I«ue-Owned Newspaper
and The ARROWHEAD PRESS
Member of The Associated Press
10c a Copy
volume: xvi
iFriday, November 18, 1955
NUMBER 240
Plane load of soldiers crashes
in Seattle residential area
27 killed and 40
hospitalized, with
5 critically injured
SEATTLE (/P) A chartered
airlines fire spewing crasih in
a residential area shortly aifker
its midnight taeoff with home
ward 'bound soldiers from the
Far East killed 27 men here
early todlay.
Forty-seven survived the car
nage.
At least 40 were injured. Five
soldiers were listed as critical.
Almost (by a miracle, no one
<wlas injured in the homes be
tween which the big DC4 crash
ed after at least one of its four
engines sputtered and possibly
failed. A garage workshop was
leveled 'beside the house and
flaming gasoline set fire to an
other in which five children
were asleep.
soldiers, was operated by the
soldiers, was operted by the
Peninsular Air Transport Co.,
of Miami Springs, Fla.
The soldiers had arrived
from the Far East by ship onlyJ
15 hours earlier.
The civil aeronautios admin-!
istration reported the Penin-;
sular Co., which makes non-j
scheduled flijghts, had a two-'
week suspension of its operat
ing rights last summer. A CAA
spokesman said the suspension
was lifted after an inquiry in
dicated the firm was “able and
willing to conduct proper op
erations.”
Some of the charges against
it included overloading1 of
planes and woiking pilots over
long hours.
The plane which crashed to
day is a type which normally
carried no fore than 60 pass
engers on regular commercial
airline flights.
The plane’s three crew mem
bers were among the crash sur
vivors.
The crash was the second in
the west in less than 24 hours.
V eatchcomblng
9 Ace and I haven’e been
able Ho knock down a 'buck —
and we’re afraid to go alter a
doe — So thanks to those who
have so kindly given ns a small
share of thei venison — the
liver and does Ace love it.
-M
• They sure are cracking up
(planes —- stateside this days
And very successfully, itoo.
H
<§ When you have a package
ready to igo to the old country
take it down to lihe post office
and mail it — not as much
standing in line and assures
that ilt will get out all rijght
£ Last time picks: U1SC over
UCLA and OSC to beat Oregon
to foul-up lihe Rose Bowl ibid.
Snow will cause the Huskies to
miss and the boys from Puknan
being accustomed to the cold
will take the game. And what
money I have is on Stanford tc
take California (already pledg
ed). So don’t come asking.
Fourteen were alboard a C54
which crashed in 'Nevada yes ter
day.
1 oday s crash came (brief
minutes after the plane left
Boeing field on a flight to Chi
caigo, its first scheduled stop.
The ship plowed into a hillside
in a residential district, 'broke
into pieces and burst into fla
mes. A huge chunk hit the rear
of a house where a mother and
l her five children were sleeping
They escaped uninjured.
Eugene Casey, 19, of Chicago
one of the survivors of the
plane was seated on the left
side of the plane near the em
ergency door when it hit.
Casey, in a (hospital, suffer
ed shock and severe (burns, said
the takeoff had been delayed
by a snowstorm which had cov
ered the Seattle area during the
day.
As it neared the crash siite,
he said, the “whole plane start
ed jarring. I saw wires snap.
“I don’t know how I got out.
I walked right through the fire.
“I crawled and Itihe man in
front of me was screaming. I;
was afraid I’d fall down and I
wouldn’t be able to go on.
“Some GI stumbled down and
I grabbed him. I started scream
ing.”
Casey said he started walk
ing and crawling to a nearby
house.
“I didn’t think I’d make ill.
I never screamed or prayed so
i hard in all my life.”
Part of the plane came to rest
in the yard of Mrs. Donald Re
nard. Mrs. Renard said there
was a “terrific explosion,” and
“the next minute my yard was
full of soldiers.”
Every available ambulance
: was sent to the scene and the
i injured were rushed to three
| hospitals.
j Hours after the crash, lihe
j coroner’s office still was trying
i to complete ^identification of
j the dead.
