THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 p. o. Box 618
>1.50 PER MONTH _$16.00 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. 1879.
_Friday, August 24, 1945
WE DON’T LIKE SLAVE LABOR
(Alaska Weekly)
We are informed that a thousand Ger
man prisoners of war will shortly be
shipped to Alaska to salvage whatever
can be saved from the colossal blunder
of the shipping transfer point of Excur
sion Inlet.
It was recently announced that unless
more help was made available at the i
huge Army warehouse at Auburn, Wash- j
ington, Nazi prisoners of war would be
put to work there.
Thus far the only protest we have seen
came from Dave Beck, and for once we
find ourselves in hearty agreement with
him. Slave labor doesn’t fit in the Amer
ican picture. We found the ships in
which to bring these prisoners of war all
the way to America for no reason in the
comprehension of the common man and ,
we should find the ships in which to ship i
them back—the sooner the better.
We do not venture to pass on the ur
gency of an emergency which could arise |
at an active army warehouse which
might conceivably justify the employ
ment of prisoner labor, but no emergen- 1
cy exists at Excursion Inlet which could
. justify the contemplated course of ac- j
tion. Such projects can very well wait |
for the day when a good many thousands
of discharged service men are looking
for jobs.
By the way, will some better informed
person tell us how long a prisoner of war
remains a prisoner of war after the war
is over? We still have work batallions of
Italian war prisoners in Seattle.
THEN WE MAY FORGEf
(Seattle Times) j
There is no present thought of closing
any of the Army’s bases occupied by the
Alaska Division, nor will there be until
after the final defeat of Japan. So said
Lieut. Gen. Harold I. George, chief of the
Army Air Transport Command, a few
days ago, while in Edmonton, Alberta,
on a northbound flight.
General George also gave Edmonton
cheering assurance that the airline route
through that city to Alaska most surely
will be maintained beyond the end of the
war because of its commercial import
ance. As to this he is confident the
United States and Canada will reach
agreement.
But so far as his interview with Ed
monton newsmen reveal, the general
never said a word about Alcan, the so
called highway which some as yet un
identified authority of our government
ordered the Army engineers to smash
through the Canadian wilds to no good
purpose whatsoever.
Some day there will be a real and
truly useful highway between Alaska
and “the States.” Then—but we fear no
sooner—we may be able to forget the !
irreclaimable waste of manpower and
monev on Alcan.
Tttf SOBg THUMB
WASHINGTON
IN WARTIMfe
THE BASEBALfc BAT—
A WAR WEAPON
By JACK STINNETT
When Rep. Melvin Price of Illi
nois asked Clark Griffith, owner
of the American League Senators,
just what baseball had done in
contributing to the war effort, he
sure got an answer.
(Note: Congressman Price was |
not against wartime baseball by j
any means; he’s for it. He was just'
asking.)
Griffith’s answer: Since Pearl
Harbor, baseball has played to
100,000,000 paid customers; and
more than 4,000,000 soldiers and
sailors who didn’t have to pay (in
major league parks alone); has
given over 6,000 professional ath* i
letes to the armed services.
* * *
The major leagues, says Griff,
have played more than 800 exhi
bition games for military person
nel; six ii.dividual groups of ma
jor league stars and officials have,
at the request of generals, visited
almost every battlefront except
I wo Jima and the Remagen
bridgehead; and big leagues have
shipped tons of equipment to
overseas camps, including nearly
31,000 dozen baseballs; and more
than 88,000 bats; and 15,000 cop
ies a week of “Sporting News '*
The majors’ contribution to war
charities is now nearly $3,000,000.
The Treasury credits them with
the direct sale of nearly $1,250,-:
000,000 of war bonds. The Red i
Cross says they are responsible,
for about 450,000 pints of blood.
There’s a lot more to Griff's I
answer, including the hundreds of j
thousands of wounded veterans ■
who while away weary hours of i
recuperation over radio broad- j
casts and the fact that baseball i
has been congratulated bv Col. J. I
M. Johnson, head of the Office of •
Defense Transportation, for its co- i
operation.
* * * i
The argument over broadcasting j
sessions of Congress keeps crack-j
ling and it’s almost a safe bet that!
someday, some how, some of the
debates in the House and Senate
I
will go bumbling out along the
ether ways.
The Pepper-Coffee resolution to
broadcast sessions of Congress
still is very much alive and there’s ,
hardly a day, that some one does ,
not give it a little boost. There
probably are few members of
either chamber (not one that I’ve
talked to) who wouldn’t like to see
it done if they could be sure the
microphones wouldn’t backfire
and knock their political heads
off.
One of the latest proposals gain
ing favor is to broadcast, special
debates on subjects of national in
terest. This would eliminate a lo',
of dullness that hangs over the
daily routine of Congress and,
with limited debate to keep the
long-winded from trying u huff
and puff the listeners off the air,
it might work.
There are some real floor scraps
coming up compulsory military
training, post war employment,
extension of social security, im
provements in veteran rehabilita
tion—and as ever, taxes.
A little open forum several days
a week on these matters mig!\t be
an interesting substitute for some
of those programs you particular
ly abhor.
NOME NEEDS
Harbor Facilities
By A. POLET
It is now twenty odd years :
the first piling was driven a1
mouth of the Snake River,
first set of experimental til
jetties did not withstand th<
movement of Bering Sea. Se^
years ago these timber je
were replaced with concrete
t'es which have for the past
years proven satisfactory.
The law provides that a d
of eight feet at mean low 1
should be mainained, but this
not been possible. Costly de
have been the result.
The dredging equipmnl ini
led. which has also been of an
perimental nature, has proven
adequate and expensive to*o;
ate. This drdging equipment n
be replaced with modern me:!
An 8-inch suction dredge wc
easily do the work ih appi'i
mately one-tenth of the time,
the tailing could be utilized
build and fill around the b«
and tundra to make room for
extension of the harbor area i
housing.
The development of the fist
ies would require harbor i
docking facilities, cold stora
and cannery sites. A change in
harbor dredging facilities \
provide all of this. There wo
also be a need of extending
jetties further, according to
original plans. Should the pres
type of concrete jetties prove s
cessful, then by lengthening
same and a slight modification
a curve on the east jetty, the pr<
lem of backwater action from 1
southeast would be solved and
suit in quiet waters all the tii
and a boat could enter dur
storm periods.
In this respect, steps have be
taken to have a re-examinati
made by the U. S. Engineers E
partment in support of these ii
provements.
About 110.000 average tin ca
will provide the steel used to pr
duce one medium tank.
Nome Directory
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! O. D. COCHRAN
Attorney At L.'iw
Phone Main 121
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Nsine. Alaska
I -____
IRA D. ORTON
Attorney At Law
Room 1—Nevada Building
Nome, Alaska.
Seattle Office:
P?1 Lowrnan Building
Telephone EL. 6396