THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE
“ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME"
VOL. LXXV., NO. 11,595
JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1950
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRICE TEN CENTS
2 STATEHOOD
BILLS ASKED
BY TRUMAN
President Discusses For
mosa, Other Issuk at
Today's Conference
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31— tfV-Pre
sident Truman repeated again today
that he is anxious for passage of
Alaskan and Hawaiian statehood
bills to strengthen American defens
es. He has said it several times be
fore.
At Mr. Truman’s news conference,
a reporter said Administration lead
ers in Congress had decided the two
measures should not be taken up
at this session.
The two territories are important
to our defense setup, he went on,
and they will never be able to obtain
the maximum defense until they
are represented in Congress by
Senators and members of the House.
He said he wanted somebody from
both possessions fighting all the
time for their interests and defense.
The President also said it will
not be necessary to keep the 7th
Fleet off Formosa once peace has
been settled in Korea.
Mr. Truman, at a news conference,
also told reporters:
1. The incident created by Gen.
Douglas MacArthur’s message on
Formosa to the Veterans of For
eign Wars, which the President per
sonally ordered withdrawn, is a
closed incident.
MacArthur had said Formosa is
a link in the American Defense
chain that must be kept in friendly
hands. He implied it must be so
held even after the Korean fight
ing is over.
2. He hopes there is no great
danger of Red China’s becoming
involved in the Korean conflict.
3. He could not answer a ques
tion as to whether United Nations
forces will stop at the 38th parallel
when they take the offensive in
Korea.
Mr. Truman said the Formosa
question is one for settlement in a
Japanese Peace Treaty to be worked
out with Allied nations which
fought Japan.
Then he said that it would not
be necessary to keep the 7th Fleet
guarding Formosa once peace is
restored to Korea. He said its dis
patch to that zone was a flanking
operation to protect our forces in
Korea.
• President Truman also said he has
not been “embarrassed" by Secre
tary of Defense Johnson and wants
him to stay in the Cabinet.
His comment added up to a de
fense of Johnson and general back
ing for the reply the Secretary of
Defense has made to his critics.
BOSTON VISITOR
Robert E. White is registered at
the Baranof Hotel from Boston.
fhe Washington
Merry-Go-Round
.~E»
V^ASHINGTON — Inside fact
about the White House crackdowns
on Secretary of the Navy Mat
thews and General MacArthur is
that the administration had been
waiting for a chance to knock down
the increasing eagerness of the
military to encroach on the civil
ian branches of government.
A lot of things have been going
on which the public doesn't know
about, all pointing toward more
and more military rule. One was
the quiet attempt by Secretary oi
Defense Johnson to keep Guam
under the military when it \»as
supposed to go under a civilian
governor July 1. Another is the
Navy's attempt to hold on to the
“Trust Islands” of the Pacific. An
other has been General MacAr
thur’s repeated attempts to dictate
foreign policy.
Another flagrant intervention of
the military into foreign policy was
when eleven generals secretly went
up to Congress and urged a $100,
000,000 loan to dictator Franco ot
Spain—despite the fact that their
Commander-In-Chief in the White
House had ruled against such a
loan. /
President Truman was icy cool
with his Secretary of Defense when
(Continued on Page Four)
British Troops Reach Korea
British troops, the veteran First Battalions of the Argyll and Sutherland and the Middlscx Regiments,
disembark from an aircraft carrier at Pusan, Korea. These are first British troops sent to reinforce UN
forces in Korea. They have been in training at Hong Kong for past 16 months. 6PI Wirephoto via Army
radio.
|
ALASKA UNION IS
NOT INVOLVED IN
ILWUEXPULSION
I Oscar Anderson, AFU Offic
ial, Says Fishermen
Nof Affiliates
—
; SEATTLE, Aug. 31—1^1—The Al
aska Fishermen's Union does not
' regard itself as an affiliate of the
| International Longshoremen and
: Warehousemen’s Union, Oscar An
! derson, A. F. U. Secretary-Treas
! urer, said today.
i Anderson made a statement oi
! his union’s position because of the
: expulsion Tuesday of the I.L.W.U.