! The soldiers were among the
2,833 who arrived here yester
day on /the transport Gen. R.
L. Howze from the Far East.
There were loaded aboard
j non-scheduled airlines planes
; operated by commercial air
j lines which are not certified
| by the civil aeronautics board
for scheduled flight — charter
ed by tihe government for spe
edy rel.urn to their homes.
Twenty-two such transports
took off from Boeing field at
intervals yesterday and last
night, carrying 1,000 of the ser
vicemen.
One was i:he Peninsular Tran
sport.
There were few witnesses to
the take off and crash.
Herbert Gardiner, a Boeing
Airplane Co., employe, told of
hearing the plane pass over.
He said one of the engines
sounded “flat,” and no exhaust
was visible from another en
gine.
Gardiner said the plane seem
ed to be about 150 feet off the
ground ...... “much too low.
i considering the distance it had
traveled from the field.”
| E. J. Rice, wbo lived nearby
;' said as he watched a wing clip
i ped a tree and the plane tipped
•1 The lower wing struck some
| (continued on page four;
’Paper suspends
KETCHIKAN (/P) The Ket
chikan Chronicle has announc
ed temporary suspension of puib
lication to collect money for
(payment of payroll taxes.
Publisher William E. Baker
said the suspension was only
for a few days and uhat he ex
pected to resume publication a
bout next Tuesday.
Red officials make
! visit to India
I NEW DELHI, India UP) Sov
iet premier Nokalai Bulganin
and Russian communist party
chief Khrushchev arrived in
New Delhi today to begin an
18-day goodwill tour of India.
The two ilop Russian leaders
were (greeted by prime Minis
ter Nehru and other high In
dian officials at New Delhi’s
military airport where thous
and of persns had (been assem
bling since early morning.
Bulganin and Khrushchev,
on the first leig.of a goodwill
invasion of southeast: Asia, had
asked that they ibe treated as
just plain “misters” during
their state visit:. They left Mos
cow early yesterday and flew
to the Uzbek capital of Tash
kent in central Asia for an ov
ernight stop.
Truck struck by
passenger train
MONROE, Mien i/P) Seven
and possilbly eight New York
central railroad section hands
were killed today when a truck
carrying them to work was
struck by a New York Central
passenger train a» a crossing in
northern Monroe county.
! Three other workers, includ
| ing the driver, were injured.
| Sheriff’s deputies said the
I truck, a panel-type vehicle, was
1 smashed to bits and surewn a
long the tracks for 100 yards.
Daum wrote stories
without consulting
Empire publisher
, KETCHIKAN (IP) The form
, er managing editor of the Jun
: earn Empire testified yester
day he wrote news articles
now figuring in a $400,000 libel
'suit without consulting Mrs.
Helen Monsen, publisher of
the newspaper at the time the
; suit was filed.
j Jack Daum, the former edi
j tor, said he wrote the news
stories and editorial comment
I that are the basis of the suit
| against the Empire by chree
! former territorial officials.
A deposition by Mrs. Mon
sen wfas read into the record
by agreement of counsel and
later she took the witness
stand for cross-examination,
which was to continue today.
Mrs. Monsen testified she
did not supervise editorial
writing on the Empire and fre
quern, ly didn’t know what was
to be published until the paper
was printed.
She mentioned instances in
which the Empire took issue
with former Gov. Ernest Gruen
ing, one of the plaintiffs, but
insisted she held no animosity
toward lany of them. The oth
ers bringing the lifbel suit were
Henry Rodsn, former treasur
er, and Frank Metcalfe, form
i er highway engineer.
Graham denies planting
bomb which killed mother
i
Doesn't remember
signing confession
for the FBI
DENVER (/P) John Gilbert
Graham today flatly denied
planting a bomb on the airliner
that crashed killing (his mother
and 43 others, saying he did nolt
remember signing a confession
of the plot for the FBI.
In an interview at county
jail where he is awaiting trial
for murder, 23 year old Gra
ham denied {putting anything
.into his mother’s baggage.
