2 THE NOME NUGGET Monday. January 30. 1950
THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME. ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P* O* ®°x
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher ...Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, January 30, 1950_
NENANA ICE POOL
In response to several inquiries concerning facts
about the annual Alaskan event known as the Nenana
Ice Pool we wish to inform our readers that due to an
existing U. S. Federal Law in reports to postal regula
tions, newspapers have been restrained from making
any mention of the event under penalty of suspension of
the use of the mails.
For the past thirty years this event has been held and
has been carried in the papers of the Territory as well
as in the States and not until last year was it considered
illegal to do so, when the postmaster refused the mails
to the Anchorage Times for printing the story of the
winning prize.
The Nugget, like all newspapers in the Territory,
wishes to stay within the law and will comply. However
it is hoped that such a law which suppresses valid news
may be rectified in the near future.
PLANE FARES LOWER THAN RAIL
Eastern railroads were recently given permission to
increase passenger fares twelve and one-half per cent.
With previous increases granted, passenger rates in the
territory affected are now about forty-five per cent
above pre-war levels.
The railroads, of course, have their reasons for the in
creased fares. They say that it costs three times as much
to operate a train as it did in 1939.
The fly in the ointment is that the new rail fares are
higher than its costs to fly. A first-class rail fare from
New York to Chicago, with lower berth, is $48.64. First
class air fare is only $44.10. Obviously, there will be
many passengers to fly instead of using the trains.
CONSIDER U. S. TAXPAYERS
The arrival of Chinese Communist troops at the fron
tier of Indo-China leads Leon Bignon, French High
Commissioner for Indo-China, to announce at Saigon
that any crossing of the frontier would be resisted by
150,00 French troops who would disarm and intern any
Chinese Communists who cross the border.
This much was expected of the French Government,
which probably will ratify an agreement recently made
with the head of the Viet Nam regime in Indo-China.
In Paris, however, alert diplomats have not overlooked
the fast that President Truman has at his disposal $75,
000,000 for aid to China, for which there is no present
use.
The suggestion, theretore, is made that this tund
might be used to strengthen the French army in Indo
China by way of discouraging invasion from the North
or to reduce the burden of that army on this year’s
French budget and thus diminish the danger of infla
tion in France.
It is a novel idea, in the theater of international rela
tions, to suggest that one country meet the expenses of
another to reduce the financial burden and diminish the
threat of inflation. By the same token, some one in the
United States should suggest that the withholding of the
$75,000,000 will relieve a small part of the strain on the
American taxpayer.
WARNS OF SABOTAGE
The American people are warned that a “disciplined
army” of Communist agents is ready to sabotage Amer
ica in even of war with Russia.
The warning comes from S. Arthur Devan, a na
tional defense analyst of the Library of Congress’ legis
lative reference service. He says that many of the Com
munists are American citizens “who may be expected
to work against the nation in the event of war with a
Communist power.” He does not think that the nation
can be complacent because Nazi agents in the last two
world wars failed to execute successful sabotage at
North Atlantic
Allies Agree On
Arms For Europe
(By John Scali)
W A S H I NGTON, (/P) — The
United States and eight North At
lantic allies signed agreements
I Friday that will govern the flow
, of $1,000,000,000 worth of Amer
i ican arms to Western Europe’s
| defenses against possible Russian
attack.
It was the last-step-but-one be
fore guns, tanks, planes, ships
and raw materials begin moving
under the aid program Congress
approved last year.
The final step is President Tru
| man’s approval of the secret mas
ter plan worked out last month by
military chiefs of the 12 Atlantic
Pact countries. This is expected
| momentarily.
The master defense plan will
be kept secret.
But the state department made
public the texts of the separate
aid agreements made with each
1 nation when they were signed by
the ambassadors of each at the
department.
The amount of American mili
tary aid each nation is to get was
not mentioned.
But it is known that the largest
share of the American weapons
and raw materials will go to
France.
Countries signing agreements in
addition to France are Britain,
Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Denmark and Nor
way.
The language of each country’s
agreement varies, but the main
commitments are identical.
The signing came about three
months later than the schedule
anticipated when the plan was
worked out.
- —1
One man who never marries in
haste is a stuttering parson.
Acheson “Soft”
Toward Hiss
Say Republicans
(By Edwin B. Haakinson)
WASHINGTON, (^—Secretary
of State Acheson’s suddenly fa
mous statement that “I do not in
tend to turn my back on Alger
Hiss” stirred Republican wrath
today.
