Daily Sitka
leme-Owncd ^Newspaper
and The ARROWHEAD PRESS
Member of The Associated Press
idea Copy
VOLUME XVI
Tuesday, September 6, 1955
NUMBER 188
Ed. VanHorn will command
American Legion this year
lorene Tuengel
named 1st vice
by Auxiliary
It is&’t news when & son
follows a father, b>u>t when
jBdiward Van Horn ©£ Sitka
was elected commander of the
^Alaska department of the Am
erican. Legion yesterday, he
followed by four years the
teoim of his son, John who
,served as department comm an
der 1951-51. »
EDWARD VAN HORN
Department Commander
At that time, the elder Van
Horn was head of the 40 et 8
Alaska.
And this year son John was
endorsed, for the position of
national vice-commander that
is to be filled by election at the
.American Legion Convention
ah Miami.
jiV catch combing
• Doesn’t it always happen
The sun coming out and the
skies cleaning after a group of
visitors leave the most beauti
ful city m Alaska.
-+4
# Tonight at the Fire Hall is
the chance to express your
preference as to whom should
be on the elective ballot for
the city of Sitka. It’s a one-one
one-two proposition: mayor,
•three counciimen, one school
board memlber and two for the
utilities board-.
0 The group planning to re
novate St. Michael’s has a job
on their hands — but actually
they are a grouip of workers
and not on the committee just
to take bows.
° -I—I
• Each year just before the
schools take a vacation -— it
rams — and as usual just be
fore the new session starts it
rains, with the sun shining as
the youngsters troop to school.
—|—|—
• Watch your driving and
you won’t have to explain to
the judge why you hit one of
Sitka’s school kids.
Other department officers
named by the Legion include:
Wardie King, first vice com
mander, Anchorage; Robert
N. Druxman, second vice com
mander, Auke Bay; Drencey
Dudley, sergeant at arms, Ket
dtoikan; John W. Kessel, histor
ian. Fairbanks; Homer L. Crow
ther, reelected chaplain. Ket
chikan: William H. Saunders,
_
One of tihe stormiest and wet
test conventions in the history
of Alaska ended yesterday. Bur
ing the first two days of the
American Legion and Auxilary
convention winds of 40 to 45
msph swept the city and rain
to the amount of 2.30 inches
fell. A total of 2.73 inches of
rain fell in the five days the
visiters were here.
reelected judge advocate, An
chorage. Walter W. Smith, re
appointed adjutant, finance of
ficer and service officer, Jun
eau; Donmand C. McGraw.
Sitka and Floyd E. Odgen, Auke
Bay, department executive com
mitteemen.
LORENE TUENGEL
first Vice-President
Izola Sims of Palmer was
elected president by the Aux
iliary; other officers are Lor
i ene Tuenigel first vice presid
ent, Sitka. Mary Stoeckle, se
cond vice president, Seward:
Eleanor Bell, secretary, Anch
orage; Mary Steelman, histor
ian. Palmer; Stella Jansan ser
| geant at arms, Cordov*a; Ber
| nice Kaufman and Caroline
Bailey, Anchorage, department
executive commtteewomen
Selma Smith, Anchorage, na
tional executive committeewo
man.
William H. Sanders of An
chorage was elected Grand
Chef de Gare of Las Society
j Des 40 Homjmes at 8 Chevanx.
i Other officers named: Grand
Chef de Train, Richard Hard
castle. Ketchikan.' Grand Con
diucteur. Foster R. Sims, Pal
mer: Grand Correspondent at
and Commissionaire Intendant
i Perrv S. McLain, Anchorage:
Grand Aumorier. Homer Crow
ther, Ketchikan: Grand Com
mit Vcvageur A1 Trump. Sew
ard: Grand Advocate. Herald
(continued or, page four)
Another polio
^eath in First City
KETCHIKAN (>P) Polio claim
ed another victim Monday af
ternoon in Ketchikan. Mike
Dyakanoff, 24, the victim, was
the brother of Andrew Dyak
anoff who died of the same dis
ease two weeks ago. The hos
pital in Ketchikan reported no
new cases over the weekend.
At least 430 died
aver nation during
holiday weekend ;
by The Associated Press
A heavy toll of traffic accid
ent deaths was made by Amer
it an motorists during the three
day Labor Day weekend, e>r
| ceeding advance predictions
j and the toll for the 1954 holi
day.
Reports still trickling in to
[day showed 430 persons died in
| traffic mishaps between 6 p.
m. local time Friday and mid
night Monday. An additional
80 persons drowned and 89
died in miscellaneous accidents
for an overall total of 599.
This compared with <a record
traffic high of 461 and record
overall total of 658. both set
in 1951. The 1954 traffic toll
was 364.
The national safety council
batd predicted 400 would die
over the holiday. Today Ned H.
Dearborn, council president,
sa d in a statement:
“The toll, thank heaven stay j
ed below the all-time record j
for Labor Day. It is of small
comfort to anyone who sincere- j
lv believes that this wholesale
slaughter on the highways
need not and must not be toler
ated.
