m NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. XLIX. No. 139 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1947 PER COPY — 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
|
ESSEX, Md. (^P)—Walter O. Se
vier was looking for rabbits when
a bullet struck the barrel of a gun
he was carrying across his chest.
Baltimore county police said the
bullet went almost completely
through the barrel, but Sevier was
uninjured.
Baltimore county police arrest
ed Frank Menethargo, 61, on a
charge of assaulting Sevier with
intent to kill.
WASHINGTON, </P> — Only 20
per cent of the small force of RAF
fighter pilots in the battle of Bri
tain ever shot down a German
plane, commander Noel Gaylor, of
the U. S. navys’ special devices
center said yesterday. (
“The 80 per cent remaining
fighter pilots hit nothing and serv
ed only to spread the return fire.”
he told a group of civilian scien
tists. He said his figures came
from analysis of films taken from
the camera guns of RAF planes
which engaged in the battle.
LITTLE ROCK. Ark. (/P>—Har
old Slassen filed a request yes
terday for a Republican Presiden
tial primary in Arkansas, and an
nounced he was prepared to stand
a substantial portion of the esti
mated $40,000 cost.
The avowed candidate for the
Republican Presidential nomina
tion in 1948 made his request to
the Arkansas Republican state
committee. Under a recently
adopted law, a preferential pri
mary is mandatory.
UTICA, N. Y., Six cases of
evaporated milk were stolen Mon
day from the Friendship train.
Police recovered the milk and
held three men for questioning.
The train, en route to New
York, picked up three cars of food
here for Europe.
NEW YORK, (JP) — Arthur S.
Friend, 68, a member of Herbert
Hoover’s food administration staff
during World War I, and attorney
for many theatrical celebities, died
last night. He was born in Mil
waukee.
LON ANGELES, </P)—Column
ist Jimmy Fidler’s former wife,
Mrs. Roberta A. Sutton, contends
he is worth $500,000, earns $200,
000 a year and should increase
support allowance for their adop
ted daughter, Bobbe, 5, from $350
to $500 a month.
Her suit also asks for exclusive,
instead of shared, custody of the
child. She and Fidler were divorc
ed March 21, 1944, in Elko, Nev.
She and actor John Sutton were
married Oct. 22, 1946.
DARTMOUTH, Mass. (VP) —
Three masked gunmen ambushed
the former wife of the late Damon
Runyon, famed newspaperman
and author, and her husband in
their fashionable Mishaun Point
home last night and escaped with
jewelry valued at $200,000.
Police said Mr. and Mrs. Rich
ard N. Coffin were confronted by
the armed trio as they stepped
into a front hallway of their home,
one of the show places On the ex
elusive Doint.
Rep. Crawford
Calls For Alaska
Impregnability
- . ^
WASHINGTON, {A*) — Repre
sen tative Crawford iR.-Michd,
chairman of the House public
lands, territories sub-committee,
called yesterday for making Alas
ka impregnable against any sort
of attack.
And he said all of the Pacific
northwest should be fortified so
completely “that we can knock the
hell out of anybody” that attacks
it. '
The great dams on the Colum
bia river and the huge power sys
tem that serves Washington and
Oregon, he said, have no protec
tion from an attack.
‘ Russia today,’ he said in an in
terview, “could force us to surren
der our Alaskan bases or blow
them up, because of lack of ade
quate defense.
“We should eliminate every un
needed item of expense in the
army and navy budgets,” Craw
ford said, “and Congress should
add a sizeable appropriation to
that, and ^pend it until the expen
diture in Alaska for defense
squares up with what we are
spending to aid the rest of the
world.”
Crawford said he was "100 per
cent” for statehood for Alaska.
"Statehood fits in with our for
eign policy in such a way that
now is the time for the United to
consolidate its areas and natural
resources and win the support of
(Continued on Page Five)
Air Force To Test
Worlds Largest
Bombs; 424)00 Lbs.