! from the National C.I.O. for as
! sertedly following the Communist
I party line.
“We want it made clear that the
I Alaska Fishermen’s Union does not
! consider itself an affiliate of Harry
! Bridges' union,’’ Anderson declared
j The A. F. U„ with 5,000 or more
members, was the largest affiliate
of the International Fishermen and
j Allied Workers’ Union which was
j merged several months ago with
! the I. L. W. U. The National C.I.O.
i Executive Board also* expelled the
I. F. A. W. A.
“We had started a referendum
to withdraw from the I. F. A. W. A.,
however, before the merger with
the I. L. W. U. was put into ef
fect,” Anderson said. “Our refer
endum will be completed about
October 9.”
Anderson said his union considers
the action of the I. F. A. W. A.
Executive Board in. ordering the
merger with the I. L. W. U. as ille
gal under the I. F. A. W. A. con
stitution. He said the action was
taken without proper convention
j approval and with some board
members, whose unions were in
arrears in their per capita tax pay
ments, participating.
The referendum proposal now be
ing considered by the Alaska Fish
ermen's Union would give the union
an independent status for at least
two years.
CITY COUNCIL TO
MEET TOMORROW
Voting precincts for the coming
elections will be set at the Juneau
City Council meeting tomorrow eve
ning. The city election will be Oct
ober 3 and the Territorial election
a week later on Oct. 10, City Clerk
J. Popejoy said today. i
Other business will include taking
the necessary legal action to clear
final arrangements with the Public
Works Administration for the con
struction of the Juneau Memorial
Library. .JUf
FROM SAN DIEGO
R. A. Ackley and V. Welge of San
Diego, Calif., are stopping at the
Baranof Hotel. __IXjM
,
Pusan Blues
An unidentified GI, apparently
resigned to the doubtful rhythm
of a Korean dance band and tiny
local hostess, shuffles around the
floor of the Metropolitan Dance
Hall in Pusan. Admission, open
to all United Nations forces, 3,000
won (Korean currency — U. S.
$1.65) which pays for all dancing
partners, two bottles of cider and
cne of Korean wine, (ff) Wirephoto.
human Asks ior
Funds for Road,
Turnagain Arm
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 — <.fl —
President Truman has asked Con
gress lor $7,500,000 to begin recon
struction of the Turnagain Arm
road in Alaska.
A budget bureau message yester
day said that engineering surveys
on 20 miles of a 70-mile stretch
between Mile 58 in the Chugach
National Forest and Anchorage have
been completed, and contracts can
be let soon.
It is planned to complete work
on the whole stretch by Dec. 1, 1951,
the message added.
Funds for the road were not in
cluded in this year’s budget be
cause of the lack of engineering
surveys at that time.
The road will be valuable for
both civilian and military traffic,
the budget bureau said.
FROM SEATTLE N.C. CO.
Truman Sage of the Northern
Commercial Co., at Seattle is stop
ping at the Baranof Hotel.
TOP COMMUNIST
IN PENNSYLVANIA,
2 AIDES, ARRESTED
PITTSBURGH, Pa„ Aug. 31—(AV- !
The top Communist in western |
Pennsylvania and two men identi- j
fied as his aides were arrested to
day on sedition charges filed by a j
Pittsburgh judge.
City detectives arrested Steve Nel- !
son, Chairman of the Communist
Party of Western Pennsylvania;
Andrew Onda, and James Dolsen,
all of Pittsburgh.
The charges were filed by Judge j
Michael A. Musmanno of Allegheny |
County. Democratic candidate for j
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsyl- ;
vania, who has been waging a spirit- I
ed campaign against Communism. |
All three men have been identified :
as Communists by Matthew Cvetic,
Pittsburgh man who posed as a |
Communist for nine years while j
on the payroll of the FBI. He named j
the men as Communists while testi- j
fying before the House un-American i
Activities Committee.
The three men were arrested un- ;
der a 1939 State Law which provides
I a fine of $10,000, 20 years imprison
i ment, or both, for taking action
j aimed at overthrowing the Govern- i
' ment by force.
