m NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LII. No. 13 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1950 Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands
(/P)—The 743-ton German ship S.
S. Fidamus has sunk near the
German island Borkum, the Bri
tish tug Rumania reported by ra
dio yesterday.
The radio message, picked up
here, said the Rumania rescued
eight survivors and that a search
for eight other missing crew
members was continuing.
PARIS, (JPy— Russia today re
jected France’s note of protest i
against Soviet recognition of the
rebel, anti-French regime in In
dochina.
SEATTLE, (/l1)—Pacific North
ern Airlines reported today that
Robert P. Pheasant, of Cordova,
will become district sales mana
ger at Juneau. Clarence (Toby)
Perry has been named to succeed
him at Cordova.
FAIRBANKS, (/P)— Snowshov
els compete with schoolbooks
here.
District Attorney Everett Hepp
has warned merchants and towns
people they are contributing to
the delinquency of minors by hir
ing students to shovel snow off
the walks during school hours.
Some s c h o o 1 c hildren have
missed as many as ten days in the
past three weeks, earning up to
$10 a day playing hookey and
cleaning sidewalks.
KETCHIKAN. (tf») — The cold
and lonely mission of trapper
John Kristovich is just about
over.
He arrived here via Ellis Air
Lines from Masset, B. C., appar
ently none the worse for wear
from his sea and land wanderings
since Jan. 8.
On that day he left his home at
Tombstone Bay near the south
end of Portland Canal in his 38
foot troller.
The vessel became disabled. He
drifted for nine days before he
could beach the small craft on
Graham Island, 90 miles across
Dixon Entrance Strait from the
Alaska Panhandle.
He packed provis ions and
equipment from his boat with
him, and trekked in zero weather
for eight more days on foot before
reaching Masset.
He stopped over here briefly
before continuing home to Tomb
stone Bay.
-- - —
WHITTIER, Calif. t/P) — More[
than 16 years after the disastrous
Southern California earthquake
of 1933, this city is getting around
to repairing its high school audi
torium.
The quake damaged room sup
ports and beams and the building
was abandoned. It has been for
bidden territory for students ever
since. The city once decided to
remodel it, then learned a larger
building was needed because of
an increase in the number of stu
dents.
Now workmen are ripping off
the roof. Using the original walls
they will convert it, at a cost of
$381,000, into a classroom and li
brary building.
Search For C-54 1
Will Continue Till
Plane Is Found
(By Ray X. Harvison)
WHITEHORSE, Y. T., (/P)—A
pickup of faint radio signals on
the “distress band” raised hopes
anew today in the far-flung search
for a missing C-54 transport and
the 44 persons aboard.
The U. S. air force four-engine
plane, bound for the States from
Alaska, has been missing since
last Thursday. The greatest
search in far north aerial history
has been pressed for it.
The report that another U. S.
air force C-54 had picked up the
weak signals came from Fort Nel
son, B. C.
Hours later, search coordinator
headquarters in Whitehorse con
firmed that it had received the
report from Fort Nelson.
A plane was ordered to take off
before dawn with special radio
technicians. They will concentrate
on locating the faint signals and
tracing them, if possible, to their
source.
A fleet of search planes will
follow in an intensified sweep of
the region, about 450 miles south
east of Whitehorse.
The area where new hope was
revived is about 80 miles east of
Watson Lake in the Yukon, close
to the Yukon-British Columbia
boundary. It is about 130 miles
northwest of Fort Nelson, B. C., a
main point on the Alaska High
way airline route.
The first report of the weak ra
dio signal came from Lachlan
MacDonald, an Anchorage Times
reporter. He was aboard the C-54
cargo-carrying plane that picked
up the signals while flying south
(Continued on Page Three)
“Mighty Mo” Free
Of Bondage
NORFOLK, Va., (/P) — The
“Mighty Mo” broke her bonds
with the bottom of Chesapeake
Bay today and floated free and
safe into deep water off Thimble
Shoal.
