HE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. L. No. 20. NOME, ALASKA. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1948PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF j
—
W A S H I N GTON, (£>) — The
House banking committee voted
18 to 5 today to extend present
rent controls one month beyond
the February 29 expiration date.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (£>)—Mor
decai Brown, one of the all-time
great pitchers in major league
baseball, died in Union hospital
Saturday. He was 71.
NENANA. (/P; —The tripod on
the ice was completed and paint
ed Saturday. Friday night the
temperature got down to 44 below
zero. The ice is 33 inches thick at
the pole. Ticket sales are going
fine reports manager Charles Wil
son.
MENDOZA, Argentina, (/P)—A
five-man team climbed perilous
slopes to the top of Aconcogua,
the highest peak of the Western
Hemisphei'e, last week.
The climb up the 23,081-foot
Andean mountain was made by
Mexicans R. Garcia and A. De
Soto, Chileans A. Velazquez and
A. Nergacio, and Argentine Daniel
del rio Lobos. They were the first
scalers of Aconcagua to use radio
and meteorology.
*^OKYO, (/P) — The Japanese
ministry of justice was abolished
Saturday, in its 78th year. Replac
ing it is the office of attorney gen
eral, which opened today.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—The old
est man in Congress is running
for re-election at the age of 84.
Rep. Doughton (D.-N. C.) an
nounced his decision today.
He has represented the Ninth
Carolina district for 19 consecu
tive two-year terms.
Doughton said in a statement he
had been thinking of retiring, but
the folks back home persuaded
him “not to step aside during
these perilous years.”
■■ ■— "■ ... . n
ROME, </P)—The story of two
small boys that they saw a statue
of the Madonna move, as if in
breathing, sent thousands of pil
grims over mountain roads to the
city of Assisi Saturday. The statue
is atop the 16th century church of
Santa Maria Degli Angeli.
BRUSSELS, </P)—The newspa
per Le Soir said Saturday Regent
Prince Charles will fly to the
United States April 3 and will be
received by President Truman in
Washington April 6.
DETROIT (/P)—Police are look
ing%for a pie-faced bandit.
The man tried to snatch Mrs.
Charlott Cloar’s purse from under
her left arm Sunday as she walked
along a street. Mrs. Cloar swung
with her right, in which she was
carrying a pumpkin pie.
“Whooo,” gasped the bandit,
and ran.
NANKING, {Jf) — The official
Central Daily News said today
China may resort to barter to
keep its rice bowls filled.
Hie newspaper said plans are
afoot to trade soy beans, bristles,
tungoil and tea for rice and other
food stuffs. The government also
U. S. Appeals To
Middle East To
Use Restraint
WASHINGTON, </P)—President
Truman has made personal and
direct appeals to other govern
ments for “restraint in dealing
with the Palestine situation.”
His press secretory, Charles G.
Ross, today gave out this brief
statement:
“In an effort to prevent the
spread of disorder in the middle
east, this government has, during
recent months, addressed appeals
to certain interested governments
stressing the importance, in the in
terest of Middle East security and
world peace, of the exercise of re
straint in dealing with the Pales
tine situation. Some of these ap
peals were made directly by the
President.”
Ross’ statement, on which he re
fused to elaborate, was prompted
by questions growing out of a ra
dio report that Mr. Truman had
appealed directly to the kings of
Saudi Arabia and Iraq to use their
influence to prevent a spreod of
violence.
Ross said he could not “go be
yond that” when he handed out
the brief typewritten statement.
He added the President’s messages
“of course were confidential.”
Court Refuses To
Halt Picketing
OLYMPIA, OP) — The state su
preme court in a 6 to 3 decision
Friday upheld a lower court’s re
fusal to enjoin picketing *of the
motor ship Garland.
The injunction had been sought
in King county superior court on
behalf of Heinie Berger and 13
others operating as a limited part
nership under the name of the
Aleutian Islands Navigation com
pany. The ban was asked against
the sailors union of the Pacific
and its agent Edward L. Coester.