COLLISION DEAD
IN SEA TRAGEDY
IS PLACED AT 23
•
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31—(A**—
Tlie Navy says the death toll in the
sinking of the hospital ship Benev
olence may total 23.
Eighteen are known to have died
after the Benevolence was rammed
by the freaghter Mary Luckenbach
in dense fog offshore Friday.
A statement issued said five per
i sons are still missing and presumed
dead. It said the figures were based
on coordinated reports from civil
ian and Navy sources. The navy
raised the number rescued f m. 492
to 505.
Meanwhile, a Coast Guard ; od
| investigating the collision co iued
i to examine members of the • nt
I er's crew.
j Capt. Leonard C. Smith, ran'pa,
Fla., skipper of the Mary L u'. .n
! bach, spent his second da; a
witness. Tuesday he testified the
Benevolence was making 5-17
! knots and the Luckenbach h.i t
slowed to 914.
Asked why his bell book—on whi■■■
orders are recorded as soon as giv> i
—did not show an order f«i
ducing speed, Capt. Smith .K)i’h<‘:
to the initials S.B.E. (Stand /
Engines) in the book and said t
automatically meant slow u >*
FROM PELICAN
M. W. Soule of Pelican is re
tered the Baranof Hotel
MARRIED
MEN TO BE
DRAFTED
Those Even with Depend
ents Will Be Taken
Order Expected
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 — Iff) —
j Chairman Vinson ID-Ga.i of the
House armed services committee
said today the draft soon will be
extended to married men with de
i pendents.
1 Asked what he meant by "soon”
Vinson replied:
"Right away.”
At Selective Service, officials said
they could not now estimate when
the point might be reached that
married men would have to be
called.
Without taking fathers, Vinson
told reporters, draft boards will
not be able to meet future calls
to increase the size of the armed
forces.
Vinson made the statement just
after the House passed a bill pro
viding for allotments of from $85
to $165 a month for GI families.
“This means,” he said, “that Sel
ective Service now can broaden its
calls to include men with children
who are within the draft age.
“That is the purpose of the al
lotment act, to make financial pro
vision for the families of such
men.”
Vinson said he planned to ques
tion Selective Service and military
heads soon about the present
standards for draftees.
“The TQ (intelligence) require
ments now are too high," he said.
Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Sel
ective Service director, said yes
terday that nearly 60 per cent of
the men now being called in the
draft are rejected as unfit for ser
vice.
Hershey complained that the
armed services are being too choos
ey.
WEST JUNEAU TO
PETITION JUNEAU
FOR ANNEXATION
A petition for annexation to the
City of Juneau is being circulated
today among the residents of West
Juneau on Douglas Island.
Twenty-five residents of the area
met at the home of Joseph Morgan
last evening to discuss the develop
ment problems of the district which
comprises the land 4,000 feet from
the Gastineau Channel Bridge south
toward Douglas and 1,800 feet back
from high water line.
Haakon Olson and Kenneth Kad
ow were named on the committee
to handle the petition and to meet
with the Juneau City Council Fri
day night.
GAMES TODAY
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31— W —
Big Gene Bearden, the Washington
Pitcher who had won only two
games all season, hung up victory
No. 3 today as he defeated the
stumbling Detroit Tigers, 2-1.
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 31— W) —
Wes Westrum’s single to left in the
seventh inning scored Monte Ir
vin with the run that gave the New
York Giants their seventh straight
triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates,
2 to 1. Jim Hearn, Giant bargain
buj gave up four hits in posting
hi seventh victory.
NEW YORK, Aug. 31—Gfi— Aid
ed by a home run barrage, the New
York Yankees swept their four
game series with the Cleveland In
dians today, 7 to 5, and thus increas
ed heir lead over Detroit in the
American League race to two games.
TODAY’S LANDINGS
A landing of 20,000 pounds of
salmon was brought in today by
S. A. Steven's Wanderer for Eng
strom Brothers. Bertie II (Roy
DeRoux) landed 2,000 pounds of
salmon and the Queen skippered
by Sam Bakke landed 6,000 pounds
of black cod, both landings for E.
