OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIV No. 48. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1952 ___Per Copy—15^
Army Battles To
Save SliermanField
From Flood Waters
KANSAS CITY, (/P) — The
Army, augmented by civilian
workers, carried on a grim battle
Monday to save the Sherman Air
Field of the historic Fort Leaven
worth from the unruly Missouri
river.
Some 1,600 men sloughed
through mud in a chilly rain, bol
stering a three - mile stretch of
dikes against the tremendous riv
er pressure. It was a dangerous
hand-to-hand struggle.
Flood waters behind the dikes
stood as much as nine feet above
the level of the air field. Lifeboats
were kept at hand. Most of the
work was done without aid of
machines. The field was too soggy
for trucks.
Fort Leavenworth is about 25
miles northwest of Kansas City.
The critical area along the flood
ing Missouri is now between St.
Joseph, Mo., and Kansas City.
The around-the-clock activity
was carried on -at night under
strings of lights.
The flood fighters even includ
ed instructors at the Army’s Com
mand and General Staff School at
Fort Leavenworth.
Racing Car, Out of Control
Kills Driver, Three Others
And Injures 50 Spectators
DAYTON, O., (/P) — A racing
car spun crazily out of control
into the Dayton Speedway grand
stand Sunday.
When it came to rest, four per
sons were dead — including the
driver, Gordon Reid, 29, of Bur
bank, Calif.—and at least 50 spec
tators were hurt.
The crash lopped off Reid’s
head. It also decapitated Mrs.
Ruby Ellen Shaffer, 43, of Spring
field. The other victims were
Robert Thatcher, 22, track guard,
and Gene Lawson, 19, of Dayton.
The accident happened during
the first trial heat. Reid’s racer
went out of control near the top
of a bank for a turn. It spun
through a retaining wall, shot
through a standing - room crowd,
ploughed into paint barel, and hit
the grandstand.
11th U.S. Jet Ace In Korea
1 By GEORGE A. McARTHUR
SEOUL, <JP) — U.S. Sabre jet
pilots Monday shot down seven
and damaged six Communist MIG
jets, the Fifth Air Force announ
ced. The Air Force said the Rus
sian-made jets were bagged in
three separate aerial duels in
volving 100 Red planes.
The day’s biggest fight pro
duced America’s 11th jet ace Capt.
Robert J. Love, San Bernardino,
Calif. He shot down two MIGs
in a battle involving 28 Sabres
and 50 MIGs, the Air Force said.
Fighting on the 155-mile ground
front was sporadic and generally
light.
Carried-based U.S. Navy planes
cut Comunist rail, lines in 193
places along thfe 165-mile coastal
stretch between Wonsan and Son
gain.
The U*S. battleship Iowa sealed
off four rail tunnels near Song
gain with her 16-inch guns.
Pennsylvania and
N. Y. Primaries
To Be Tomorrow
(Bv the Associated Press)
Idaho Democrats picked a dozen
presidential nominating delegates
today as a prelude to similar but
bigger-scale doings tomorrow in
Pennsylvania and New York.
The Idaho delegation, despite
wooing by Senators Kefauver and
Robert Kerr, is expected to be un
instructed on how to cast its 12
votes next July.
Many more delegate votes are
riding on the outcome of tomor
row’s primaries in Pennsylvania
and New York. In Pennsylvania,
Republicans and Democrats elect
60 district delegates each—ten at
large delegates each already have
been chosen. New York names 96
Republican and 94 Democratic
delegates.
Both parties in both states will
send their delegates to Chicago
without instruction.
New York Gov. Thomas Dew
ey’s backing of Eisenhower seem
ed to assure the general the bulk
of the GOP votes there, but back
ers *)f Sen. Taft were claiming 20
delegates.
In Pennsylvania’s presidential
preference primary there were
only two names on the ballot, both
Republicans — Eisenhower and
Stassen. Taft bowed out, saying it
was a waste of time and money
insmuch as results are not binding
on delegates.
Key Telephone Strike
Settled, Opening Way For
Resumption of Service
NEW YORK, (/P)—A comprom
ise wage increase, early Saturday
ended the key strike of 10,000 CIO
installers against the Western El
ectric Co., and fostered hopes for
a quick settlement in two remain
ing telephone walkouts.
