A Tribute to Nome
Recently we published a poem
by Muriel Crumrin, a teacher at
Nome High School, spending her
first winter in Nome.
One of our readers, Lois Autrey,
daughter of Mrs. Clyde Godsbe
in Springfield, Mass., has an
swered the poem with one of her
own:
I lived in Nome for
many a year,
Was raised there so to say;
And the home we had was
somewhat like
The homes you’ll find today.
When the permafrost would
heave the house
And the cracks begin show,
We’d get out a couple
old blankets
To stuff out the cold and snow.
Maybe its true our bathroom
And the plumbing weren’t
so good;
At least it beat a little house
In back made out of wood.
All of that was really not
Of great import to me.
The things that meant the most
Were the things I could not see.
The people all so friendly,
And the welcome, happy cheer,
That came with offered coffee
From friends and neighbors dear.
It really didn’t matter about
The stove that would not bake;
Or a floor that was so cold
It would make your poor toes ache.
Coz all the warmth and comfort
Came from something better yet,
A love of home and people
And deeds I’ll not forget.
And just like Mistress Crumrin—
“Where ever I may roam”
I never will forget the place
I’ll always know as home.
‘Washboard’ Roads
Are Commonplace
Around the World
COLLEGE — “Washboard”
roads, a condition well known to
most Alaskan drivers, are a prob
lem in nearly all areas with gravel
and dirt roads.
Motorists from Australia to
Africa and from Alaska to India
are plagued by stretches of “wash
board” which send vehicles into
teeth-chatering vibrations.
In an arcticle in the January
issue of Scientific American, Keith
Mather, associate professor of
physics at the Geophysical Insti
tute at the University of Alaska,
explains his theory on the cause
of washboarding.
Mather states in his article that
although washboarding is best
known from gravel and dirt roads,
it also occurs on paved roads, rail
road track, ski trails, and even
weavers’ shuttles.
Mather first became interested
in washboarding at the University
of Melbourne. In the dry “outback”
of Australia there are hunreds of
miles of dirt and gravel roads,
much of which are “beautifully
corrugated.”
After much observation, Mather
and his associates were able to
draw several conclusions about
washboarding: the corrugations
occur on roads after the surface
material has become dry and loose;
the corrugations are regularly
spaced; and the spacing between
the corrugations depends on the
speed at which traffic moves over
the road, the faster the traffic, the
more distance between the corru
gations.
Mather then conducted a series
of experiments using a simulated
Searchers Find Body
OURAY, Colo. UF> — Searchers
found the body of .the Rev. Mar
vin Hudson Sunday, one week
after the 39-year-old minister and
two of his daughters were buried
by an avalanche.
The girls, Amelia, 17, and
Pauline, 11, were in the family au
tc.nobile and their father was at
taching tire chains when the snow
swept them off U.S. Hwy. 550 into
a 75-foot deep canyon.
Workers still haven’t found the
girls or the automobile.
Dial 2631 For
Arctic Sanitary
Service
automobile track on a small am
track. The results showed that
when the wheel strikes a small
object on the road it bounces oi
hops, and, when it lands on th(
road, it digs a small hole. Succes
sive passes of automobiles dig new
holes, and before long, a whole
series of corrugations has develop
ed.
Although the cause of the cor
rugations has been determined, no
corrective or preventive measure
has been determined, other than
paving the road.
‘"Nevertheless,” Mather remarks
in closing, ‘‘there is the satisfaction
in exploring the causes of things,
and one can never tell who else
may turn the work to practical
advantage. There was one other
satisfaction in this age of high
priced science: the total cost of
our equipment was $25.”
lJfet I'ibulcd by Kiuk lectures Syndicate.
6V THE TIME THEY FIND OUT
THERE AIN’T NO?ODY THERE,
WE'LL 0E IN THE
YEAH, STDNEy/-AND ONCE^\
THESE /MASKS ARE OFF AMP
.WE TURN OUR JACKETS
RI6HT-SIPE OUT, WE'RE JUST
TWO ORDINARY JOES DRIVING
World’s Largest Dynamite
Factory Blows Up
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
Iff) — The world’s largest dyna- ,
mite factory blew up Saturday |
with four tremendous roars at (
Modderfontein, 16 miles from i
here. Company officials said cas
ualties were miraculously low.
The blasts shook people from
their beds as far away as Johan
nesburg. They caused the death of
a sleeping woman 11 miles away,
the South African Press Assn, re
ported.
A company announcement said
one white worker was known dead
and that four or five non-whites
were missing.
The South African Press Assn,
said earlier that first reports had
indicated 35 to 45 persons were
killed.
The news agency reported the
blasts dislodged brick in a home
in the Kensington suburb, 11 miles
from Modderfontein. The bricks
cascaded onto an African servant
! as she lay in her bed, killing her,
the agency added.
The company said it did not
know how many of its 4,000 work
ers were in the factory. Presum
ably only a skeleton night crew
was working at the time. The firm
is a subsidiary of Harry Oppen
heimer’s huge Anglo-American
Corp., a mining combine. It makes
explosives for South Africa’s gold
mining industry.
Possible Life on Venus
WASHINGTON — Mariner
II’s report that Venus runs a
temperature of 800 degrees has not
crushed all hope for life on earth’s
sister planet.
Homer Newell, Director of Space
Sciences for the National Aero
i nautics and Space Administration,
I made a case for the possibility in
a slide lecture before the House
Space Committee.
Recent experiments with bal
loons in the earth’s upper atmo
sphere have proven that “at times
the stratosphere does contain
? large numbers of micro-organ
j isms,’’ Newell said.
