OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
64th Year
No. 43
NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 10, 1963
Per Copy 15£
Wheeling Corp.
Raises Its Steel
Prices $6.00 a Ton
WHEELING, W. Va. (*> — The
Wheeling Steel Corp. has an
nounced price increases for several
of its products effective today —
the first anniversary of the steel
price hike that led to a clash
between some top leaders of the
industry and an angry President
Kennedy.
Wheeling Steel, the 11th largest
steel producer in the nation, an
nounced yesterday it was raising
prices on steel plates and other
items.
The increases averaged about $6
a ton — the amount of the in
creases announced a year ago and
quickly rescinded by several com
panies under White House pres
sure.
William Steele, president of
Wheeling, said “ a steady increase
in the cost of materials, services
and labor” led to the decision to
raise prices. He noted that his
company had not increased prices
since 1958.
A spokesman for the United
States Steep Corp., the nation’s
No. 1 steelmaker and leader in
the price hikes a year ago, said
in New York that he knew about
the Wheeling announcement but
did not know of any plan by U.S.
Steel to raise prices at this time.
Presidential press secretary
Pierre Salinger said at the White
House he had no comment on the
move by Wheeling.
Arthur Homer, board chairman
of the Bethlehem Steel Co., the
second largest producer, said be
fore the Wheeling announcement
“there’s considerable doubt in my
mind as to whether the market
will support a price increase.”
Hearing to Be Held On
Uniform Time Standards
WASHINGTON UP — Problems
caused by lack of uniform time
standards will be considered at
a hearing by the Senate Commerce
Committee on April 29, by chair
man Warren Magnuson, (D-Wn.),
announced yesterday.
Two bills to update the 45-year
old uniform time act have been
referred to the committee. One
was requested by the Interstate
Commerce Commission and the
other was introduced by Sen. Nor
ris Cotton, (R-N.H.).
Both would establish eight time
zones: Atlantic, Eastern, Central,
Mountain, Pacific, Yukon, Alaska
Hawaii and Bering.
Currently the ICC has respon
sibility for fixing the zones in the
Continental United States, exclud
ing Alaska. The ICC bill would
extend the authority to cover
Alaska and Hawaii.
Cotton’s bill would transfer the
responsibility to the Secretary of
Commerce.
BOMB EXPLOSION TRACED
TO CAPTAIN IN SAIGON
SAIGON m — A bomb that
exploded in a San Francisco, Calif.,
post office March 18 injuring a
clerk has been traced to a U.S.
Army captain in South Viet Nam.
The captain, stationed in Sai
gon, had packaged an explosive
device and sent it to his wife
through the Army Post Office sys
tem.
The officer is scheduled to be
taken back to the United States
to be placed in a mental institu
tion.
Identification of the officer was
not announced immediately.
Senate Goes Along
With Teachers’ Pay Raise
JUNEAU UP) — The Senate today
voted to go along with a $1.3
milion teachers’ pay raise bill,
sending the measure along to Gov.
Wm. Egan for his consideration.
The action came on a voice vote
as the upper chamber recinded its
action of last Monday when it
failed to concur with a substitute
bill drafted by the House Finance
Committee.
Earlier the problem appeared to
be headed for a House-Senate
conference committee after the
House late yesterday also refused
to back down.
The Senate also gave its ap
proval, 19-0, to a bill, HB237, ap
propriating $1.3 million for the
pay increases, despite a statement
by one of the senators that the
sum was not enough to cover the
provisions of the bill.
Sen. Nicholas Begich, chairman
of the Health, Welfare and Edu
cation Committee, said the appro
priation did not allow for in
creases in school administrators’
pay.
“However, rather than amend
the bill at this late date, and pos^
sibly have it go down the drain,
the Finance Committee chairmen
have agreed that it should be
handled in a supplemental appro
priation if necessary,” Begich said.
Begich said that the teachers’
pay raise bill which was approved
actually would cost out at $1,
415,000 for fiscal 1964.
39 Appointments
Confirmed by Legislature
JUNEAU — Thirty-nine ap
pointments, including six heads of
major state departments, which
were presented to the legislature
by Gov. Wm. Egan, were confirm
ed yesterday by a joint session of
the House and Senate.
The list of appointments and
reappointments to various state po
sitions, boards, and agencies was
handed down to the legislature
April 4.
The department heads confirmed
included Donald McKinnon, Com
missioner of Highways; George N.
Hayes, Attorney General; Henry
Roloff, Commissioner of Economic
Development and Planning; Wm.