“We hope and believe that
extra effort on the part of ev
eryone between now and Chr
istmas will hold down the year
end holiday toll.”
Safety council statistics show |
that 32 other persons are injur
ed for everv traffic death. Also
for everv three persons killed,
a fourth dies later of injuries.
North Dakota reported no
violent deaths of any kind at
tributed to the holiday and
Maine. Montana, Vtfhmont and
the District of Columbia had
no traffic fatilities.
This year’s holiday toll also
loaned that of a non-holdiiiav
weekend tabulated last month
for comparative pcrposes. An j
Associated Press survey ofj
deaths during the Aug. 19-22
weekend showed 385 traffic
deaths 67 drownings and 85
vielent deaths from miscellan-,
eous causes.
,pnnfinr,«'t ^
.Another scorcher
>n Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (TP) The tem
penature hit 100 again today —
the seventh straight day it has
gone that high or higher —
and the murky city had anoth-;
er smog alert.
| The 100 equalled the all-time
record for this date, set in 1891
Forecasters predicted a high to
day of 105.
Red China promises to let few
Americans leave country
Nine Americans
free to come home,
Others later
GENEVA </P) Communist
China notified the United
States today that nine Ameri
can civilians detained, in China
including six women, were
now free to return home.
Red Chinese ambassador j
Wang Ping-Nan told U. S. am-]
bassador U. Alexis Johnson at
their 13th meeting that two o
ther Americans could leave atl
once if they asked for exit per
mits and a third could leave
within two or three months. '
The two ambassadors have
been meeting at intervals since!
Aug. 1, negotiating the release
of 41 Americans imprisoned in
China or denied exit permits.
The announcement by Wang
was the first positive result of,
the talks since they began.
There, was no indication
when the Chinese Reds would
release the 29 Americans not
mentioned on Wang’s list but
the ambassadors agreed today
to continue their secret talks
on Saturday.
In the group were industrial
ists, missionaries, a nun and
Bishop Edward Walsh, head of
Shaky peace holds
on tense Gaza
front today
JERUSALEM (^P) Israel and
Efcy-pt struggled today to main
tain a shaky peace along the
tense Gaza frontier.
Israel apologized yesterday
for the only clash reported a
lonig the border since both na
tions renewed their cease-fire
Sunday. The Israelis Said one
of their patrols had crossed in
to the Egyptian-held Gazo strip
Egypt said the patrol of 20
soldiers opened fire on an Egyp
tian outpost. Two Israelis were
killed and a third' taken prison
er in the ensuing clash. The
Ekyptians said they suffered
no casualties. The returned the
two bodies to Israel yesterday.
Delving back into the recent
daily violence along the Gaza
border, the U. N. Egyptian
Israeli armistice commission
held the longest meeting of its
history yesterday. After 14
hours the commisson’s French
chairman, F. X. Giacomaggi.
ruled that both natons had vio
lated their 1948 armistice „ in
the initial incident Aug. 22, a
clash between an Israeli pat
rol and an Egyptian outpost
near Gaza.
“It is impossible in my op
inion to decide wihiich side op
ened fire first,” GiaComaJggi
said.
Egypt said she lost four kill
ed and nine wounded in the
Aug. 22 incident, while Israel
reported two of her soldiers
were wounded.
; the Roman Catholic bureau in
Shanghai.
Bang’® announcement was
tossed unexpectedly into to
day’s 2V2 hour meeting of the
two ambassadors.
The American spokesman
declined to give any indication
df Johnson’s response, or to
disclose whether the United
States had miade any conces
sion to Obtain the release of
'the civilians.
Then he stressed that the
talks would continue Satur
day on the first item of the
two-item agenda.
This concerns “the return of
civilians of both sides to their
respective countries.”
The spokesman said Johnson
would rdfuse to discuss the
second item, — “other practi
cal mlatters at issue between
the two sides” — until item
one had ibeen liquidated by re
lease of all American civilians
Release may be
first step in return
of all Americans
WASHINGTON </P) The state
department today hailed Red
China’s announced plans to
free nine detained Americans
as a possible first step “in the
return of all Americans in
China.”
i A department spokesman said
officials here checked by tele
phone with U. Alexis Johnson,
negotiating with the Red Chin
ese at Geneva. He said Johnson
confirmed the reported Red
Chinese offer to free nine A
merleans immediately.
Officials checked their files
for home towns and next of
| kin of the U. S. citizens expeot
» ed to be freed. There were no
U. S. address in several cases.
Union S. S. strike
may end Thursday
VANCOUVER OF) Union
Steamships Ltd. officials ex
pect to resume pant of the
company’s ® vital coastal ser
vice Thursday following the
settlement of a two-month
strike of 350 seamen.
A spokesman for the compa
ny Says it will be a week af
ter that before the full fleet
of a dozen passenger ships and.
freighters is at sea again.
Resumption of service de
oends on the signing of the
'con>i’~''f,e naee fours
I Marine forecast from Tues
day to Wednesday.
| Outside waters Dixon En
trance to Y akutat variable
. winds 8 to 15 miph.
i Partly glouidy0 with patches
1 of fog tonight.