She yielded finally to a savage
team of tugs, high tide, northeast
wind and straining winches after
two weeks of forlorn helplessness
aground.
Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith,
who quarterbacked the straining
effort to free the 45,000-ton bat
tleship, sent a message at 7:30 a.
m., that took the blush of embar
rassment off the face of the fleet:
“Missouri reports for duty.”
The message went to Admiral
W. H. P. Blandy, Atlantic fleet
commander, and it was a perfect
going-away present. Blandy re
tires from the navy today and is
turning over his command to Ad
miral William M. Fechteler.
Admiral Blandy had prompt
words of praise for Smith and the
2,000 men who worked under him
in the salvage operation.
The Missouri has been anchor
ed in Chesapeake Bay, near the
mouth of Hampton Roads, await
ing her turn to drydock.
U. S. Will Develop
Hydrogen Bomb
W A S H I N GTON, (A>) — The
United States is*going ahead full
blast on development of a hydro
gen super bomb in an obvious ef
fort to win the atomic arms race
with Russia.
Only an agreement which
would bar atomic weapons in all
countries including Russia, under
a tight system of international
control, can now banish this pros
pective weapon from American
arsenals.
The state department is revis
j ing American policy on interna
tional controls — reportedly in
j eluding the possibility of a new
approach to Russia—but whether
^ anything will come of such stud
ies remains to be seen.
The decision to go ahead with
! work on the hydrogen bomb, ex
: pected to be vastly more destruc
tive than the original a-bomb,was
announced by President Truman
yesterday. He said he had reach- j
ed his conclusion under his “re-1
sponsibility as commander in
chief of the armed forces to see
to it that our country is able to
defend itself against any possi
ble aggressor.”
Congress gave overwhelming
approval today to the decision
and put emphasis on speed in do
ing so.
Through much Capitol Hill
comment ran the theme: “we can’t
let Russia get ahead of us.”
No announcement by the chief
executive in recent months has
been hailed with such unanimity
of approval as Mr. Truman’s
statement yesterday that he has
directed the atomic energy com
mission to proceed on the new
weapon of destruction.
Potash Workers
End Long Strike
- <
CARLSBAD, N. M. (JP)—Potash |
workers have agreed to end a two
and one-half month strike against
three firms here, a company
spokesman announced yesterday, j
Rufus Poole, speaking for the
producers, said he was notified
early westerday morning that the
strikers would resume work pro
vided the companies would stop
hiring non-union replacements.
Poole said the companies—In
ternational Minerals & Chemical
Corp., United States Potash Co.,
and Potash Company of America
—would accept these terms.
Around 1,500 potash workers
walked out Nov. 19, they demand
ed 25-cent hourly increases in pay
and improved working conditions.
The union says basic pay of the
workers averages $1.60 an hour; .
company officials say workers’
earnings average $2 an hour.
Settlement of the dispute prom
ised to relieve a reported short
age of potash which is a vital in
gredient of artificial fertilizer. A
national labor relations board of-1
ficial, who declined to be quoted
by name, had said the shortage
could be more serious to the na
tion than the coal or steel strikes.!
Search Plane
Crashes In Hunt
For Missing C-54
(By Lachlan MacDonald)
(Anchorage Times Reporter)
W H I TEHORSE, Y. T., (JF) —
Backtracking on an heroic search
pilot’s trail through waist deep
snow led a rescue party to five
other crash survivors, early yes
terday as the great C-54 plane
search pressed on.
The survivors, three reported
injured and the other two “all
right,” were being brought to a
military camp hospital.
They crashed 21 miles south of
this Yukon base Monday w’hile
engaged with more than 50 other
planes in the search for a missing
U. S. air force C-54 transport with
44 aboard.
The rescue party slogged
through five miles of waist deep
snow to the C-47 search plane
crash scene at the base of isolated
Caribou Mountain.