Zahradnicek, Commissioner of Ed
ucation; Levi Browning, Commis
sioner of Health and Welfare; and
Robert Stevenson, Commissioner of
Revenue. ,
Commerce Commissioner A. H.
Romick also was confirmed as
Secretary of State designate, in
which position he would serve if
the office of the Secretary of State
became vacant.
British Legislators
Can't Expect a Pay Raise
LONDON GP) — Britain’s leg
islators, who claim they are among
the lowest paid in the world,
groaned and cheered ironically
yesterday as Prime Minister Har
old MacMillan told them they can’t
expect a raise.
MacMillan said he realized there
were cases of individual difficulty
but he did not think it right that
the government should propose any
increase at this time.
Harold Wilson, leader of the op
position, called the Prime Minis
ter’s statement dismally unsatis
factory.
Members of the Commons are
paid 1,750 pounds — $4,900 — a
year. Members of the Lords are
paid three guineas — $8.82 — each
time they attend a debate.
U.S. House
OK’s $450 Million
For Public Works
WASHINGTON (JPi — The House
agreed today to President Ken
nedy’s request for more emer
gency public works money but
could change its mind later.
By a standing vote of 202 to 172
it added $450 million to an omni
bus appropriation bill to continue
the $900 million accelerated pub
lic works program approved last
year. The vote was subject to a
later roll call.
Republicans almost solidly op
posed the allotment.
The President originally had
asked for $500 million for the pro
gram designed to provide quick
jobs in depressed areas. The House
Appropriations Committee reject
ed the request but the House up
set the committee’s recommenda
tion.
A NICE FUR TALE
WASHINGTON UP — The spell
ing was shaky and the grammar
rough but there was no mistaking
the message and the longing in the
letter signed: “James Michael
Grade, the 3.”
“My grandfather lost hie dog,
April and he was 14 years old and
huskey,” was the way the 9-year
old Brooklyn, N.Y., boy opened his
plea to Sen. E. L. Bartlett.
James, for himself and his sis
ter and two brothers, asked if th<
senator could help them get an
other husky to surprise then
grandfather on his birthday Apr!
29.
“We can’t get one heare they
don’t make them,” said the young
ster, adding his grandfather “miss
es his dog so much you could cry.”
Bartlett said yesterday he hopes
to have a successor to April in
Brooklyn by April 29. He enlisted
the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Chester
Seveck, Eskimos from Kotzebue,
who told him:
“We have 104 grandchildren. In
the family somewhere there ought
to be a puppy.’
Bartlett hopes the pup can
match the description sent along
by James:
“April was a husky boy dog
with white face mask. His fur like
a collie, golden and white and a
nice fur tale.”
Legislative Council Would
Study Gambling Measures
JUNEAU (J*> — A resolution di
recting an interim study and pub
lic hearings by the Legislative
Council on two bills dealing with
coin-operated gambling and me
chanical devices now before the
House was introduced by Rep. Wm.
Sanders yesterday.
The Legislative Council was di
rected to report its findings and
conclusions, together with any
recommendations it might have, to
the next session of the legislature.
The two bills involved are
HB 229, which would prohibit the
ownership or operation of a coin
operated gambling machine, and
SB178, which would permit the
operation of pinball machines but
restrict payoffs to free plays.
Courts Terminate 1,186 Cases
JUNEAU UP)—State Courts Ad
ministrator Thomas Stewart said
today there were 1,752 cases in
pending file in all state courts at
the close of February.
During the month, Stewart said,
the courts terminated 1,186 cases
and received 1,041 new cases.
3rd Appropriation Bill
Comes Up Before Senate
JUNEAU iff) — The third ap
propriation bill to be presented
to the 1963 legislature came up for
consideration in the Democratic
controlled Senate today.
Most legislative observers saw
Senate acceptance of the bill,
SCSCSHB 34, as just another step
toward a major budget showdown
between the Senate and the Re
publican-controlled House.
The measure brought before the
Senate by the upper chamber’s
Finance Committee late yesterday
afternoon, was actually, the bill
drafted by the Joint House-Senate
Finance Committee.
It calls for an expenditure of
$91,218,330 in state funds, com
pared with an expenditure of
$89,024,830 in state funds pro
vided for in a House Finance Com
mittee version of the budget ap
proved by the lower chamber
Monday.
Gov. Wm. Egan, in the original
budget bill presented to the leg
islature on Feb. 5, recommended
that a total of $89,882,300 in state
funds be spent during fiscal 1964.
