HI NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LI. No7 34 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MARCH 21, 1949 Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON </P)—'The House
public lands committee Friday ap
proved a bill under which the sec
retary of the interior could sell
small tracts of Alaskan land at
private sales or public auctions.
The office of Delegate Bartlett
said the measure is intended to
spur the development of Alaska
industry by making sites available
for business'without the neces ity
of complying with all homestead
laws.
Lands that could be sold would
be outside of national parks, for
ests, monuments and other reser
vations.
FAIRBANKS, (iP> — The Fair
banks Junior Chamber of Com
merce Friday censured the Terri
torial Senate action in killing a
proposed referendum to allow the
people to decide whether Alaska
should enter the wholesale liquor
business. The Jaycees said they
believed the electorate “has the
inviolate right to express its opin
ion on any and all issues.”
O L Y M PIA, Wash. (JP) — Ad
journment of the longest legisla
tive session in the history of the
State was in sight Saturday as the
last item requiring action — the
budget bill — emerged from com
mittee.
After it is passed, the only
things standing between the legis
lators and the adjournment will
be the mechanics of winding up
the session. That will take another
ten to fifteen hours.
Even before the bill had been
presented several legislators were
agreeing with Governor Langlie
that a special session of the legis
lature would be required to raise
revenue to balance the budget.
NEW YORK, (/F) — Henry A.
Wallace say the North Atlantic
pact “thrusts an intolerable mili
tary burden on our people, and
buys us neither peace nor secur
ity.”
In a telegram to all major radio
networks, Wallace called for time
on the air “as a spokesman for
those who oppose the pact” to ans
wer secretary of state Dean Ache
son’s radio address on the past
Friday night.
SEATTLE, (/P)—Ben Lindbuerg,
41, Bellingham, Wash., who stated
in a complaint he suffered a back
injury in a fall last September 4
aboard the cannery tender Glo-'
vina in Alaskan waters, filed suit j
for $30,000 Friday in federal court.
Attorney Roy E. Jackson enter
ed the suit for Lindbuerg, against
the Pacific American Fisheries
Corporation, operators of the Glo
vina.
SEATTLE (/P)—Seattle’s fishing
fleet, the largest in the nation,
prepared today to head for the
halibut banks of Alaska after hun
dreds of fishermen took part in
the 20th annual festival of prayer
yesterday at the Ballard Lutheran
church.
The founder of the festival and
former pastor of the Ballard
church, the Rev. O. L. Haavick,
was liturgist.
Greetings to the fishermen were
sent by Gov. Arthur B. Langlie,
who was unable to attend. !
Russia Voles
Communism For
Eastern Germany
BERLIN, (/P)—The communist
c o n t r o lied “People’s Council”
adopted Saturday a constitution
for the 20,000,000 Germans living
under Soviet rule.
The 400-man body—established
by the Soviet-picked politicians of
Eastern Germany—rubber-stamp
ed a basic law embodying com
munist principles for the entire
Russian zone and also the Russian
sector of Berlin. The vote was
unanimous.
The action was taken as a re
joiner to the Western German
goverment being established at
Bonn.
Professor Hermann Kastner, co
chairman of the People’s Council,
declared the action was “one of
the most important and decisive in
Germany history.”
Rent Control
Sure To Pass
WASHINGTON, (/P)—Rent con
trol backers, rushing to meet a
March 31 deadline, predicted Sat
urday the Senate will swiftly ap
prove a 12 to 15-month extension
which could be junked by the
States.
The present federal rent law
expires at the end of this month.
The measure to extend them,
which came from the banking
committee Thursday, is up for
; Senate debate Monday.
Senator Sparkman (D.-Ala.),
who will manage the bill on the
floor, said he expects it to pass
“probably Tuesday night.” That
would leave just nine days to iron
out differences with the House,
which has passed a bill somewhat
at odds with the Senate version.
LIFTING THE LID
AT JUNEAU
Saturday, March 19, 1949
(By James Hutcheson)
JUNEAU, </P)—A night-working
Alaska Senate voted a $300 per
year increase for Territorial teach
ers and superintendents yesterday.
