im NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. XLIX. No. 4 NOME, ALASKA?'WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8,' 1^7 " per COPY —' 15c“
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NEWS IN BRIEF
SEATTLE, (/P)—Excursion fares
at 25 per cent savings will be in
augurated by Pan American
World Airways between major
Alaska cities, effective today (Jan
uary 8) and extending through
April 20. Cities affected by the
new rates are Juneau, Ketchikan,
Fairbanks, Nome, Bethel, Mc
Grath, Galena and Whitehorse, Y.
T. “These reductions mark the
first time excursion rates have
been offered within Alaska,” J.
» D. Fessio, Alaska region traffic
manager said. During winter,
travel between points is compara
tively light, and more space is
available.”
TOKYO, (jP)—Donal J. King,
Northwest Airlines vice president
in charge of the Oriental division,
said today the U. S. army tenta
tively approved his company’s re
quest to make fueling stops in
Japan on its projected Oriental
route from the United States via
Alaska. He is a member of a
Northwest Airlines survey party
which is scheduled to fly to Seoul,
Korea, tomorrow.
NEW YORK, (JP) — Babe Ruth
spent a “pretty comfortable night”
and his condition was described as
“fair” this morning by officials at
French hospital, where baseball’s
former home run king appeared
t to be winning his fight for life
after a neck operation.
WASHINGTON, </P)—President
Truman today nominated Francis
B. Sayre of Washington, D. C., as
United States representative on
the United Nations trusteeship
41-ouncil.
The nomination of Sayre, long
a diplomatic advisor and most re
cently attached to UNRRA, was
submitted to the Senate with a
long list of appointments made
during the Congressional recess.
MOSCOW, (/P)—Prime Minister
Stalin today accepted nomination
as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet
of the Russian Soviet Federated
• Socialist Republic — The largest
republic in the Soviet Union.
Stalin will stand for election to
a four-year term in balloting
which will take place next month.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (/P) —
Funeral services were being ar
ranged today for James Steele
Truitt, 89, former attorney general
of Alaska, who died yesterday af
ter an extended illness.
V Truitt was elected attorney gen
eral in 1932 and re-elected in 1936.
^ Truitt practiced law in Belling
nam until he moved to Alaska in
1916. He returned here to estab
lish his home after retiring from
office in the Territory.
i — 11|| ii i in in —mm..
WINTER SCULPTUR E_This weird scene resulted when winter laid an Icy hand on
“The Meeting of the Waters” fountain at SL Louis. The water, was turned on by mistake.
Longshoremen
Will Unload Boats
Docked At Seward
ANCHORAGE, —An agree
ment by Seward longshoremen to
work all ships docked in that city
was announced here today by Al
bin L. Peterson, federal concilia
tor, after conierring in Seward
with Ed Coester, agent for the
AFL sailors union of the Pacific,
and representatives of CIO long
shoremen.
Peterson said the longshoremen
will petition the national labor re
lations board for exclusive bar
gaining rights for all employees of
the Alaska Steamship company
engaged in loading and unloading
vessels in Seward.
A1 Moser, secretary of the CIO
local, said the petition would give
jurisdiction over everything de
fined as longshore work.
Besides Peterson, Moser and
Coester, the day and night sessions
were attended by J. E. Ritchie,
Alaska Steamship company; Milo
Martin, president longshoremen’s
local; Fred Axford, president, An
chorage chamber of Commerce; G.
Gustafson, representing Fairbanks
mayor Hjalmar Nordale and the
Fairbanks chamber of commerce,
and Ben Potter, Fairbanks build
ing trades council.
GLENDALE, Calif. (/P)—W. C.
Fields, noted actor of stage and
screen has been entombed in Holy
Terrace Mausoleum. He was given
three funerals, despite the fact
that he wanted no funeral, and de
sired to be cremated.
Maritime Commis
sion Refuses To
Grant Rate Hike
(Special to The Nugget)
WASHINGTON, (/P)—The Mar
itime Commission refused today
to grant an increase in shipping
rates and fares between West
Coast ports and Alaska or between
Alaska points. The commission’s
rejection of the War Shipping Pe
tition for increase holds until the
three shipping lines are returned
to private ownership after Febru
ary first, if the three lines “desire
to resume private operation.’’
