantic
record last January when he flew
it solo from New York to London
in 7 hours and 48 minutes.
During the 9-hour and 31-min
ute trip from Alaska to Idlewild
Airport, Blair ate only a beef
sandwich.
“I didn’t eat when I was going
over the pole,” he said “because
I didn’t know how to do it through
an oxygen mask.. But I learned
on the way here. The trick is to
take a deep breath, take off the
mask, take a bit and then put the
mask back on.”
He told newsmen he flew
around 25,000 feet over the polar
area and encountered tempera
tures as low as 25 degrees below
zero.
Blair carried 3,000 letters with
him across the pole. They were
cancelled at Fairbanks and will
be auctioned off in New York for
the Damon Runyon cancer fund.
Mrs. Clark Gable Files For
Divorce, Sails To Honolulu
HOLLYWOOD, (/P)—Mrs. Clark
Gable sailed for Honolulu today
after filing suit for divorce yes
terday.
Described as “a woman on the
verge of a nervous breakdown,”
ithe former Lady Sylvia Ashley
boarded a schooner yacht last
night and immediately secluded
herself below deck.
Her breakup with the 50-year
old screen he-man came less than
18 months after their marriage,
the fourth for each. charged
mental cruelty.
President Truman
Intervenes Iran
Oil Crisis
TEHRAN, Iran, (/P)—President
Truman intervened personally to
day in Iran’s oil crisis. He sent a
letter to Premier Mossadegh urg
ing that negotiations be instituted
with Britain forr settlement of the
present “explosive” situation.
President Truman’s letter was
delivered by U. S. Ambassador
Henry F. Grady at Premier
Mossadegh’s home this morning.
Mossadegh reportedly is sick in
bed with a fever.
Informants in Tehran said the
presidential note apparently was
inspired in Washington from the
State Department and not by sug
gestions from diplomats on the
scene. This seems to emphasize
the importance President Truman
attaches to the oil situation. An
earlier U. S. statement said the
crisis is a threat to the unity of
the whole free world.
Soviet Press Reports
North Koreans Kill
U. S. Paratroopers
MOSCOW, (/P) — The Soviet
press reported today that seven
Americans, dropped by parachute
behind the North Korean lines,
have been captured.
(The' account indicated such
paratroopers were being killed.)
A dispatch from the North Ko
i rean capital of Pyongyang said
i the Koreans are showing “great
1 vigilance” in nabbing such para
I -troopers. t
“The local population,” said the
I dispatch, “catches them quickly
and destroys them. During recent
; days, thanks to the vigilance of
i peasants, seven American diver
sionist - parachutists have been
caught in various regions of
j Northern Korea. They had been
dropped from planes.”
—
King County Restaurant, Hotel
Workers Postpone Strike
SEATTLE, (/P) — A strike of
10,000 King County restaurant,
hotel and tavern workers, set to
begin at midnight last night, has
been postponed two weeks.
Meantime, workers will con
sider a new employer proposal
offered at midnight last night.
KOREAN SITUATION
(By the Associated Press)
Communist troops bitterly op
posed Allied patrols along the
125-mile Korean front except «at
the two ends of Hwachon reser
* . i
voir. Gains up to two miles were
reported near Hwachon.
On the western front, an Am
erican staff officer said Chinese
appeared to be digging in to “re
sist any further Allied advance
toward the Ghorwan-Kumhwa
Pyongyang supply triangle.”
Reds streamed into new posi
tions north of the 38th parallel
to defend the concentration area,
starting point of their ill-fated
spring offensives.
American seaborne air bases
were augmented by the arrival of
the big U. S. carrier Bon Homme
Richard. She sent her fighters
over Korea Thursday (for the first
time. Pilots reported excellent re
sults in hitting Red-held ridges
near Hwachon.