The party followed the trail
(Continued on Page Six>
Chamber Holds
Good Meetings
—
The Northwestern Alaska
Chamber of Commerce held their
annual dinner meeting Monday at
the Bering Sea Club with a capa
city crowd in attendance.
Following the dinner President
Harper introduced several guests
including Scout executive Russ
Apple and his wife; Mr. and Mrs.
P. Gerrard, of Manson-Osberg
Co.
Under committee reports John
McNees told of the Chamber’s ac
tivity in investigating the rumor
ed closing of Marks Air Force
Base and how the activities of his
committee have brought about a
review of the situation. He stated
“as a group the Chamber can be
only as good as the number of
people participating,” and “many
things can be accomplished for
the good of the community if
more would enter into the neces
sary work.”
A. Polet read a communication
direct from the Secretary of De
fense giving further clarification
and hope that the Base might be
retained.
Charles Fagerstrom spoke on
the subject of reservations which
has been before the Chamber and
which they have opposed many
times in the past years.
Speaking for the Alaska Native
Brotherhood he stated that his
group was not in favor of reserva
tions for the native people but
that in the case of the Shungnak
and Barrow natives which mat
ter is pertinent now the organ
ization is waiting to hear from
them before taking further action
to see how they feel about it.
Many protests were voiced
against the reservations and the
ill results of other reservations
which have been maintained by
our government for many years
for Indians.
The housing committee headed
by Ted Duffield reported that
(Continued on Page Three)
News of the World
At A Glance - - -
Tuesday, January 31, 19S0
(By The Associated Press)
France looks on the recognition
by Russia of the anti-French Ho
Chi-Minh regime in Indochina as
“an act of very great gravity.”
The Soviet venture into the ex
plosive Indochinese situ a t i o n
made that far eastern rubber and
rite rich land a hot spot in the
cold war.
Russia has denounced the
French-suported Bao Dai regime
as a ‘puppet government” repre
senting only a small group of re
actionaries.
Paris observers said Russian
support of the communist-led
rebel forces in Indochina might
lead to another situation like
Greece, where American arms
finally tipped the scales against
the communist guerrillas.
The Russian diplomatic move
came only a few hours after a re
port from Washington said secre
tary of state Dean Acheson had
sent greetings to Bao Dai express
ing the hope of establishing closer
relations. Britain is expected to
recognize Bao Dai next week and
the United States, it was antici
pated, would follow suit.
The Russian move came as the
three month’s old French coali
tion government of Premier
George Bidault was facing a crit
ical test in the national assembly.
The Bidault cabinet squeaked
through three votes of confidence
on the Premier’s tax demands
but suffered an unexpected set
back with a tie vote on a vital
part of the 1950 budget.
During the debate Bidault re
ferred only briefly to the tense
Indochinese sitaution. He said:
“We have serious political
problems facing us.”
The Russians today resumed
their “creeping blockade’’ of east
west truck traffic in Germany.
There was no reason given for the
renewal of the blockade which
had been lifted yesterday.
Western officials in Berlin who
have .repeatedly protested the
stalling actions of the Russians
said the matter would have to be
settled by the western high com
missioners and the Soviet com
mander, Gen Vassily Chuikov.
Wednesday, February 1, 1950
United States commanders in
Japan called on the joint chiefs of
staff today for more military
might in the Far East.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his
top men are conferring in Tokyo
with Gen. Omar Bradley and the
head of the navy and air force.
They said that the military situa
tion has deteriorated alarmingly.
They asked for more air, sea and
land strength to hold the Ameri
can Far Eastern defense perim
eter.
The position of Indochina com
plicated by Russian recognition
of the regime of Moscow-domin
ated Ho Chi-Minh—was among
the political subjects discussed.
France yesterday warned Rus
sia that the recognition of Ho, the
enemy of France, might gravely
(Continued on Page Five)