The agreement between the in
stallers, members of the CIO
Comunications Workers of Am
erica, and Western Electric was
regarded as the most important
thus far in 12 days of strikes that
have threatened to disrupt tele
phone service in 43 states.
It was expected to set a pat
tern for the settlement at a meet
ing later between Western Elec
tric and 6,000 still striking CWA
salesmen, distributors and ware
housemen.
And it also may provide the so
lution to a strike by a union-esti
mated 8,500 CWA members
against the Bell System affiliate
for northern California and Ne
vada.
U.S. F-94 MAKES BELLY
LANDING AT EDMONTON
EDMONTON, (£>)—An F-94 jet
aircraft made a belly landing on
an Edmonton runway Saturday
when the pilot found the landing
gear would not function properly.
R.C.A.F. officials said the pilot,
First Lt. Claude F. Baker, Jr., of
Elmendorf Air Force Base in Al
aska, was not injured but the
plane was badly damaged.
The aircraft was on a routine
flight from Alaska to the United
States.
3rd Div. GOPs Call
For Impeachment
President Truman
SEWARD, (/p)_ Third Division
Republicans called, the past week
end, for impeachment proceedings
against President Truman and
seven “doubleerossing” Territor
ial legislators in a sweeping de
nunciation of the Democratic
party.
The first of some 50 resolutions
passed by the group asked that
the President be impeached be
cause of “usurpation of claimed
powers under the Constitution of
the United States which he does
not possess.” It cites his seizure
of the steel industry and sending
troops to Korea without congres
sional consideration.
The Third Division Democratic
delegation at the Territorial legis
lature were attacked for its call
for Alaska’s secession from the
United States if Congress failed
to grant statehood.
“They should be subject to im
peachment for such double cross
ing of the Alaskans they are sup
posed to represent. Instead the
Democratic legisalture just wink
ed while Alaska got a black eye
throughout the nation.”
In other resolutions, the con
vention called for sale of gold on
the open market, election of the
Territorial governor by the peo
ple, amendment of filing laws for
territorial candidates, a change in
the Alaska income tax law which
is now based on 10 per cent ctt
the federal tax, and federal funds
of 5 million dollars for loans to
Alaska veterans.
Korean Deadlock—
MUNSAN (/P)—Each side Mon
day, refused to recognize that
problems exist on the two dead
locked issues in Korean truce
talks. There was no hint of com
promise.
Col. Don O. Darrow, a United |
Nations Command staff officer,
said the Communists refused to
“discuss or even acknowledge”
the issue of military airfield con
struction in Korea in the event of
an armistice. The UNC wants to
ban the building of military air
fields. The Reds have called this
interference in the internal af
fairs of North Korea.
A UNC communique said the
matter of which nations shall
supervise a truce “has been
solved by the UNC suggestion that
only four nations—Sweden, Swit
zerland, Poland and Czechoslo
vakia—form the neutral nations
supervisory commission.
The Reds want Russia on the
list. The Allies do not.
3 Million Man-Hours To
Engineer USAF Bomber
More than 3,000,000 hours of
engineering time were required
to design the latest USAF heavy
bomber, says the Aircraft Indus
tries Association. If three aero
nautical engineers had been as
signed to this job 40 hours a
week, every week without vaca
tion, and had never been late or
ill, they could have finished the
bomber in 1952—but would have
had to start work 14 years before
Columbus discovered America.
Truman Threatens Congress With
Series of Special Sessions If Money
For Defense Needs Is Not Voted
-«
Truman Warns
Steel Shutdown
Will Affect Korea
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman told the Senate Monday
that if it restricts use of govern
ment funds for operation of the
seized steel mills it may result in
“paralyzing the operations of the
government in an emergency.”
He said enactment of the GOP
proposals might lead- to a com
plete shutdown in steel and “im
mediately reduce the ability of
our troops in Korea to defend
themselves against attack.”
Further, the President contend
ed, much of the debate on the
matter has been of “extreme and
misleading character.”