A number of those who have
been arguing that the Roosevelt
Truman administrations have
been “soft” toward communism
prepared to follow the lead of
Senator Mundt (R.-S. D.).
Mundt directed a three-hour at
tack on Hiss, Acheson and Ad
ministration foreign policies late
Friday in the Senate.
If Acheson's statement that he
wouldn’t turn his back on Hiss—
an old friend and state depart
ment associate who has been con
victed of perjury in a trial that
linked him with communists—
Mundt had this to say:
“The important thing is not the
manner in which Dean Acheson
permits Hiss to influence the posi
tion of his back—the thing that
Americans would like to know is
how far Dean Acheson has per
mitted Hiss to influence his
mind.”
Senator McCarthy <R.-Wis.>
wanted to know whether Ache
son’s statement “might be an indi
cation that the secretary of state
is also telling the world that he
will not turn his back on any of
the other communists in the state
department.”
There were some informal ex
pressions of admiration for Ache
son on Capitol Hill, based on the
theme of personal loyalty, but
there was no apparent rush to his
side.
T»o heads aren’t better than
one with the present price of hair
cuts.
tempts.
It may be timely for the people of this country to be
warned of the danger of destructive efforts by agents of
our future enemy. Nevertheless, the experience of the
past has served to emphasize the possibility of wide
spread sabotage when the people of this country make
up their minds to fight. In fact, during our recent strug
gles, the zeal with which patriotic Americans reported
suspicious persons and incidents caused the nation al
most as much trouble as the abortive efforts of enemy
agents to destroy something of value.
PERPETUAL HANGOVER
_aawmmm?- v- j?
-
News of the World
At A Glance - - -
• Continued from Page One)
Urey, Nobel prize winner in phys
ics and a top atomic scientist said
the United States must either run
the race for the hydrogen super
bomb or risk letting Russia take
over the world. He urged the U.
S. to embark on developing the
H-bomb—reputed to be 1,000
times more powerful than the
atom bomb. The final decision
rests with President Truman.
Monday* January 30, 1950
The Russians ended their “lit
tle blockade” of Berlin today the
same way they began it 10 days
ago—without any official reason.
Soviet guards, obviously acting
jon higher orders, permitted traf
fic from the west to pass through
the frontier posts at Berlin and
Helmstedt with only perfunctory
checks.
Alhough the Reds never gave
an explanation of their highway
I heckling, it was assumed it was in
! retaliation for the seizure of the
' Berlin railway headqu a rtcrs
buildings by West Berlin police,
who acted on orders from the U.
Soviet-backed east zone govern-.
S_ commandant in Berlin. The
ment administers the railways
and the building.
U. S. officials later ordered the
I West Berliners to move out of the
building in Berlin’s American
sector.
The slowdown cost West Berlin
some 10,000 tons of supplies,
American officials estimated.
Chinese nationalist airfo r c e
headquarters in Formosa claim
new air assaults on Sunday sank
50 junks preparing for the com
munist invasion of Hainan Island,
off the South China coast.
Nationalist headquarters said
bombers wiped out many gun em
placements in raids on Liuchow
peninsula, which juts out to
within 10 miles of Hainan.
Nationalist China’s fate in the
United Nations is being taben up
in two secret sessions at Labe
Success today.
One committee of experts is d -
bating whether credentials rules
should be changed for the security
council. Suggested changes could
lead to seating representatives of
the Chinese Red regime in place
of the Nationalists, as soon as a
majority of the U. N. members
recognizes the Mao Tze-Tung gov
ernment.
Another group is shaping a
work program for the little as
sembly. It must decide how big a
role the Chinese issue will have
in that body.
The American joint chiefs of
staff arc due in Tokyo Wednes
day for their first personal con
ferences with field commanders
who long have been concerned by
the spreading Red tide in Asia.
Representatives of the United
States, Belgium and Britain meet
in Washington behind a curtain of
secrecy today to talk about atom
ic energy. Informants say they
want to discuss cost of uranium
shipments from the Belgium Con
go to the U. S. and arrangements
for dividing this output between
the United States and Britain.
Markets in Philadelphia. Chi
cago, Baltimore, Louisville, Wash
ington, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cin
cinnati, and New Orleans absorb
large quantities of fresh water
turtles while very few are sold in
Kansas City, Omaha, Nashville
and Detroit.
The nice thing about aircastles
is the low upkeep.