THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
N'omo. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 613
*1.50 PER MONTH *1*.©0 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER..Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1379.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, June 5,1946
OUR ATOMIC FUTURE
W HAT WOULD AN ATOMIC WAR be like? A
composite estimate of a slice of the future, including
atomic war, may be assumed from the testimony of a
group of men which was presented to the Senate Atom
ic Energy Committee.
Effects of the present type of atomic weapon, ex
ploded in the air, are generally known. If our next
enemy set one off within a few miles of you, you could
be killed either by the initial blast, by the 1,000-mile
per-hour winds which result, by the scorching heat,
or by radioactivity which exists at the moment of ex
plosion.
If the bombs are embodied in missiles which pene
trate well underground, they will produce quite differ
ent results. Exptres who have studied the question
anticipate “an earth blast—a ground shake—there is
no doubt that it would have great military importance.”
The Navy has announced that it will make tests
of the effect of atomic bombing on ships at sea. Sci*
entists know the rough answer already. An atomic
bomb will be more destructive under water than in the
air; a single depth bomb could sink a fleet disposed as
was the American one at Pearl Harbor.
But atomic technology will not stand still. Dr.
Irving Langmuir, a Nobel prize winner and General
Electric research executive, contends that five, 10 or
15 years hence “it is almost certain that we will have
atomic bombs a thousand times as powerful as those
that now exist, by means that are now undiscovered.”
Or, if no more powerful weapon is achieved, a far
cheaper means of constructing them could be found.
Then, he suggests, an enemy could deliver 300,000 of
them to America—“enough to treat every square mile
in the U. S. the way Hiroshima was.” There would
then be no value in dispersal, no chance of retaliation.
Not 60 percent of the American population would be
left.
The experts are working toward such bigger and
better explosives now, says Major General Groves,
chief of the Manhattan project.
The United States, being a democracy, is poorly or
ganized to initiate a blitz war. The aggressor will
have a brilliant advantage in the next conflict, no mat
ter how large a stockpile of atomic bombs his victim
may have on hand. If a small proportion of atomic
weapons gets through a defender’s barriers, the des
truction will be sufficient.
“At the present moment every imaginable effort
is engaged in the problem of intercepting planes, rock
ets, missiles,” says Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer, the man who
headed the Los Alamos laboratory. I am sure that
progress will be made along these lines—this problem
may be solved.”
Surely if atomic bombs are made, it will be no
great trick to deliver them. Piloted and pilotless
planes are being improved. Work is being done on
high-angle rockets of the German V-2 type, and they
may eventually be powered by atomic energy released
gradually instead of explosively.
Dr. Vannevar Bush, who headed the government’s
secret weapon agency, the Office of Scientific Research
and Development, believes it will not soon be feasible
to send the bombs 3.000 miles, but he says it will be
quite possible to make V-l type buzz bombs go 2,000
miles. Even if technology should be lacking, ingenu
JceiURM TRIV
ity may be able to do the job.
Several agents with suitcases could smuggle the
materials for an atomic weapon into any city basement
and assemble it there, the scientists testify. Time fuses
could set a series of them off to destroy metropolitan
centers.
How would an atomic war turn out?
It could result in a world government—run by an
aggressor who struck fast and hard enough.
It is just possible that an attack might be anony
mous. We would not know which of several rivals
had decided to eliminate us. But if we know or con
jecture our enemy, we will probably counter with at
omic weapons.
When supplies of atomic bombs are exhausted,
remnants of the nations involved would finish the war
by other methods, General Groves believes. Dr. Har
old C. Urey, Nobel prize winner and a leading figure
in atomic bomb development, thinks this could happen,
but he says unless extreme dispersal has been accomp
lished, the President with his Cabinet and Congress
will presumably be destroyed, together with the heart
of industry and transport. So he’s inclined to believe
the battle would languish, as people hunt for open
spaces and food.
This is the story of the scientists, who are not
statesmen nor military leaders. They may be wrong.
But they impressed the Senators and at least some gen
erals and admirals.