Truman repeated what he had
said in a message April 9—that
he ordered “temporary operation”
of the steel mills by the govern
ment “with the utmost reluctance;
that the idea of government oper
ation of the steel mills was thor
oughly distasteful to me; and that
I wanted to see it ended as soon
as possible.”
The President went on to chal
lenge Congress to come up with a
better way to deal with the sit
uation created by the steel wage
dispute if it does not like what
he has done.
He warned: “If the Commun
ists start another offensive in Ko
rea this spring, the success or
failure of this offensive may well
depend on whether . or not we
have kept our steel mills in op
eration. This is a consideration
over and above the drastic effect
a steel shutdown would have on
our total defense effort.”
Cement Plant
To Open Soon
On Kodiak Island
OAKLAND, {/P) — Permanente
Cement Co., announced today it
will open a bulk delivery plant on
Kodiak Island, Alaska, June 1 to
afford a greater supply of cement
for defense and civilian construc
tion in thait area.
The new plant, with a 7,000
barrel capacity; will be the com
pany’s third in Alaska, augment
ing a 30,000-barrel distribution
plant at Anchorage and a 2,000
barrel auxiliary bulk delivery
plant at Fairbanks.
The Kodiak plant, located at
Woman’s Bay, will receive bulk
cement by barge from Perman
ente’s Seattle distribution plant.
Initially, it will serve Drake Pu
get Sqund, the company building
additions to the naval operations
base on Kadiak and other con
tractors engaged in defense proj
ects there.
The plant will be equipped with
sacking facilities and portable
pneumatic cargo handling machin
»
ery for unloading the bulk cement
from the barges, resulting in sav
ings in the cost of cement in Ko
diak by eliminating the present
%
sack delivery system.
*
’ By G. MILTON KELLY
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman’s threat to crack the
knuckles of Congress with a chain
of special session if it balks at
verting the money he thinks is
needed for defense, drew defiant
retorts Saturday from several
legislators.
“He seems to have gone com
pletely off his head,” Sen. Taft,
candidate for Republican nomin
ation, said in Springfield, Mass.,
when he learned of Truman’s
\
statement Friday in a speech
dedicating a new Am vets Nation
al headquarters.
“Thats one he cant make
stick,” said Sen. Capehart (R-Ind>
expressing the mood of many
congressmen of both parties who
believe the 52 and a half billion
dollars Truman has asked for the
defense program and foreign aid
is too much.
Truman departed from his pre
pared text to charge that “dan
gerous and destructive cuts in the
program, which he said were
made for the sake of election year
headline hunting, would risk the
lives of American soldiers.
He said he would “call a special
‘turnip day’ session of congress”
every day up to New Years, if
necessary, until restoration of
whatever eventual cut is decided
upon.
The reference was to a surprise
special session he called July 26,
1948, a date known in his home
state of Missouri as “turnip day.”
Continuing Interest Is
Shown In Statehood
Bill, Bartlett Reveals
WASHINGTON, (jP) — Aides of
Delegate Bartlett report there is
a continuing show of interest in
the possibility of Alaska state
hood.
Unfortunately—from the advo
cates’ point of view—it’s not in
the Senate which sent the bill
back to committee earlier this
year and so far has shown no in
dication of taking it up again.
Bartlett’s office workers said
they are receiving a steady stream
of queries—“four or five a day”
— asking for information on the
pros and cons of the statehood
issue. Most of 'the requests come
from school children.
In response, they receive a copy
of the Senate Interior Committee’s
report which contains views of
the majority, favorable to state
hood, and the minority, against
statehood.
FRIDAY BASEBALL SCORES -
National League
Brooklyn 7—New York 6
Chicago 5—9t. Louis 4
Pittsburgh 3—Cincinnati 0
Boston 3—Philadelphia 2
American League
St. Louis 7—Chicago 1
Cleveland 5—Detroit 0
Washington 3—New York 1
Boston 5—Philadelphia 4
Pacific Coast League
Seattle 4—Los Angeles 2
Hollywood 6—Sacramento 3
Portland 5—Oakland 4
San Diego 3—San Francisco 0