Federal authorities said after
Graham’s arrest last Monday
that he had signed a “written
admission.” he had placed a
time bomb made of dynamite
in his mother’s luggage. Offic
ials had no comment on Gra
ham’s statement ..oday except
Metcalf testifies 54
cancelled checks
'had become lost'
KETCHIKAN (/P) Trial in
the libal suit against the Jun
eau Empire was delayed some
wha. this morning as apposing
attorneys argued whether Mrs
Helen Monsen could 'be cross
examined by the plaintiff’s con
cerning tihe financial arrange
ments of her sale of the paper
to William Allen. Judge Walter
Hodge reserved judgment, until
this afternoon.
In other testimony Mrs. Mon
sen identified several photo
stats of editorials from the Em
pire at various times which
were critical of the Greuning
administration and in most in
stances said she had not writ
ten them but believed they
were suitable comment upon
the circumstances at the time.
Si.eve Homer who was mate
on the ferryboat Chil'koot dur
ing the summer of 1952 and al
so passenlger and freight agent
at Haines, testified regarding
the handling of passenger and
; freight payments. He identified
a check made out to him which
j he had presented for payment
f only to find that the account
i had been closed.
j it is line only checK Known iu
j exist on the special ferry ac
‘ count.
Previously Frank Metcalf,
former hilghway engineer, tes
tified that some 54 cancelled
checks on the account appar
ent ly had become lost when the
highway engineer’s office mov
ed. Although he was in office
for seven months after the li
bel action was filed, he said he
made no attempt to trace the
checks as he did no: think they
had any bearing on the case.
The defense this morning of
fered a deposition from the wi
dow of R. E. Coughlin, purser
of the ferry Chilkoot stating
that no cancelled checks on the
ferry fund were amonig tthe ef
fects and possessions of tihe
late purser.
Yesterday attorney for Ithe de
fendant introduced statements
from three territorial offices
saying that the cancelled checks
were not in any of them.
to say his “admission” was not
obtained under duress.
Graham had told a Rooky
Mountain News reporter last
night:
“Yes, I signed a statement,
but it’s nor. true. They told me
they were going to put my wife
in jail, and I’d 'better get it
straightened out myself.”
Reminded of this, Graham
said today he did not rememb
er signing a confession.
“If I did,” Graham added,
“they had something she (his
wife. Gloria) signed.” He did
not explain this fun her.
Recalling his actions .the ev
ennilg of Nov. 1 when the Unit
ed Air Lines plane exploded a
few minutes after leaving Den
ver, Graham said his mother,
Mrs. Daisie King, 54, did all
the packing. His only connec
tion with the (three bags his
mother took on the flight, Gra
bame said was to carry them.
“At no time did I put any
thing into my mother’s lu|g>
gage,” he said in the interview
Dele ates adjourn
to visit Ladd AFB
FAIRBANKS {IP) Courtesy
and education won out over
ambition yesterday and to
morrow will 'be a day off for
delega.es to the Alaska Con
stitutional convention.
The delegates had accepted
an invitation ol Ladd Air
Force !base officials to tour
>.hat military installation Sat
urday and it was part of the
official agenda until someone
raised the question of advisa
bility in yesterday afternoon’s
session.
Pretcy soon a full scale argu
ment developed over whether
the group should !be idle from
Friday evening to Monday
I morning and M. J. Walsh, sug
I gested changing the schedule
so a half day would be spent
at the air base and a half day
ai; work.
A move to make that change
lost, however, and those who
want to will see the air base.
It is expected some diehards
will meet1, in the convention
1 hall, too.
fourth polio death
vat Ketchikan *
KETCHIKAN </P) Poliomye
litis claimed its fourth victim
of the season in Ketchikan yes
terday when Mrs. Donald J.
Tandy died.
Mrs. Tandy, young mother
of two chilren and wife of a
U. S. forest ranger, entered
the hospital two weeks ago
with bulbar polio.
Marine forecast from Friday
to Saturday.
STORM WARNING
A strong pressure gradient
will cause winds of 25 (to 36
rnph with strong gusts over
1 outside waters Dixon Entrance
to Cape Spencer.
Fair.
j