C Johnson.
I Roadblock Set Up Near Pohang
j Dark arrows show where North Koreans arc exerting pressure against
I allied units (open arrows) in South Korea. Reds (1) knifed behind
lines to set up roadblock on highway southwest of Pohang. In this
area South Koreans retook Kigye. Communists (2) pushed defenders
back four miles south of ITihung to a point 18 miles from Taegu. In
i Waegwan area Reds stopped alies from putting patrols across the
Naktong River. Bridgehead at Hyponpung (underlined) is quiet.
V. S. forces (3) beat off two enemy attempts to cross Naktong near
Changnyong. I). S. troops (4) regained lost ground near Hainan.
South Korean marines landed near Kosong and are engaged in heavy
! fighting. If) Wirephoto Map.
i __________________
FIFTY-FIVE
ARE KILLED
PLANECRASH
Twenty-three of Victims
Are Americans-Craft Re
portdd Down, Flames
CAIRO, Aug. 31—OH—A Trans
world Airline Constellation plane
carrying 55 persons, 23 of them
Americans, crashed and burned to
day north of Cairo, killing all ab
oard.
The airline announced there were
no survivors among the 48 passen
gers and seven crewmen. Reports
from the scene said the plane was
so badly burned that only a small
section of it remained intact.
The bodies of the victims, many
of them notables and representing
a dozen countries, were so badly
charred that identification at once
was impossible.
Down in Flames
Officials of the district govern
or's office in Behaira Province,
placed the scene of the crash near
Etay Baroud, about 75 miles north
west of Cairo. Eyewitnesses said
they saw the big four-engine "Star
of Maryland’’ plummet to earth in
flames.
Five of the crew of seven aboard
the plane, bound from Bombay,
India, to Rome, were Americans.
The other two were French. Eight
een of the 48 passengers were Am
ericans, and the remainder repre
sented 11 other nationalities. Two
passengers were Indian nationals
\ en route to a United Nations meet
i ing in Paris. Another passenger
1 v/as the Egyptian movie star Lll
j ianne Cohen, whose screen name
| is Camelia. She is known as "the
i Lana Turner of the Middle East."
Americans Listed
The Americans listed aboard ln
j eluded Aubrey William Schofield,
i
(Continued on Page Two)
STEAMER MOVEMENTS
Alaska from Seattle is scheduled
to arrive Sunday.
| Baranof scheduled to sail from
j Seattle 6 p.m. Monday.
I Princess Louise may sail from
| Vancouver Saturday night, now that
| the strike is ended, but nothing de
, finite.
Aleutian from west scheduled
southbound at 9 p.m. Sunday.
CANADIAN
RR LINES
OPERATE
Nine-Day Nationwide
Strike Is Ended-120,00(1
Men Back to Work
OTTAWA, Aug. 31—Iff)—Canada's
trains rolled and telegraph lines
clicked again today, ending a nine
day nationwide strike.
The first such general tie-up in
the nation's history was called ofj
by union leaders last night Just 19
minutes after a special government
back-to-Work bill became law. It
called for the strike to end in 48
hours.
The vanguard of the 124,000
strikers responded promptly to the
back-to-work call broadcast by
strike leaders Frank H. Hall and
A. R. Mosher. Roundhouses stirred
with activity. Locomotives were
fired. Switches and signals were
inspected. Wire communications
reopened.
Canadian National and Canadian
Pacific Railway officials indicated
it would be 24 hours before oper
tions were normal.
FROM SEATTLE
Frank D. Parry of Seattle is re
gistered at the Baranof Hotel.
KETCHIKAN VISITOR
Melvin Roe of Ketchikan is stop
ping at the Baranof Hotel.
j • WEATHER REPORT
| • Temperatures for 24-Hour Period
; • ending 6:20 o’clock this morning
; • In Juneau—Maximum, 56;
j • minimum. 45.
• At Airport—Maximum, 60;
' • minimum, 41.