The labor union contended that
the partnership was “mere sham”
and the monthly drawing accounts
of the partners were really wages.
Berger insisted the ship was op
erated by a limited partnership
and was chartered from the Ber
ger firm at a cost of 60 per cent
of the profits.
The union picketed the ship in
February, 1947, and longsohremen
refused to load the ship, the high
court’s opinion said.
The supreme court majority
held a labor dispute existed,
“hence injunction will not lie to
prohibit the union from peaceful
ly picketing . . . the ship for the
purpose of completely unionizing
the vessel’s crew of which four
were members of the union.”
is seeking grants of food from
other nations to supplement al
ready substantial American com
mittments of wheat and rice.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (JP) — Thev
didn’t let Billy Hughes, Jr., keep
his first tooth very long.
Billy was born at 2:54 o’clocK|
Wednesday afternoon. An hour
later doctors extracted the tooth
when they found it was loose.
Synthetic Fuel
Answer To
Oil Shortage
WASHINGTON, (/P)-Two Con
gressional committees heard some
grim news today about the na
tion’s future oil supplies.
1. Secretary of Interior Krug
told the House interstate com
merce committee this country can
not continue to take 63 per cent of
the world’s oil consumption from
31 per cent of the world’s re
serves. Synthetic liquid fuels are
the answer, he said.
2. The navy informed a House
armed services subcommittee that
it has not found anything except
traces of oil in Alaska, but it still
has hopes.
Krug recommended that the
government finance construction
of three commercial-size plants to
produce synthetic fuels. One
would use oil shale, another coal,
and a third gas.
Private companies should oper
ate the plants, Krug said, but gov
ernment help will be necessary to
get them started because a private
operator could not afford to com
pete with natural petroleum.
Commodore W. G. Greenman,
director of naval petroleum re
serves, asked that Congress appro
priate enough money to carry the
navy’s Arctic exploration pro
gram through 1953. He said the
navy has spent about half the
$9,600,000 appropriated in 1945 to
finance the work through 1949.
The results so far in Alaska
have been only encouraging, he
said. Oil has not been found in
commercial quantities, he added,
but drilling everywhere has dis
covered oil-bearing sands.
Three wells have been drilled at j
Umiat, Greenman said, and onej
yields 24 barrels a day. Several
more promising cores have been
drilled at Cape Simpson.
Greenman said the Alaska basin'
is promising because it is believed
the Russians are producing oil
north of Yakutsk in Western Si
beria. If they are, he said, theyj
are drilling on the other side of |
the basin which the navy is ex
ploring.
Greenman said the navy estim
ates it will cost $20,000,000 to fin
ish the Alaska exploration. How
ever he did not ask for any spe
cific appropriation.
CIO NMU Secy.
To Be Deported
NEW YORK, (TP) — Ferdinand!
Christafer Smith, national secre
tary of the CIO national maritime
union, was arrested today on a de
portation warrant charging he is
an alien communist.
Smith, a native of Jamaica,
British West Indies, and a long
time NMU official, was picked up
by federal agents at his home in
Harlem. He was taken to Ellis Is
land.
The deportation warrant charg
ed that Smith was, at the time of
his entry into this country and
afterwards, a member of an or
ganization advocating the violent
overthrow of the U. S. govern
ment.
Floods, Tornadoes
Hit Central States
(By The Associated Press*
Rivers surged out of their banks
driving hundreds of families from
their homes in the south Saturday
and the casualty count from Mis
sissippi tornadoes increased.
The Red Cross reported nine
persons dead and 42 hospitalized
at Newton, Miss. The east-central
Mississippi town suffered the
brunt of Friday’s twister damage.
The report, from the Red Cross,
said 50 homes at Newton were de
stroyed, 20 badly damaged and
about 75 other buildings either
destroyed or damaged.
A second tornado which struck
10 miles south of Monticello flat
tened two houses.