If it is found that these micro
organisms “live out their entire
life cycle at high altitude,” he
argued, “one may conclude that
the question of whether life exists
on Venus is not necessarily set
tled by the very high surface
temperatures that appear to exist
there.”
Next stop in the question for
life on other planets: Mars.
You can now pamper your flow
ers and vegetables with plant tran
quilizers which help reduce the
shock to them caused by heat
spells, cold snaps and too much
or too little rain.
State of Illinois
Proposes Birth Control
SPRINFIELD, 111. — Free
contraceptives and birth control
information become available April
1 for approximately 75,000 mothers
on Illinois relief rolls.
The Illinois Public Aid Com
mission, plagued by money prob
lems and controversy, voted 7-3
Friday against a move to delay the
start of the statewide plan.
The effect of the vote was to
direct the IPAC staff to start a
program based on recommenda
tions of an advisory committee of
physicians.
When a physician announced a
meeting would be held March 17
to plan additional details, state
auditor Michael Howlett asked in
astonishment, “You mean you’re
going to make plans for birth
control on St. Patrick’s Day ”
Harold Swank, the commission’s
administrative officer, estimated
earlier the cost of the program
could run as high as $60 a year
per mother. This includes the cost
of visits to a doctor and contra
ceptive pills or other devices.
The plan approved by the IPAC
guarantees privacy of the physi
cian-patient relationship.
The birth control plan was first
approved by the commission, the
state’s welfare agency, last Dec. 3.
Protestants and Jews mostly ap
proved the controversial decision;
Roman Catholics opposed it.
MALASPINA TAKES OUT PART
OF PETERSBURG TERMINAL
KETCHIKAN UP) — The motor
ship Malaspina took out part of
the terminal, a “dolphin” and a
large piece of guardrail as she was
docking early today at Petersburg.
The Malspina escaped unscathed,
however, and there were no in
juries to crew or passengers.
Mariners have complained about
the terminal’s location ever since
it was constructed in an area of
strong tide rips.
According to eyewitnesses the
Malspina cleared out a 30 - foot
stretch of piling but the vessel
arrived on schedule at Ketchikan
at about noon.
Mounlbatten's Car Sideswiped
SANTIAGO, Chili HD — An auto
mobile careening downhill out of
control Sunday sideswiped a car
carrying Earl Mountbatten, chief
of Britain’s National Defense
Council. The runaway auto then
plowed into a police car, overturn
ing it.
Mountbatten, who is a on a
Latin American tour, was unhurt.
The driver of the runaway auto
and two policemen in the car
guarding the Earl were injured.
A dog can transmit more than
a dozen ailments to man.
LEMON SOUR BALLS AND
KISSES FOR ROCKEFELLER
ALBANY, N.Y. <#> — Gov. Nel
son Rockefeller Friday received a
“tongue-in-cheek” gift from Cali
fornia Gov. Edmund Brown—15
pounds of lemon sour balls in a
redwood box.
Btown, a Democrat, explained in
a letter to New York’s top Republi
can that the gift was “a sort of
consolation prize” because Califor
nia now claims to be first in popu
lation, the place long held by
New York, though the figures are
in dispute.
Brown also included five pounds
of candy kisses to take the sting
out of the gift and wished Rocke
feller “a very sweet future.”
HIGH ALTITUDE . . .
SEATTLE M) — Three Univer
sity of Washington scientists, con
ducting atmospheric research on a
floating ice island, have drifted
within 200 miles of the North
Pole.
This is as high altitude as any
university drifting ice station ever
has reached, said Dr. Phil Church,
chairman of the Department of
Atmospheric Sciences.
University research assistants on
the island are Richard Sommer
feld, Peter Witt and Charles Cool.
The station, known as Arliss II,
is about 1,200 miles northeast of
Point Barrow.
The ice island is 80 feet thick
and about a mile square.
PST MEASURE GETS
A COOL RECEPTION
JUNEAU — A bill which
would make Pacific Standard Time
the official time for all of Alaska
except that portion now under
Bering Sea Time got a cool re
ception Saturday from the House
Judiciary Committee.
Four members of the committee
recommended that it “do not pass.”
They were Reps. Sanders, Baker,
Baggen and Taylor.
Reps. Josephson and Miller
signed in favor of the passage of
the bill, while Rep. Whitehead
made no recommendation.
The measure was referred to the
Rules Committe to await place on
the House calendar.
Nome Directory
BERING SEA LIONS CLUB
Sven Larsen, Pres.
Tom Balone, Secty.
Meets Every Tuesday
at 7:00 p.m.
at the North Star or Polaris
Northwestern Alaska
Chamber of Commerce
Meets Every Monday Noon at
North Star Dining Room
Frank Couch, President
ALASKA CHAPTER NO. 2
Order of Eastern Star
Verna Mickelson
Worthy Matron
Bev Morgan
Secretary
Meets First and Third Mondays
Anvil Lodge
No. 140
Warner E. Bohrer. W. 1C.
Norvin W. Lewis, See.
Meets First and Third Thursdays
Of Each Month
Nome Rotary Club
Roy Snyder
Psasident
Marc Beauchamp
Secretary
Wednesday
Parent-Teachers Assn.
Meets Last Tuesday of Every
Month at School
Frank Couch, President
Harriet Amundsen, Secretary
— VISITORS WELCOME —
Pioneer Igloo No. 1
Meets 1st and 3rd Wednesdays
Don Lyle, Pres.
Chas. D. Jones, Secty.