22 NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. XLVIII. No. 62. NOME, 'ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 1946 PER COPY — 15c
O.P.A. Executive
Testifies In Rate
Maritime Hearing
WASHINGTON, May 24
An increase of one hundred per-1
cent in the rates of the Alaska
steamship lines would add ten
million dollars to the annual
freight cost to Alaska businesses
and consumers would have to pay,
Donald O’Connor, OPA official,
^told in the Maritime Commission j
hearing in Washington.
O’Connor is the Price Executive
for the Territories and Possess
ions and gave his estimate dur
ing questioning by Attorney Gen
eral Ralph Rivers.
The Alaska Steamship Company;
originally asked for one hundred
percent increase to meet condit
ions when the fleets are now oper
ated by the War Shipping Admin-!
^ration, and were returned to
them.
O’Connor was one of the chief
witnesses at the hearing on WSA
application for increased rates to
Alaska.
Ira Ewers, counsel for the Al
aska Steamship Company, and
Albert Stephan, counsel for the
Alaska Transportation Company,
cross-examined O’Connor on his
testimony that the book value of
their ships had depreciated to
two million one hundred forty
thousand. Stephan contended the
cojppany didn’t include any ghost
ships in its compilation of data
to justify the requested increases
as O’Connor claimed.
Wage Increases
For Non Ferrous
jyjetal Industries
WASHINGTON, May 24, —(/P)—
The Wage Stabilization Board to
day issued the ruling, approving
increases not to exceed eighteen
l %nd one-half cents an hour for the
majority of the eighty-thousand
workers in non-ferrous metal in
dustry in the Rocky Mountain
West Coast and Alaska.
The approval means that comp
anies mey apply for increases to
ies may apply for increases to
offset the rise in wages by the
tact-finding board, which recom
mended the pay hike. The raise
applies to mining, milling and
smelting of copper, lead and zinc.
.n. ~ mam .m 11 —-■ - ' ~
JEEP TAKES TO RAIL S—A British Army engineer inspects a jeep which has been equipped
with new wheels so it can navigate the tracks of a short railroad in Burma.
Lewis Defers
“Until Further
Clarification”
WASHINGTON, May 24, —(/P)—
John L. Lewis deferred meeting
his two hundred fifty man policy
committee empowered to call off
the soft coal strike “until further
clarification” of the miners’ status
under the Smith-Connally Labor
Disputes Act, and notice to this
; effect was posted at United Mine
! Workers headquarters as the gov
ernment renewed efforts to avert
a new walk-out at the end of the
truce tomorrow.
Senator Green’s
Health Bill Is
Brushed Aside
WASHINGTON, May 24, —(/P)—
The Senate today rejected a pro-!
posal by Senator Green to legal-!
ize industrial health and welfare1
funds operated under rules laid'
down by the Federal Security Ad-1
ministration. He was impatient
to get a test vote on the pending
proposals to curb unions.
The Senate Brushed Green’s
plan aside with a 45 to 32 vote
after 12 hours debate. Charges
of filibuster were made against
opponents.
Rair Strike
Ties Up Coast
Fruit Industry
SANFRANCISCO, May 24,—
The great western railroads, serv
ing the farflung cities of the
Pacific slope, virtually ceased to
operate. A few trains were man
ned by supervisory crews, were
moving, but for the most part
the strike was effective.
There have been no reports of
violence.
The fruit industry, the West
Coast’s greatest, is jeopardized
by the rail tie-up. Some trans
continental passengers are strand
ed in email towns hundreds of
miles from their destinations. At
San Francik:o regular commuters
were forced to find other modes
of transportation to reach their
jobs.
President Siyns
Wage Bill For |
Federal Employees,
WASHINGTON, D. C. May 24,—
(K>)—President Harry S Truman
today signed legislation increasing
the pay of about a million federal
employees by fourteen percent, or
two hundred fifty dollars a year,
whichever is greater.
Truman makes
Strong Appeal
WASHINGTON. Ma 24. — (/P)—
President Truman today made a
strong appeal for a year’s exten
sion of the price control law,
“without amendments that jeop
ardize the economic stability.”
However, several members of
the Senate Banking Committee
predicted the President’s commun
ication will have little effect on
the legislation they are drafting.
NOTICE TO TEACHERS
FKOM SCHOOL BOARD
The following notice was given
to the "Nugget" this morning for
publication.
This agreement was made be
tween the Teachers on the Nome
Public School and the Nome Board
of Education at a meeting on i
May 21st., and should have been !
given for publication on the 22nd. I
"The Nome Board of Education
agrees to rescind its recent de
cision with the understanding that
the student will be given a grade
of Incomplete.."
Signed, W. J. Dowd
President, Nome School Board
Be Wise—Nugget Advertise
Kail Strike Tie-Up
Paralyzes Nation
j WASHINGTON, May 24, — </P)—
: With the country tied up by a
nation-wide walk-out in all rail
: way industries. President Truman
called a meeting for three p.m.
in the Whitehouse with top Cab
inet Labor advisers to canvass
“the whole strike situation.”
Presidentian Secretary Ross,
i who made the announcement, des
cribed the meeting’s purpose,
when asked whether it concerned
the coal or rail strike.
The Presidential mediators
1 worked feverishly to bring the
1 carriers and striking workers in
to agreement ending the paralyz
ing rail strike. There is a growing
urgency fed by the accumulation
of reports of impending food
shortages and vast unemployment
reflected in Whitehouse circles.
Postmaster General Hannegan
told reporters after a ninety-min
ute Cabinet meeting ‘‘We discuss
ed strikes and nothing but strikes
and did so emphatically, and in
tensely that Presidential labor ad
viser, John Steelman, talked to
leaders of the striking trainmen
and engineers, and then met rep
resentatives of the carriers as neg
otiations were formally resumed
in the Statler Hotel after a fruit
less session in the WYiitehouse
yesterday, while the Senate de
dates labor disputes legislation,
the House Labor Committee ord
ered investigation of the indust
rial unrest.
WASHINGTON, May 24, -(/Pi
Secretary of Labor, Schwellen
bach, called a conference next
Wednesday to discuss the work
stoppage scheduled for June 15,
with West Coast Maritime Work
ers and Longshoremen represent
atives.
Maritime Unions, ship owners
and the War Shipping Adminis
tration are invited to atend the
meeting to be held by the Labor
Department.
WASHINGTON, May 24, — (/!»>—
Railroad strike at a glance— —
On strike, two hundred fifty
thousand members of the Broth
erhood of Locomotive Engineers
and railway trainmen, and nearly
all of the one million two hundred
thousand members of eighteen
other rail unions were made idle.
The first effects of the first
country-wide rail strike since 1922
(Continued on Page Eight*