The vote completed legislative ac
tion on the pay boost.
Final action on the measure by
unanimous vote after the Senate
rejected an attempt by Senator
Steve McCutcheon to increase the j
raise to $500 annually. The vote
was 12 to 3. ,
Working swiftly as the closing
days of session drew near, the
Senate also passed unanimously a
bill appropriating $2,250,000 for
school buildings and a second
measure to loan $1,200,000 to the
veterans’ revolving fund. Senator
Victor C. Rivers, Democrat, cast
the only dissenting vote against
the loan. All measures had been
previously passed by the House.
A House-approved bill to levy
licenses up to $5,000 per boat on
power driver fishing boats over 20
feet long when ten or more are
owned by a single owner was
killed on a motion to table, the
(Continued on Page Two)
Navy Perfects New
“Keep Warm”
Appliance”
WASHINGTON, </R—'The navy
thinks it has licked the toughest
problem of living and fighting in
the Arctic—keeping warm.
Its scientists are perfecting a
new simple gadget that saves 80
per cent of the body heat normal
ly lost by breathing, and turns 70
below-zero cold inhaled air into a
spring-like 64 above.
Nearly half of the total heat loss
in cold weather is through breath
ing, regardless of the kind of
clothing worn, the navy says. Dur
ing the war, complicated electrical
air warmers were tested, but the
results weren’t very good.
The new gadget is a breathing
mask which weighs less than one
pound. It works on the princinple
known to every farm boy: If you
I wrap a scarf around your nose,
j the outside air doesn’t feel so cold.
Starting with this, Dr. Norman
|E. Phillips and Loyal Goff of the
University of Maryland developed
for the navy a face mask only a
few inches in diameter containing
several feet of air passages.
Heat and moisture is extracted
from exhalted air and retained in
the passages, warming and humid
! ifying the inhaled air.
j That’s all there is to it, but the
! navy says it will enable a man to
I breathe comfortably even in the
i 70-below-zero of the Arctic.
Military men regard the Arctic
(Continued on Page Eight)
Internation’l News
At A Glance —
Saturday. March 19, 1949
(By The Associated Press)
Moscow shrilled out today that
the North Atlantic treaty “means
war on the Soviet Union.’’
What the treaty says is that it
could mean war only in case of
aggression against an Alliance
member. Nations of the west ac
cordingly read the treaty as de
signed for wor,ld peace. The point
is that it presents signs of approv
al of this departure from the
American tradition against Euro
pean alliances.
Foreign secretary Ernest Be
vin of Britain bluntly called the
accord an instrument to block
Kremlin efforts to rule Europe by
fear. He wrote off as failures ef
forts of the United Nations and the
late League of Nations to find an
enduring peace.
Foreign minister Robert Schu- j
man of France said the accord ,
provided his nation with an effec- j
tive shield against aggression.
The treaty is not nearly so bind- j
ing as the commitments Russia al
ready has wrested from the iron1
curtain communist regimes in Po
land, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czecho- !
Slovakia, Romania Yugoslavia and
Albania. Ignoring her own treat
ies, Moscow gave out these utter
ances:
“ . . . weapon of aggressive pol
icy of the ruling circles of the
United States.
"... a direct undermining of
(Continued on Page Seven)
Battle Of Flight
To Washington
Waxes Hotter
—
ANCHORAGE, (/P) — A hoax
charge was hurled into the anti
Gruening camp Friday by Buel
Nesbett in connection with an
nounced plans for a flight to
Washington opposing Governor
Gruening’s confirmation for an
other four-year term.
Nesbett, Anchorage attorney
and Democratic leader, charged
opponents with “putting up a
windy battle” and declared it is
time they produce “something
other than wind.”
His statement was in reply to
one by John Holzworth, who said
Friday 100 pe.sons, including
queen candidates, dog team mush
ers and their dogs would fly to
Washington March 26 in two char
tered planes to oppose Gruening.