They offer no sure escape from the future they
depict—but they do suggest some alternatives.
I
;
I
I
|
By MARY LEE COUNCIL
Secretary to E. L. (Bob) BartlotL Dalogato to Congroa* from Alaska
Flood Control
Three Alaska projects urged by
Delegate Bartlett are included in
the omnibus flood control bill re
cently introduced in the House.
Reconstruction of the existing
dike at the Alaska Native Serv
ice sanatorium in Skagway would
be authorized if the bill becomes
law, together with reconstruction
and extension of the dike adjac
ent to the city. A 300-foot ex
tension to the existing break-wat
er at Skagway is also embraced
in the measure along with restor
ation of that break-water. The
t>—.--— --
Chief of Engineers estimates the
proposed project will cost $438,
000 for new work and $10,000 an
nually for maintenance.
Preliminary surveys and exam
inations of Chena Slough at Fair
banks and Gold Creek at Juneau
looking toward flood prevention
are also requested of Congress in
the measure.
Shipping Strike
Delegate Bartlett has urged ad
ministration officials to make pro
visions for the operation of ships
in the Alaska trade by the Navy
Department should the pending
i maritime strike become effective.
Government negotiations aimed (
I at averting the strike, due June
1 15 on both the Pacific and Atlan
tic coasts, are now under way
: with the maritime unions dem
anding wage increases ranging
from 22 to 35 cents an hour, re
troactive to October 1, 1945.
Surplus Property’ Discount
Boy and Girl Scout organiza
tions in the Terriotry may ob
tain surplus property at a 40 per
cent discount from "fair value,”
according to a ruling recently if
sued classifying these groups as
educational. Regulations formu
lated under the Surplus PreperW
Act had previously listed pub
lic health and educational institu
tions as eligible for the preferen
tial discount.
Other non-profit tax-exempt in
stitutions and organizations, such
as private and public welfare
groups, volunteer fire companies
and orphanages may purchase
surplus war property on a pre
ference basis at “fair value.”
which is a price not greater than
the lowest price at which the
same or similar merchandise is
being offered in commercial chan
nels at the time of sale and, gen
erally, is equivalent to the price
a wholesaler would pay a manu
facturer. Insofar as welfare or-^
ganizations and institutions pro
vide, as an integral part of their
programs, essential medical
training, rehabilitation or nuk
ing services, they may also be eli
gible for the 40 per cent discount.
Alaska Tariff Schedules on
Kuskokwim River
The tariff schedules of the Al
aska Rivers Navigation Company
will be investigated by the Mari
time Commission in its forthcofl^
ing rate hearing of freight and
lighterage companies in the Ter
ritory.
In its original order naming
Lomen Commercial Company,
Kotzebue Sound Lighterage Com
pany, Northern Commercial Com
pany, Shishmaref Native Store, *
Kuskokwim Freight Service, Sar
ah Sumi Freighting Service, Chas
A. Traeger and Kobuk Naviga
tion Company as respondents, the
Maritime Commission charged
that transportation rates have been
charged “higher than warranted”
and that a complete investigation
, into the rates, fares, charges, reg
ulations and practices of these
companies would be made.
The Alaska Rivers Navigation
Company operates between Bettjf
el and McGrath on the Kusko
kwim River.
Cost of Living in Alaska
A study based on the average
purchases of moderate-income
families in Juneau, Anchorage
and Fairbanks as compared with
Seattle, together with an examin
ation of relative average rents for
four and five room dwellings with
standard facilities, reveals that4
such costs were 15 percent higher
in Juneau in March 1945, 41 per
cent higher in Anchorage and 48
percent higher in Fairbanks than
in Seattle.
Food costs in March 1945, were
30 percent higher in Juneau than
in Seattle, 53 percent in Anchor
age, and 64 percent in Fairbanks,
according to the recently release^
study of the Labor Department’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Clo
thing costs were not so high, and
showed a 13 percent increase ov
er Seattle in Juneau, 31 percent