Guessing Game of the “Last Frontier”
Shapes Up ... Breath of Spring Arrives
By Donald R. Clark
Nenana Ice Classic Mgr.
The question in Alaska and
especially in Nenana for the past
44 years has been, “if winter
comes, can spring toe far behind?”
And in Alaska, in the spring, men
and women’s fancy turns toward
guessing the time the ice will
move at Nenana.
This year the townspeople of
Nenana experienced one of the
coldest mid-winter holiday sea
sons in many a year. The tem
perature hung around 50 degrees
below zero for about 10 days and
set a record low of 70 below.
Now, about a month later, the
first breath of spring arrived with
more record-breaking weather, al
most 40 above, about 110 degrees
warmer in one month’s time! With
six and more hours of possible
sunshine each day, Nenana citi
zens have begun to shake off
“cabin fever” and feel spring
coming north again.
ivxcctauicui^iiiwiac, uie past iwu
warm winters have showed these
contrasts in the thickness of the
ice. Jan. 1, 1960, the ice was 28"
thick, and had 9'8" of water run
ning under it. On Jan. <1, 1961,
there was 19" of ice, with 8'1"
of water running under it. This
Jan. 15, the ice is a thick 42"
with only 3' of water running un
der it. The eternal question re
mains, “when will the ice move?”
It has moved as early as April
20, and as late as May 16.
Last April 26, Nenana was prob
ably one of the most discussed
hamlets in all America. The Wall
Street Journal that afternoon ran
a article on the front page,
“Alaskans bet $100,000 on timing
of spring ice breakup in river.
Many push for other legal gamb
ling to aid state’s budget by
governor balks.” The thousands
of executives, hundreds of corpo
ration bosses, and the million or
more investors in America that
had that article placed before
their eyes, wofald not mind in the
least, at being able to place a bet
on the “Irish Sweepstakes of the
North.” But the Ice Classic rules
limit sales of tickets to residents
1
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of Alaska and the Yukon Terri
tory.
May 1, saw the same article in
the Appendix of the Congressional
Record. Alaska Sen. Bob Bartlett
saw his chance to remind Con
gress once again, that the 49th
State, like the lower 48, is visited
each year by the four seasons and
the twelve months; and that if
we do have a little ice in Alaska
during the winter, come spring
we are going to put it to good
use.
Ana so, tne fondest guessing
game of the “Last Frontier” goes
on, and is becoming more widely
known each year. The “Last
Frontier” around Nenana is much
different today. Nenana has ten
buses a day that pass through on
their way from Fairbanks to the
Ballistic Missile Early Warning
System site, at Clear. The old
timers in Nenana stop to catch
their breath when one of the huge
diesel buses roars through town
with a load of engineers and tech
nicians who might be straight out
of the world of Jules Verne. They
are reminded of the tremendous
contrasts that they have experi
enced in a short half century,
when in their day the only modes
of transportation was the dog
team and riverboat.
School enrollment has doubled
in the past decade, oil explorations
are in their initial stages, and
a highway bridge is scheduled to
be constructed within a year or
two. Like Rip Van Winkle, Ne
nana is beginning to awaken from
a two score year’s nap, but the
traditional spring Ice Classic had
never taken more than a quick
cat nap in its 44 years of ex
istence.
Basketball Schedule
Tuesday, Jan. 30 — ACS vs.
High School, 7:30 pm.
Merchants vs. Polar, 9:00 pm.
Thursday, Feb. 1—ACS vs. Jay
cees, 7:30 p.m.
ANB vs. High School, 9:00 p.m.
Weaver Bros.
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LEGISLATIVE MEASURES
AVAILABLE AT NUGGET
AND M'LORD & LADY SHOP
The member of the Legislature
from Nome are supplying the
Nugget and the Chamber of Com
merce with copies of all bills
which are introduced. They will
be conveniently located in the
Nugget for anyone to study. The
Chamber of Commerce copies
will be available at the M’Lord
and Lady Shop as Ellen Mulvihil)
is corresponding secretary for the
Chamber.
COUNCIL MEETING TONIGHT
The Nome City Council which
was postponed last Monday so
that members could attend the
annual Chamber meeting, will
meet this evening at the City
Kail at 8:00.
Soviets Take Slap at U.S.
For Postponing Orbit Shot
LONDON UF>—The Russians as
serted Saturday night that fear
of a launching failure was the
real reason American officials
postponed the blasting into space
of Marine Lt. Col. John H. Glenn
Jr.
“Failure at Cape Canaveral,”
a Moscow radio broadcast told
home service listeners. “The fact
is that officials of the observa
tion point on Cape Canaveral
were alarmed toy the failure of
yesterday’s launching of a rocket
in the direction of the Moon.