Nesbett invited Holzworth to in
dicate “what airplanes” will be
used; and to name “what persons”
(Continued on Page Five)
SEVERAL RESCUES MADE
FROM DRIFTING ICE
Sunday noon, the north wind
which was blowing fresh, unex
pectedly opened a wide lead all
across the Nome waterfront, ma
rooning a score or more crab fish
ermen, dog teams and it is report
ed, a snow mobile.
The fishermen, unaware that
they were adrift were notified of
their plight by bush pilot Willie
, Foster who made several rescue
flights.
Ralph Bingham with his dog
team were rescued by his father
aided by Ben Hyndman who has
tily took out their outboard motor
boat from inter storage and cross
ed the water to the fast moving ice
I pack.
j Another team was rescued at
I the mouth of Snake river with the
! aid of a skin boat.
Mrs. Olaf Piscoya and two small
| children who had started for town i
just about the time the break in j
the ice began to show traveled
several miles up the beach before
finding a crossing.
This morning all the ice in Ber-'
ing Sea was out of sight.
_ i
I
TEX ZEIGLER LANDS ON KING
ISLAND SUCCESSFULLY
Tex Zeigler, bush pilot of Igloo
who landed on King Island Friday
has the rare distinction of being I
the first flyer to land on that re-!
mote island in Bering Sea.
In the past few years planes
have made landings occasionally
on the ice near King Island but no
one has attempted to land on the
island.
Pilot Zeigler reports the shores
of the island free of ice. He also i
states that there has been good
hunting of seal and walrus but
few polar bear.
He returned with Father Tom
Cunningham who is enroute to I
Diomede after spending a few;
days in Nome.
Pilot Zeigler states that the na
tives on the island seem to have
plenty of food the only acute short
age being of gas for their lamps (
and cooking facilities.
Railroaders Get
Gigantic Boost In
Wage Settlement
CHICAGO, (fP)—Final terms on
a $640,000,000 a year wage boost
have been reached in the 11-month
dispute between the nation’s rail
roads and 16 non-operating un
ions.
The settlement, worked out on a
formula recommended by a Pres
idential fact-finding board, was
described by a union spokesman
as the “most momentous” wage
and hour movement in the history
of American industry.
It was to extend the basic 40
hour week to the railroads for the
first time and affects 1,000,000
employees.
The 40-hour week at the same
pay the workers received for 48
hours becomes effective next Sept.
1, but an additional wage boost of
seven cents an hour is retroactive
to last Oct. 1. Excepted from the
general terms of the “third round”
wage boost are the yardmasters
j who will continue on a six-day
: week with an increase 10 cents an
i hour.
Overtime in excess of eight
hours in a day or 40 hours in a
week will be paid generally at the
! rate of time and one-half. Al
j though Saturdays and Sundays
will be considered ordinary work,
days, the carriers must arrange for
(Continued on Page Five)
Falling Prices
Beat Falling
Building Costs
LOS ANGELES. UP)—The back
log of demands for new homes has
been reduced enough so that com
petition has returned to the real
esate market.
That was the consensus of opin
ion among a panel of five speak
ers who discussed “how building
will adjust to the market” at the
West Coast appraisal conference
of of Society of Residential Ap
praisers Friday.
Their other conclusions:
Buyers are holding off and
awaiting economic developments.
Building prices have fallen
faster than building costs.
Chevrolet Workers
Go On Strike
VAN NUYS, Calif. {£>)—A sur
prise strike has closed down the
General Motors Chevrolet plant
here.
A CIO UAW spokesman said it
began when the company Friday
handed an indefinite suspension
notice! to William Lewis, chairman
of the UAW local. Twenty-five
men in the cab shop walked out
and were followed by 1,000 pro
duction and maintenance workers.
Lewis said “It was a spontane
ous walkout due to a speedup, to
bad working conditions and unjus
tified disciplinary action against
the union’s leaders.”
Company officials would not
comment but declared Saturday
the plant would reopen today.