For the hundred driven from
their homes the weather was not
kind. Added to the misery of the
water was a forecast in the four
effected states — Tennessee, Ken
(Continued on Page Four)
Truman To Ask
For More Aid
For Greeee
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman told Congress today he
will ask more money for military
assistance for Greece and Turkey.
Mr. Truman gave this word to
the legislators in a report on use
of the $400,000,000 they voted last
year to help the Greeks and Turks
resist communism.
He did not say how much will
be asked.
Last year’s fund for $300.00,000
for Greece and $100,000,000 for
Turkey.
In a letter sent to Congress with
the report on use of this money,
the President said Greece has been
subjected to “ever higher increas
ing pressure” by a Communist mi
nority subservient to “foreign in
fluences.”
Sen. Thomas Asks
Not to Be Bothered
WASHINGTON, (JP) — Senator
Elmer Thomas told Senators in
vestigating grain and cotton spec
ulation today that he doesn’t want
to be “bothered” any more about
his “private activities.”
The Oklahoma Democrat, who
has admitted speculating on com
modity markets, wrote a Senate
appropriations sub-committee that
that applies, too, to his assistants.
If he or they are “bothered,” he
said, “then I shall consider such
activity unjustified and unwar
ranted attacks upon myself and
my assistants.”
And he said he would regard
any further interference with the
business of his Senate office as
“an insult to the sovereign state of
Oklahoma.”
The sub-committee, headed by
Senator Ferguson (R.-Mich.), has
been inquiring generally into
speculation. It began the investi
gation after President Truman de
nounced speculation on commodi
ties and blamed it for sharp rises
last year in grain prices.
Chinese Reds Hold
Four IJ. S. Marines
SHANGHAI, </P)—U. S. Marine
planes dropped leaflets Saturday
in Chinese Communist areas near
Tsingtao in an effort to open ne
gotiations for release of four lea
thernecks held by the Reds.
A spokesman for the U. S. em
bassy said the navy was in contact
with the Communists and “is do
ing everything possible to arrange
their release.”
<At Tsingtao, a marine corps
source said it was difficult to com
municate with “proper communist
authorities” because they are con
stantly on the move. U. S. naval
headquarters there had no com
ment.)
The Chinese Communist radio,
in a broadcast picked up by The
Associated Press in San Francisco,
confirmed yesterday that five ma
rines were captured Christmas
Day and one of them had died of
wounds.
Embassy cources at Nanking
I said there was no hint of an ulti
matum that the captive marines
would be harmed unless U. S.
forces left China.
NEW YORK, (JP)—Pfc. Charles
J. Brayton, Jr., 19-year-old U. S.
marine killed by Communists in
China, had been stationed in that
country two years and was due
home this month on furlough, his
‘parents said Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Brayton
(Continued on Page Four)
‘Unveil’ World’s
Biggest Diamond
At British Fair
LONDON — A ‘’fountain of dia
monds” cascading over two tiers
of gold and platinum may sound
like a magic treasure pile of Alad
din. But it’s no fairy tale. The dis
play will sparkle under the eyes
of thousands of visitors from all
parts of the world this spring at
the 1948 British industries fair.
This fair, the world’s biggest, will
run simultaneously in London and
Birmingham from May 3 to 14.
Many of the gems to be display
ed will soon travel the Atlantic
from Britain to Fifth Avenue
show cases, eventually to rest in
many a prized jewel case through
out the United States.
Central attraction in the dia
mond section of the fair will be
the 770-carat Woyie River dia
mond—the largest uncut diamond
in the world today—which was
found in Sierra Leone. It will be
on public view for the first time.
This famous stone, discovered in
1945, is the third largest diamond
ever found. Forty-four carats
heavier than the Jonker, it has
been surpassed in size only by the
3,106-carar Cullinan found in 1905
and the Excelsior of 995.7 carats,
found in 1893.
Stranger than any circus side
show will be the exhibit of freak
diamonds—the only collection of
its kind in the world. The most
remarkable item in this, group is
a gold nugget with two diamonds
one white and one green, actually
imbedded in it.