WASHINGTON, </P) — The air
force will begin test drops of the
world’s heaviest bomb—a 42,000
pounder—in about two weeks at
Muroc air basje in the California
desert, it was learned today.
Twelve of the huge missiles
have have been delivered by the
army ordnance department for
the experiments.
The modified B-29 superfort
ress which will carry the record
bomb load aloft is at Elgin Field,
Fla. Its crew has completed a
course of special training.
The mammoth bomb will be
suspended from newly-devised
shackles half in and half out of
the lengthened bomb bay and will
clear the ground by bare inches
when the airplane makes its take
off run.
The bombs dropped at Muroc
probably will be “duds,” weighted
to compensate for the lack of ex
plosive charges.
The fact that several are being
used suggests that releases will
be from varying heights to observe
(Continued on Page Eight)
Coffin, a wealthy New Bedford
job printer, was slugged on the
head with the butt of a gun, and
his wife, with a pistol pressed
against her back, was directed to a
bedroom where she was forced to
open a small safe containing the
jewels.
Secy. Marshall
“Gets Tough”
With Russia
WASHINGTON, ^—Secretary
of State Marshall injected a new
element of toughness today in this
country’s patient-but-firm policy
toward Russia.
Charging that Soviet officials 1
and their communist allies are ly- i
ing and know they’re lying in a
“brazen and contemptouous” prop
aganda barrage against his Euro- |
pean recovery program, Marshall
declared “it is time to call a halt.’’
“We do not propose to stand by
and watch disintegration of the in- ^
ternational community to which
we belong,” the cabinet officer as- '
serted on the eve of his departure
for a face to face meeting with
Russian foreign minister Molotov.
But while his speech in Chicago
last night was his toughest yet as
! a cabinet officer, Marshall never
theless pledged that his so'j aim
at next week’s big four foreign
ministers’ conference in London
will be to find a sound basis for a
European peace settlement.
The secretary omitted any men
; tion* of the idea of making peace
! with Germany without Russia.
'Rather he said the* United States
will work for the creation of “a
provisional central authority in a
federated German state” as a step
|
toward the final framing of a for
mal treaty.
For himself, he said, “No mat
ter what the provocation,” his,
only purpose at London will be to j
end the present ‘‘tragic stalemate
and to speed the advent of a new j
era of peace and hope for Europe
and the world.” j
However, Marshall said the j
American people have been goad
ed into “active resentment” by the '
campaign of “vilification and dis
tortion of American motives in
foreign affairs” waged by both
Soviet officials and communist
groups.
“These opponents of recovery
charge the United States with im
perialistic design, aggressive pur
poses, and finally with a desire to
provoke a third world war,” the
soldier-diplomat declared, adding:
“I wish to state emphatically
that there is no truth whatsoever
in these charges, and I add that
those who make them are fully
aware of this fact.”
SS. Companies
Can Not Agree
WASHINGTON, (/P)—The Alas
ka Transportation company’s con
tention that the Northland Trans
portation company had violated
an agreement between three Seat
tle steamship companies serving
Alaska was considered today by
the Maritime Commission in an
executive session.
The two companies and the
Alaska Steamship company oper
ate steamship service to Alaska
with government ships chartered
to them at $1 a year. The agree
ment provided that Northland and
Alaska Transportation should
serve only Southeast Alaska. The
latter company contends that
Northland had been picking up
cargoes in other parts of Alaska.
Rationing, Price
Control Not To
Be Considered
WASHINGTON (/P)—Chairman
Taft <R.-Ohio> said today the Sen
ate-House economic committee
will begin hearings Friday on
points in President Truman’s cost
of living program, but proposals
for limited rationing and price
control will not be included
Taft told reporters the commi.
tee has decided to exclude from its
agenda, at least for the present,
the rationing and price control
points.
“I think that if we are going to
get anything out of this special
session of Congress we will ha'7e
to leave those points until the reg
ular session.” Taft said.
Taft earlier had told a reporter
credit and export controls are the
two recommendations by Mr. Tru
man most likely to win approval
of Congress in a program to com
bat inflation. He also said a modi
fied rent control extension law
might be passed by the Republi
can-controlled Congress.
