D. E. Skinner Raps
Water Transport
Business to Alaska
SEATTLE UP) — A packed house
at the Alaska Day luncheon Fri
day of the Seattle Chamber of
commerce heard D. E. Skinner,
head of the Alaska Steamship Co.,
declared it is easy to get into the
Alaska water transportation busi
ness but anyone who tries it should
have his head examined.
Skinner said about 30 groups
have tried it in the past several
years because all that is needed is
a fishboat or tug and barge which
will float the distance. You merely
file a tariff and start operations.
Even if you make a mistake in
tariff charges, Skinner declared,
you don’t have to worry because
nobody will find out about it for
two or three years.
“And by that time you will be
out of business, anyway.”
It took the Federal Maritime
Commission from November, 1959,
until last Wednesday, Skinner
pointed out, to decide whether Alas
ka Steam could charge the rates
its was charging.
The rates were determined as
too high, the company president
declared, because the Commission
changed the rules “overnight.”
The rate base previously took
into account the increasing dollar
values of equipment in an infla
tionary economy.. The new base,
Skinner said entitles a firm to earn
only no net depreciated book value.
If an old ship becomes fully
depreciated for tax purposes, he
commented, the owner is not en
titled to any earnings on it under
the new formula.
“If this rate base applies,” Skin
ner declared, “we are all in trouble.”
Skinner said Alaska Steam’s
stockholders since 1944 have re
ceived only a 1-cent return after
taxes on every Alaska Steam reve
nue dollar.
Any “nut” who thinks he wants
to go into the Alaska water trans
port business, Skinner admonished,
should first consider the following:
1. That Alaska common carriers
operate on less than a ton of cargo
per mile.
2. That it is mostly a one-way
haul, with ships returning south
largely in ballast.
3. That there is little need for
service from November through
March.
4. That you have to choose which
of 92 ports you will save.
5. That 5a vice to the populous
railbelt sections requires insulated
equipment to maintain 33-to-34 de
grees while temperature outside
FAA ANNOUNCES
ECONOMY CAMPAIGN
A comprehensive economy cam
paign throughout the Alaskan re
gion of the Federal Aviation Agency
was announced recently by Allen
D. Hulen, Asst. Administrator. The
campaign is part of a nation-wide
drive by FAA announced recently
by N. E. Haiaby, Administrator, in
response to emphasis by President
Kennedy for economy in govern
ment.
In announcing the drive Haiaby
declared that the FAA campaign
“will be the most concentrated
campaign for economy ever mount
ed by a federal agency.”
“We must achieve maximum ef
ficiency in operations and we will
reward those who make outstand
ing contributions to economy—we
are going to make FAA the clean
est, leanest, Keenest outtit in the
government,” the administrator as
serted in outling an accelerated in
centive awards program as a key
to the campaign.
The economy campaign in no
way will restrict operations or serv
ices of the FAA but will concen
trate on increasing efficiency of
present operations, Hulen declared.
ranges from 100 degrees above
zero in summer to 60 below in
winter.
Skinner took a crack at container
shippers who by-pass established
services to utilize those of tugs
and-barge units which are going
north “anyway.” He commented
caustically: “I never really under
stood the meaning of the term
piggy-back before.”
Alaska Steam has been criticized
for its old ships, Skinner said. But
he noted that, despite the physical,
political and competitive difficult
ies, the company has increased its
fleet since 1944 from 11 ships
averaging 34 years of age to 14
ships averaging 17 years.
The speaker indicated that the
new Alaska ferry service and a
clause in the Jones Act which per
mits eastern American goods to be
routed through Canada and shipped
north from Prince Rupert are just
a couple of the many additional
difficulties shared by all Seattle
Alaska common carriers.
“There is a fine line between
genius and idiocy,” Skinner con
cluded, “and the next few years
will prove which side of the line
we of Alaska Steam are on.”
At the meeting Friday, Skinner
was presented with a plaque by
William Snedden, publisher of the
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, “In
commemoration of ... six years
of faithful service between Alaska
and its suburb, Seattle.”
Choose from the tops in styling—
from free and easy to close-curving !
AT TINY PRN
California Young
Republicans Hold
Fistic Convention
LOS ANGELES Uh — Fists flew,
delegates pushed and shoved and
shouts filled the air Friday night
at the annual meeting of the Cali
fornia Young Republican College
Federation.
Police had to restore order.
The brawl broke out in a con
ference room at the Statler-Hilton
Hotel.
Richard Noble of Stanford, a di
rector of the California Young Re
publicans and a member of the
party’s conservative element, said
the executive committee “was try
ing to pack the Credentials Com
mittee.”
He said the “liberal faction was
going to recognize only the liberals
and we would have been out in
the cold.”
jiNuuit: adiu execuuve comnuuee
chairman Joel Fisher of the Uni
versity of California ordered all
but the 12 committee members out
of the room. Then the trouble
started.
“Three boys helped me out of
the room,” said Marrily Lament of
Cal Poly of Pomona. “Six or seven
other boys helped some of the
others.”
Bud Sanders of Long Beach
State College said somebody tried
to choke him as he was shoved
out the door.
Sanders said a general uproar en
sued. There was screaming, push
ing and shoving, he said, as mem
bers tried to get into the packed
room and others tried to get them
out.
Two policemen cleared the room
and the committee meeting con
tinued. Two officers were stationed
outside the door.
Fisher denied the committee was
“anti-anybody” and said: “We were
attempting to conduct a meeting in
an orderly fashion, but the room
had been packed with conserva
tives bent on breaking up the
session.”