After that date the commission
said they may submit tariffs in
conformity with the Intercoastal
Shipping Act of 1933 as amended.
“Such tariffs should be framed
with view to correcting any exist
ing inequalities as between com
modities’’ in said order.
Additional revenue on the three
lines, the commission was told,
was required for private opera
tions are Alaska Steamship 61
per cent, Northland 58 per cent,
Alaska Transportation 67 per cent.
(Special to The Nugget)
JUNEAU —The United States
Martime Commission Tuesday en
tered an order denying all rates
increases requested by steamship
lines serving Alaska. This decision
followed recommendation of ex
aminer who heard the case in
Seattle and Washington, D. C.
The War Shipping Administra
tion and operating companies had
petitioned for increases up to one
(Continued on Page Five)
Large Fire Does
Great Damage To
New York Pier
WEEHAWKEN, N. JJ. (yP) — A
general alarm fire, fanned by
high winds, roared through two
freight export piers of the New
York Central Railroad today, blan
keting the Hudson River water
front opposite midtown Manhattan i
with dense clouds of smoke.
A railroad spokesman said the1
loss would reach at least $6,000,000 ;
with half the amount due to cargo'
destroyed on pier 3.
Five railroad employees were in
jured when the blaze started on
pier 3, a quarter mile north of
the West Shore railroad passenger
terminal. Pier 3 was destroyed.
New York central lire cmei r,r-!
nest L. Wevill said he believed,
the blaze was started by the ign.t-!
ing of gas formed when a drum of 1
carbide sprang a leak, and the car- j
bide came into contact with water.;
A fleet of three New York City
fireboats, augmented by 20 rail- j
road tugs and land apparatus ]
from Weehawken, West New York]
and Union City, battled flames on ,
pier 4 to the north of pier 3.
Thousands of New York-bound
commuters of the West Shore
railroad watched the billowing
smoke and spurts of orange flame
shoot hundreds of feet into the air.
Railroad spokesmen said the
piers were loaded with general
merchandise, including flour, au-1
tomobiles and carolads of lime
stone, destined for ships in nearby
New York harbor.
James F. liyrnes
Resigns As
Secretary Of State
WASHINGTON, (/P) — James
F. Byrnes, criticized both for being
too tough and too soft with the
Russians, resigned last night as
Secretary of State and will be suc
ceeded by Gen. George C. Mar
shall, former army chief of staff.
Marshall had been called back
from his post as President Tru
man's special peace envoy to
China and is expected within 10
days. Byrnes’ resignation will
take effect. January 10 or as soon
thereafter as Marshall is formally
sworn into office.
The Byrnes’ resignation, al
though rumored for months, came
as a surprise especially since it
becomes effective almost on the
eve of the Big Four foreign min
isters council meeting in Moscow
to begin negotiations on the Ger
man and Austrian peace treaties.
In announcing the most import
ant shift in President Truman’s
cabinet since Byrnes succeeded
Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., as sec
retary of State in July, 1945, the
Wh te House revealed that Byrnes
first asked to be relieved of his
job last April 16.
At that time he told President
Truman in a letter that his doctors
had warned him to ‘silow dowrt."
In a letter dated Dec. 19 he sug
gested that the important change
be made before the talks on Ger
many and Austria begin in Mos
cow in March.
Byrnes’ resignation came only
three days after Bernard M. Bar
uch quit his job as American rep
resentative on the United Nations
atomic enegy commission and only
about four months after his row
with Henry A. Wallace over for
eign policy ended in Wallace’s res
ignation as secretary of commerce.
The change in the American
secretary of state is expected to
please the Soviet Union. Marshall
had much more experience than
Byrnes with the Russians during
the war. He sat in on all the im
portant wartime conferences,
whereas Byrnes had had no expe
rience in foreign policy matters
when he took over the top cabinet
post.
Byrnes has had bitter experience
with the Soviets—having fought
in private council meetings for
months over the satellite treaties
and then having carried his fight
against their kind of peace treaties
to the public at last summer’s
Paris peace conference.
Marshall’s wartime experience
in planning America’s war effort,
his close relationship with the late
President Roosevelt, and his na
tional and international prestige
as a soldier and statesman, will
(Continued on Page Five>