“As is known, the rocket which
started Friday from the same
point has already deviated from
its set direction by approximately
65,000 kilometers (40,625 miles).
“The rocket mechanisms of the
rocket launched and of the one
which was to have been launched
into orbit around the earth with
i a man on board are of the same
I type.”
/vi no point cua me moscow
broadcast mention the cloud cover,!
given as the official reason for
postponing the space shot.
Later, however, a Tass dispatch,
datelined New York, said: “Four j
hours, one minute after Glenn
entered the capsule, it was an
nounced the launch will be post
poned in view of poor weather
on Cape Canaveral.”
British newspapers played the
Glenn story in large type and
with sympathy.
New Zealander Sets New
World Mile Track Record
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
te — Peter Snell of New Zealand,
running effortlessly on a grass
track, bettered the world mile
record Saturday night with a
clocking of 3 minutes, 54.4 sec
onds that eclipsed Herb Elliott’s
mark by a tenth of a second.
Snell, Olympic 600-meter cham
pion, whipped two sub four
minute milers as he came from
the rear of the field, took the
lead at the three-quarter mark
and ripped off a 56 second final
lap to beat Elliott’s record.
Elliott, Australia’s miracle miler,
has held the world record since
he ran the distance in 3:45.5 at
Dublin, Aug. 6, 1058.
Snell, continuing the lowering
of the mile record beyond the
four-minute barrier first cracked
by Roger Bannister of England
with a 3:59.4 clocking at Oxford,
England, >May 6; 1964, finished
Well ahead of Britain’s Bruce
Tulloh.
CD CHECKOVER . . V
KINGSBRIOGE, England <* -
The Kingsbridge Rural Council
has decided to investigate local
civil defense administration after
hearing about the setup in the
village at Slapton.
Slap ton has 16 Civil Defense
volunteers on the "active list.”
BUt squadron-leader Frank
Pierce, the council chairman, re
ported Friday: Two are dead; two
have moved out of the district;
severil are between TO and 80
years of age; and one hr in a men
tal institution.
Sen. E. Dirksen Claims
U.N. “Needs Surgery”
NEW YORK (A — Sen. Everett
Dirksen, CR-I11.), said Saturday
the United Nations has become
“a weak and dubious instrument”
and that “surgery” may be needed.
The senator minority leader, ad
dressing the Women’s National
Republican Club, also hit at Pres
ident Kennedy’s budget and tariff
proposals.
'Differing with Kennedy’s sug
gestion that the United States un
derwrite half of a $200 million
U.N. bond issue, Dirksen said
that “surgery rather than a poul
tice may be the real need if the
life and prestige of the U.N. is
to be sustained.”
Dirksen said the United States
cannot maintain control of its own
foreign policy and discharge its
responsibilities as a U.N. member
“if the United Nations is to dic
tate the policies which we, the
United States, should follow.”
Concerning Kennedy’s advocacy
of reciprocal tariff cuts with the
European Common Market, Dirk
sen said:
“This not the time to tremble
before the challenge of the Eu
ropean Common Market. To do
so means that we deal from
weakness rather than strength
and display lack of confidence
in the productive capacity of our
country.”
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NUGGET
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Resolution Calls for
Reindeer Breeding Stock
To Be Loaned N.W. Alaska
JUNEAU 0P> — A resolution
asking that some reindeer breed
ing stocks from Nunivak Island
be loaned to herders in North
western Alaska was introduced in
the Senate Saturday.
The measure was introduced
by Reps. Robert Blodgett of Tel
er; Jacob Stalker of Kotzebue; and
John Nusunginya of Barrow.
It said that Nunivak Island is
so overpopulated with federally
owned reindeer that the federal
government might find it neces
sary to thin down the herds.
There are many people in
Northwestern Alaska who could
become self-supporting if they
were given the opportunity to ob
tain reindeer breed stock,” the,
measure said.
Under the proposal, herders in
Northwestern Alaska each could
borrow 500 head of reindeer for
breeding purposes.
[Refrigerator Ship to
Make Winter Exploratory
Cruise in North Pacific
SEATTLE m — The 177-foot
refrigerator ship Bertha Ann wilt
sail from Seattle Wednesday on
I the first winter exploratory cruise
of the U.S. Bureau of Commercial
Fisheries’ North Pacific salmon
investigations.
The Bertha Ann is scheduled
to spend two and a half months
south of the Aleutian Islands and
in the Gulf of Alaska. She will
gillnet for salmon and gather
data on the salmon and its
habits at this season.
Besides wintry blasts, the Ber
tha Ann will spurn superymneion
on this cruise. She’ll carry 13 men
—five crewmen and eight sci
entists. James Mason will be biolo
gist in charge. Felix Favorite will
be chief oceanographer, and Ea
ling Jacobsen will skipper the
ship.
NOME SANITARY
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