The Ohioan, an avowed candi
date for the Republican Presiden
tial nomination, had denounced
the price-wage controls and con
sumer rationing proposals as ‘‘a
step toward a completely totalitar
ian nation.”
AFL president William Green
declared in a broadcast last night
that organized labor also is op
posed to price ancF wage controls,
except as a last resort in case of
“national crisis.”
Taft, who heads the Senate
House economic committee begin
ning a study of the President’s
controversial proposals today, told
a reporter he thinks credit con
trols represent “a proper field for
government supervision.”
“I have been for export con
trols all along and * want to see
them continued,” the Ohio Sena
tContinued on Page Eight)
Coal Strike Halts
French Industry
•
PARIS, (/P)—A broad section of
France’s nationalized indus try
faced paralysis yesterday as all
114,000 coal miners and the work
ers of three automobile plants
voted to strike for pay raises.
Tie-up of all the nation’s har
bors also was threatened, in sym
pathy with a Marseille walkout.
Even as the center political part
ies negotiated for the formation of j
a strong government to meet the
labor crisis.
A vote of 35,000 coal miners to
join those already on strike made
the mine stoppage complete. The
Citroen and Panhard automobile
plant workers voted to follow the
lead of the 25,000 employees in the
n a tionalized Renault company,
who stopped work a short time be
fore.
Union locals of the nationalized
merchant marine debated calling
their second strike in a month.
The federation of all unions in the
Paris region threatened a general
strike. The civil servants union de
cided to strike Friday if their de
mands are not met.
Congress Making
Investigation Of
Sale Of Timber
(By Charles D. Watkins)
<(/Pi Special Washington Service*
WASHINGTON, (/P)—Purchase
of $20,000,000 worth of timber by
' the Timber Development Corpo
ration of New York from two In
dian villages in Alaska is being
investigated by the Senate Public
Lands committee.
Senator Butler <R.-Neb.>, chair
man of the committee, said today
that when the United States pur
chased Alaska from Russia it ac
quired all of its natural resources
not then held in private owner
ship.
“We are looking into the matter
; thoroughly,” Butler told a report
er, “to find out by what right any
group in Alaska thinks it has au
I thority to sell the natural resour
ces of any area in Alaska simply
because they or their ancestors
might have lived in or near the
area.
“I am under the impression that.
| when the United States purchased
Alaska it acquired title to all the
natural resources therein. Title to
property actually in the possession
or belong to individuals would
perhaps be respected.”
, The law firm of James E. Curry
j of Washington and New York an
1 nounced it had negotiated a con
, tract between the corporation and
(Continued on Page Eight)
>
Tinv Girl Losl In
m/
Open Manhole In
Seattle Drowns
—
SEATTLE, t/P)—A little five
! year-old girl, gleefully accom
panying her father and an aunt on
an evening walk, plummeted into
an open sewer manhole Monday
night and was swept away by the
swift waters 12 feet below.
A tortuous night-long search
took firemen, police and street de
partment officials through miles
of winding underground tunnels
uncovered no trace of the young
ster.
Harbor patrolmen and firemen
were posted along the waterfront
where the sewers join in emptying
into Elliott Bay.
The victim Sherron Irene Roth
rock. only child of Mr. 'and Mrs.
Dean Rothrock. The mother was
taken to a hospital suffering from
shock.
It was believed that pressure
created by water backing up in
the 20-inch pipe had removed the
manhole cover. The tragedy oc
curred during a torrential burst
of rain that momentarily flooded
the drains.
. The child’s father told police
Sherron had begged to go along as
he accompanied her aunt, Mrs.
Ambrose Smith, to a bus stop.
Clutching their hands, the tot
walked directly into the uncover
ed manhole which none of them
had noticed in the darkness. In the
suddenness of the plunge, the child
tore a ring from her father’s fin
ger.
The search was complicated by
(Continued on Page Six)