•
• FORECAST
• (Juneau end Vicinity)
• Mostly fair tonight and
• Friday. Low temperature to
• night about 48 and high Fri
• day near 65.
•
• PRECIPITATION
• (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.in today
• City of Juneau—Trace;
• since August 1—5.40 inches;
• since July 1—15.33 Inches.
• At Airport—.01 inches;
• singe August 1—4.96 inches;
' • since July 1—12 inches.
1.
BIG TANKS
ROLLED BY
UN FORCES
Explosives from Sea, Ail
Dropped on Communists
-Heavy Red Losses
—
(By Associated Press)
Death-dealing guns of U. S. Per
shing tanks and a fiery rain of ex
plosives from air and sea stopped
26,000 North Koreans today in their
drive on Pohang, east coast port
whose capture by the Reds would
have opened the way for a final
drive to throw United Nations forc
es out of South Korea.
The big American tanks were re
ported to have rolled four miles
north of Pohang after the fiercest
battle of the 10-weeks-old war. At
the same time, South Korean troops
stalled a companion Communist
drive nine miles northwest of Po
nang at Kigye.
The Communists paid a ghastly
price in blood for the yardage they
picked up and then lost outside
rubbled Pohang. The drive was stop
ped just a mile and a half outside
the No. 2 port of UN forces in Kor
ea.
Heavy Red FatiliUea
In eight hours, a thousand or more
Reds were killed or wounded in a
frantic effort to take Pohang be
fore the month of August passed.
They failed to carry out this order
of the Communist North Korean
Government, which had told them to
take the port by Aug. 31 at ail costs.
Air force KUIs 1-20Q
Air force said it killed 1,200
Reds in two days in this eastern sec
tor of the Allied northern wall. The
Reds spent lives recklessly, but
stout resistance by South Koreans
and GI units, backed up by the 90
mm guns of the Pershing tanks
rushed to their support, heid the
precious line guarding the route
to Pusan, main UN base 65 miles
south.
Reds Mowed Down
Raking fire from U. S. warships in
the harbor mowed down the Red at
tackers like wheat before a scythe.
Planes belched flaming death at
them, but still they came on, flght
mg doggedly for inches of ground.
To their northwest, nine miles
away, the Red drive bogged down
at Kigye. The defenders still held
high ground south of the catpured
city, where the South Korean cap
ital division weathered a thunderous
artillery assault. A Red break
through there would put the Reds
on approaches to Taegu, 38 miles
southwest of Pohang. Taegu, main
UN forward base, is a prime Red
goal.
Heavy Red Attack
North of Taegu in the Uihung sec
tor, the South Korean 8th Division
gave up only a mile to a heavy Red
attack. This was in the area south
of Uihung, 18 miles above Taegu,
where the Reds are believed to have
massed 40,000 troops.
Between Uihung and Waegwan,
12 miles northwest of Taegu, the
Reds are said to have massed five
divisions in all. In the Waegwan sec
tor, U. S. First Cavalry Division
troops stormed again at a hill po
sition but stalled half way up the
steep incline.
UN Strength Building
United Nations strength was
building slowly. There now are 1,
500 fighting Britons in Korea. Todaj
Australian infantrymen flew into
Japan enroute to battle as the first
contingent of an Australian exped
tionary force. Additional expedition
forces are arming in the Philippines
and Thailand (Siam) and others
have been promised by France and
Belgium,
B-29s Attack
B-29s kept up their punishing as
sault on Red supplies. A fleet of
(Continued cn Page Two)
•
STOCK QUOTATIONS
NEW YORK. Aug. 31—Closing
quotation of Alaska Juneau mine
stock today is 2%. American Can
94%, Anaconda 33%, Curtiss-Wright
9%. International Harvester 30%.
Kennecott 63%. New York Central
j 14, Northern Pacific 21%, U. 8.
Steel 37%, Pound *2.80%.
I Sales today were 1,130,000 sharees.
Averages today are as fallows: in
dustrials 216.80, rails 62.W), u till ties
| 38.79.