General fund expenditures pro
posed by the three bills which
have been presented thus far in
cluded, Egan’s budget, $78,972,000;
the House Finance Committee bud
get, $77,945,230; and the Senate
Finance Committee budget
$80,138,730.
IBest Wishes to Charlie Jones
JUNEAU U?) — A resolution ex
• tending best wishes to Charles I
’ Jones of Nome, a member of th
• first Alaska Territorial Legisla
ture, who is moving to the Pio
neers Home at Sitka, passed thf
Senate today.
Traffic Committee
Report Shows Economic
Losses of $7 Billion for ’62
WASHINGTON — President
Kennedy’s committee for traffic
safety has presented a report on
highway accidents in the nation
last year: 41,000 dead, 1.5 million
disabling injuries, 3 million less
serious injuries and estimated
economic losses of about $7 bil
lion.
The President, in receiving the
committee’s report yesterday, call-.
ed it “a senseless record and a
distressing waste of human re
sources.”
In a special statement Kennedy
said “there is no single answer
to the national traffic safety prob
lem” but that his committee is
working hard on it.
Accused Killer Had
Used Alias Name
SEATTLE WJ — The second de
gree murder trial for a 30-year-old
Canadian and former Anchorage,
Alaska, resident who had been
arrested under an alias will be
held here July 15.
Lance Miller, who admitted in
Superior Court here yesterday that
his real name was Roy Allen Wil
lis, pleaded innocent in the death
last October of Seattle barmaid
Mrs. Helen Marie Finnie, 27, the
mother of five.
Willis was returned here last
week from Calgary, Alta., where
he had waived extradition. He
told authorities his pistol accident
ly discharged when he pulled it
from his pocket.
The shooting occurred in Mrs.
Finnie’s apartment here. Her body
was found a week later in a
wooded area about 60 miles north
of Seattle.
Chamber Holds
Open Discussion
On Power Plant
The Chamber of Commerce had
as its program last Monday noon
an open discussion on the proposed
new generation and distribution
plant for the Nome Power and
Light Co. which will be voted on
by the people next Tuesday.
Howard Crinklaw, manager and
superintendent of the present utili
ties, explained how the new plant
was projected for some time in the
future but due to the building of
the vocational school next summer
and the expansion of government
agencies has made the present
operation inadequate to meet the
need.
Crinklaw explained the finan
cing of the new plant, showing how
feasible the investment will be and
how the new plant will pay for
itself through revenue bonds with
out having to seek governmental
grants or subsidies.
If the voters do not approve the
new plant, he explained that emer
gency measures would have to be
taken in order to supply the need
ed power which in the long run
would be much more expensive
that the new plant which is plan
ned. If the voters do not approve,
the utilities will be forced to bring
in portable generation which will
be rented or leased at probably
5>o,\j\jyj to $i,uuu a inoiitn. tne
I other hand if the USSR & M plant
. I were put into operation as an
\ 1 emergency measure it would re
e) quire maintaining two complete
. / plants which would be even more
. / expensive.
, Among the questions asked Mr.
Crinklaw at the Chamber meet
ing were the following:
How many more employes would
be needed to operate the new
plant when constructed? Probably
only one after the change over
and that would be due to the long
lines serving the vocational school,
VORTAC site and other projected
government users of power.
In answer to a question on the
choice of the site, Mr. Crinklaw
stated that they anticipate a sav
ing in over $5,000 in fuel hauling
and water hauling per year.
In answer to questions on rates,
he stated that there was no reason
to anticipate any increase in rates
but in two or three years he anti
cipated a decrease in rates due to
the increased usage.
In answer to how the plant was
going to be paid for, Crinklaw ex
plained that revenue bonds would
be paid off entirely by the opera
tion of the plant. He explained
that the utilities already has $81,000
on hand in its building fund which
has been set aside for new con
struction.
Crinklaw also explained the
urgency of rushing the bonding
program at this time was so that
the new units being purchased
could be ordered in time to make
boat connections.
The utilities manager has made
detailed charts and compiled much
detailed information on the proj
ect which is available at his office
to anyone who is interested in
how the utilities operates and from
where its income is derived as
well as to how the income is spent.
WEATHER FORECAST
Partly cloudy with little change
in temperature.
In the past 24 hours: highest
temp. 10, lowest -16. Sunrise at
4:43 a.m., sunset at 7:24 p.m.
A year ago today: highest temp.
31, lowest 6.