AF Accepts Completed
White Alice Network
ANCHORAGE, Alaska—A new,
3,000-mile telephone and telegraph
network was put into full opera
tion Wednesday to provide both
military and puhlic service to
some of Alaska’s most remote
northern points.
A brief ceremony atop Pillar
Mountain was attended by Mayor
Merrill Coon. 0. A. Torgerson,
Ben Kraft. Emil Knudsen and
Harry Hurd. Mayor Coon spoke to
Mayor Anton Anderson of Anchor
age over the network.
The Alaskan Air Command
formally accept the White Alice
Network at a ceremony at Eimen
dorf Air Force Base. Telephone
calls were placed over the system
to its most distant points—includ
ing Cape Usburne, on the north
west tip of North America; St.
Lawrence Isand, in the Bering
Sea, and Wales, only 50 miles
fi om the coast of Russia.^
■ Speakers at the ceremony
stressed- the significance of the
completed network to the develop
ment of the nation’s, “last fron
tier.” It was predicted that Alas
ka's first widespread communica
tions network will be both a*stimu
lant and unifying force for the
territory. Among the scheduled
speakers were Gov. Michael A.
Stepovich and Brig. Gen. Kenneth
H. Gibson, commander of the
Alaskan Air Command.
The network was delivered to
the. Air Force by the Western
Electric Company, which was
prime contractor for White Alice.
Construction began in 1955.
‘White Alice” is the air force
code name for the network, which
operates by means of a new form
of radio relay, and is bringing re
liable communication for the first
time to many cities and towns in
the distant regions of Alaska.
It ties together radar warning
outposts of the Alaskan Air Com
mand, and also connects to the
Alaskan segment of the Distant
Early Warning Line aicng the
northern rim of the continent. In
addition to serving the Air Force,
the network also provides circuits
for the Army and Navy, the Civil
Aeronautics Administration and
the people of Alaska.
Some communities whose only
Beachcombers
Now open 7 nights a week
from 11 p.m. until ???
■ •*{•< .! !•»: •
Music every; Friday & Saturday
from1m until ???
The IoiM Hillbiliies
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Res. 3141
A fit*. ;v.
‘i *, Jf"'
contact with the outside world
was by “bush radio’ are now re
ceiving their first reliable tele
phone and telegraph service thru
White Alice. The new network is
not affected by weather or atmos
pheric interference, which have
previously hampered communica
tions in the Far North.
Service is also being made avail
able between communities on the
White Alice Network and points
in the United States through Ike
Alaska Communication System
and the Bell System.
White Alice is the largest tele
phone system to use the new “be^
vend horizon” method of radio re
lay, which employs huge anten
nas, resembling outdoor movie
screens. The antennas send sig
nals up to 170 miles between sta
tions in a single hop. This devel
opment in transmission made pos
sible construction of the network
in Alaska, where vast stretches of
forbidding terrain and savage win
ter storms have ruled out conven
tional wire and radio relay routes.
New Guard Armory
Completion Date
Now Set for 1958
The National Guard is shooting
for a completion date for the Kod
iak Armory of December 31, 1958,
according to a letter received by
the City Council, and read at the
council meeting Monday.
The letter, from Col. Carroll,
adjutant general of the Alaska
National Guard, stated that he ex
pected approval of plans for the
Armory on April 10, and that is
suance of bids for construction
will be made April 15. Preliminary
drawings, which he said had been
approved, were enclosed with the
letter.
APW Dam Work
Payments Lowered
City Manager Poland reported
to the city council he had request
ed from Alaska Public Works that
payments for repayment of the
proposed loan tor the raising of
the dam at the reservoir‘be ex
tended over a period of 20 years
instead of 10. The request was
granted, according to a letter just
received.
Under the agreement -with the
APW, loans of this are us
ually paid for in ten years, and
water rates have to be increased
to meet the payments. Following a
study made by APW, as to, pres
ent watersystem Tevenues, the ag
ency granted the extension,, and
further stated no increase would
then be necessary in order to
meet the obligation.
McCracken on list of ten
MOST WANTED FUGITIVES
Eugene Russell McCracken has
been added to the FBI’s list of
“Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.”
McCracken, who has a long
criminal record including the mur
der of a police officer in Tennes
see, has escaped from almost ev
ery institution in which he has
been confined and is now wanted
for fleeing from the State of Ten
nessee after escaping from the
Tennessee State Penitentiary, at
Nashville, on October 20, 1955. A
complaint was filed before a U. S.
Commissioner at Nashville, Ten
nessee, on February 3, 1956, charg
ing McCracken with unlawful
flight to avoid confinement.
McCracken has been convicted
for murder and has been known
to carry firearms,. he should be
considered extermely dangerous.
McCracken, a white American,
Was born March 24, 1915, in Wash
ington County^ Tennessee. He is
6’i” tall ahdv weighs 184 pounds.
Iiis build is medium. McGf ackeh’s
-- X,
hair is dark brown and wavy, and
his eyes are also brown. His left
eye tends to turn in toward his
nose when he is excited or angry.
His complexion is medium. Scars
and marks include a 1" scar on
the left side of his face, a 1” scar
on his right ear and a 1” scar on
his left index finger. There are
several brown moles on the left
side of this fugitive’s face and
neck. Two devils’ heads are tat
tooed on McCracken’s chest and
the word “Mother” is tattooed on a
scroll across a heart on his right
forearm This criminal has work
ed as a laborer and is skilled at
coal mining and at laying out and
cutting clothes.
USO SCHEDULE
Today—6 p m. Ping pong tour
nament; 8 p.m. movie, “The Burn
ing Hills*’
Sunday—5 p.m. “Sunday at 5:00’r
Monday— 8 p.m. Game Night
Tuesday—1:30 p.m. Sewing
•'lass, Mrs. Charles Etlris, instra*
tor; 8:00 p.m. Photography club,
'Chuck” Wright, instructor; 7:3<
p.m. Leathercraft, “Mike” Holtq
instructor
Wednesday—Open 1 p.m. to
11:00 p.m.
Thursday—1:30 p.m. Craft
classes, Mabel Demarest, instruc
tor; 8:00 p.m. movie, “Court Mar
tial of Billy Mitchell”
Friday—8:00 p.m. Small games
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