At least two U.S. presidents died
in debt. They were Thomas Jeffer
son, who owed $40,000, and Wil
liam Henry Harrison, amount un
known. U.S. Grant left no estate
of value except his memoirs—but
they netted his family $500,000.
U.S. Soldiers Now
Undergo Training
On Commie Tactics
WASHINGTON UR — Two Army
generals testified all U.S. soldiers
and officers now undergo special
training and indoctrination on Com
munist tactics.
The aim, the generals said, is to
avoid a situation like that during
the Korean War when some Amer
ican prisoners collaborated with
their Communist captors.
Gen. Barksdale Hamlett, Vice
Chief of Staff, said “the soldiers
are not being trained to become
prisoners of war, but rather what
their behavior should be if they
unfortunately become prisoners.”
Maj. Gen. Alva Fitch, Asst. Chief
of Staff for Intelligence, said
special training was provided for
all Army personnel stationed over
seas where Communist infiltration
and espionage is likely.
The testimony of the generals
was prepared for delivery to a
special Senate Armed Services Sub
committee investigating complaints
that anti-Communist activities of
military officers were censored or
impeded.
Their report was a low-key se
quel to two days of emotion
charged testimony by former Maj.
Gen. Edwin Walker who said he
was “framed in a den of iniquity”
for his anti-Communism activities
as a division commander in Ger
many.
Walker named Secretary of
State Dean Rusk and Walt Whitman
Rostow, a close adviser to President
Kennedy, as two top figures in the
den but did not accuse them direct
ly of doing any framing.
Rusk, at the capital for another
hearing, dismissed the testimony
as not worthy of comment but did
tell newsmen “I’m happy to be
linked with Mr. Rostow — he is
an able and close colleague.”
The White House has declined
comment.
Who says you can’t take it with
you? A new man’s suit on the
market has 19 pockets, including a
detachable pouch for carrying
raincoats.
-~'
Complete First Steps of
Highway Tunnel Through Alps
SAINT RHEMY, Italy —
Italian and Swiss workers — safety
below ground as a blizzard raged
above — blasted away the last
rock barrier of the new 3.7-mile
highway tunnel connecting Saint
Rheir.y, Italy, with Bow'S St.
Pierre, Switzerland.
Millions of European television
viewers watch as Marcello Pietro
bon, Italian foreman, pushed a but
ton. Half a ton of dynamite blast
ed the thin remaining rock wall,
and the way was open to the Italian
side.
When the dust had settled, the
Italians and Swiss met at the open
ing. The Italians broke out bottles
of Chainti and all began cele
brating the last major step toward
completing the first highway tun
nel through the Alps.
The $28-million tunnel runs
under 8,000-foot Grand St Ber
nard Pass, part of the Mt. Blanc
chain. It will be ready for traffic
next year and give motorists an
easy route through the Alps in
winter, when the Alpine passes are
snowbound.
INVITATION FOR BIDS
Installation of hardwood floor in Drill
Hall, Nome Armory, Nome, Alaska.
Sealed bids in single copy for furnish
ing all labor equipment and materials
and performing all work for the project
described herein will be received until
10:00 a.m. PST, April 26, 1962 in the
office of Richard A. Downing, Commis
sioner. Department of Public Works,
P.O. Box 1361, Juneau, Alaska and then
publicly opened.
Plana, specifications and Contract
Documents are available at the Director's
Office, Division of Buildings, Capitol
Building, Juneau, Alaska; Associated
General Contractors. Alaska Chapter,
306 Central Building, Anchorage, Alaska;
Associated General Contractors, 215 W.
Harrison, Seattle, Wash.*, Plan Bureau,
2413 Western Ave., Seattle, Wash.
Plans and specifications are available
upon request without charge from the
Director's Office, Division of Buildings,
P.O. Box 1511, Juneau, Alaska.
Guarantee will be required with each
bid equal to 10 per cent of the basic
bid item. Performance bond will be re
quired equal to 100 per cent of the
amount of contract. The payment, bond
will be required equal to 50 per cent
'of the amount of tnis contract.
Bidders are hereby notified that the
State prequalifications requirements ef
fective March 9, 1960 in accordance with
paragraph 1 (h) hereby waived.
The work consists of a complete in
stallation of a hardwood floor in the
Drill Hall of the Nome Armory.
Richard A. Downing,
Commissioner,
Dept, of Public Works,
State of Alaska
'i
MONDAY and FRIDAY
Flight 309/310
lt. rairoaxurs
d:uu a. iii.
Afi ikdiaSuufi
Lv. Kotzebue
9:30 a.m.
At. Nome
10:20
Lr. Nome
—
3:50 pun.
Ar. Fairbanks 6:25 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
light 309/310
Lv. Fairbanks 8:00 a.m.
Ar. Kotzebue
Lt. Kotzebue
10:00 a.m.
Ar. Nome
9:20 aun.
11:00
Lv. Nome
3:50 pun.
Ar. Fairbanks 7:35 pan.
TUESDAY, THURSDAY
and SATURDAY
Flight 311/312
Lv. Fairbanks 8:00 ajn. Ar. Nome 9:05 a.m.
Lv. Nome 10:00 ami. Ar. Kotzebue 10:50 am.
Lv. Kotzebue 11:20 a.m. Ar. Fairbanks 2:30 pun.
\
'First In Alask*
A'Ri.’-N£S, INC.
4 tv S • NOMf v1 0AS3OW • K O T 7. f 3 U t
it ASK A'5 f I ft 5 T Vi ♦ R i I N E