THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE
‘ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME”
VOL. LXXIX., NO. 11,988
JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1951
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRICE TEN CENTS
I
i
Nasfer
Denies
Crafting
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — UP) —
Bert K. Naster denied today he
ever tried to get money from Abra
ham Teitelbaum in connection with
Teitelbaum’s tax troubles.
Under oath before House inves
tigators, Naster declared there was
no truth in Teitelbaum’s story
that Naster and Frank Nathan
tried to shake Teitelbaum down
for $500,000 in a “tax fix” extor
tion. |
Naster, a shaking nervous witness j
before a House Ways and Means!
subcommittee, denied, too, that he j
ever suggested the name of any
lawyer to Teitelbaum.
Naster is a Hollywood, Fla., busi-!
ness man. Nathan, the other man
named by Teitelbaum, also has de- !
nied the story in testimony to the \
House group.
Grand Jury Investigation
Attorney General McGrath has;
ordered a grand jury investigation i
of the whole matter. Justice De
partment officials said it probably
will begin its inquiry next week.
At one point in the questioning |
about Teitelbaum, Naster balked at
giving answers. He said he did so
because of “physical fear.”
Naster had told of meeting Teitcl
baum in Florida.
Adrian Dewind, committee coun
sel, asked: "This was the first time
you met him? You had heard of
him before, but you had never met
him?”
“Yes, sir.”'
“How did you hear about him?”
i
Afraid to Answer
Naster conferred with his attor
ney Jules Yablock of New York City.
* Yablock said the witness was
afraid to answer.
“You are In physical fear of an- |
swering?” demanded Dewind.
. “Yes, sir,”kNaster replied, adding
**frmt he had told the committee why ■
in preliminary questioning behind I
closed doors.
Dewind dropped the matter for |
the time being.
Teitelbaum is a wealthy Chicago
attorney who has sometimes repre- I
sented interests of the late gangster!
A1 Capone.
He rocked the House hearings on j
tax scandals last week by testifying ,
that Naster and Nathan tried to
get $500,000 from him on repre
sentation that they could fix his
tax troubles through a "clique” of
influential Washington friends.
Teitelbaum said they represented
that the “clique” included T. Lamar
Caudle, ousted assistant attorney:
general; Jess Larson, head of the
General Services Administration;
Charles Oliphant, chief counsel of
the Internal Revenue Bureau, since
resigned.
All the officials have made de
nials.
Ship Movements
Denali scheduled southbound
sometime Sunday.
Baranof scheduled to sail ftonj
Seattle on Friday.
Freighter Cassiar due to arrive
southbound sometime Saturday
morning.
Freighter Flemish Knot sched
uled to arrive from Seattle Dec. 14.
TheWashington
Merry-Go-Round
•Cooyrisht, 1951, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
By DREW FEARSON
rr ASHXNGTON — Long-view
GOP strategists aren’t advertising
it, but a lot of them do not agree
with the famed wisecrack of Illin
ois GOP Committeeman Werner
Schroeder, “the Republicans can
even win if they nominate a China
man.”
Even in view of the current iTru
man tax scandals, many GOP
leaders admit privately that there
could be a Democratic victory in
1952 if the Republican party gets'
overconfident. Here are three key
factors on which they base this
caution:
1. New York went for Dewey by
only 60.959 in 1948. Simultaneous
ly Wallace carried over 500,000
votes. Normally the Wallace votes
would have gone Democratic, which
would have given a margin of about
450,000 to Truman.
2. Pennsylvania went for Dewey
in 1948 by 149,771 with 55,000 votes
for Wallace, thus making Dewey's
actual margin about 94,000. Mean
while Pennsylvania has become
ItU
(Continued an Pag* 4)
Tiny Alaskan Princess
May See Truman Friday;
Has Petition tor Him
Alaska Ncn-Sched
Te Appeals Court
En Fiett for Life
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12—{/f>—Air
Trrnsport Associates, Inc., which
operates between Seattle and Al
aska, carried its fight for life to
the US Court of Appeals yesterday.
In three separate petitions, the
company’s attorneys asked the court
(D to review a Civil Aeronautics
Board order revoking the carrier’s
permit, (2) to stay the order pend
ing a review, and (3) to grant an
immediate hearing on the stay
order.
Air Transport, an irregular air
line, has been directed by the board
to go out of business Dec. 20. The
order resulted, the board said, be
cause the carrier violated regula
tions by making too frequent trips.
Irregular airlines are those operat
ing on no fixed schedules such as
are maintained by some carriers.
Attorney Warren Miller told re
porters that if the Appeals Court
refuses to set aside, the board’s or
der, the company will take its case
to the Supreme Court.
He added, however, no hearing
could be held before Dec. 18 be
cause of the necessity of giving
the board five days notice of the
action.
Britain Will
Pay on U. S.,
Canada Loans
LONDON, Dec. 12—UP)—Britain
has decided to pay in full install
ments of capital and interest due on
the United States and Canadian
loans at the end of the year, an
informed government source re
ported today.
This country could have avoided
paying the interest on both loans
by invoking waiver clauses which
were written into the 1946 agree
ments. In view of its economic
plight, there had been speculation
that it would do so.
Britain is due to pay the Uni
ted States $51.5 millions in capital
and $87 million in interest on Dec.
31.
It is supposed to pay the Ottawa
government $14 million in Canadian
dollars in capital and $23.7 million
in interest on the same day.
Britain owes the United States
a total of $4,350 million—$3,750
million in new money made avail
able under the September 1946 loan
pact and $600 million in lend-lease
pipeline aid.
MIGs Keep
Out of Way
Of IK S. Jefs
SEOUL, Korea, Dec. 12—<£>—U.S.
F-86 Sabre jet fighters today swept
over northwest Korea but sighted
none of the Communist MIG-15
jets that almost daily flock out of
Manchuria.
A U.S. Fifth Air Force summary
said a U.S. F-80 Shooting Star jet
crashed and burned in Red terri
tory with “no chance of pilot sur
vival.” It gave no details.
Doughboys in mist-draped hills
across the front held their fire as
the twilight war continued.
A half dozen patrols poked out
across the hill country west of Yon
chon, holing up and calling for artil
lery support at the first sign of
Reds.
West of the Punchbowl, on the
eastern front, one Red probing force
of about two platoons was hurled
back after a brief skirmish.
Elsewhere there was little to re
port except brief patrol contacts in
no-man’s-land.
Temperatures ranged from a bone
chilling 5 degrees above zero in the
east to 40 above in the west.
FROM PELICAN
W. C. MoCaddon of Pelican ar
rived yesterday on PAA from Se
attle and is at the Baranof Hotel.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12— UR —
Princess Pearl Ittigiah, six-year-old
Eskimo youngster from the Arctic
Circle village of Minto scheduled
a round of sightseeing and television
appearances today as she waited
for a chance to see President Tru
man.
She wants to give the President
a petition signed by more than
2,500 Alaskans asking his help to
improve air service to the Territory.
A spokesman said it was hoped
that an appointment with the Pre
sident may be made for Friday.
The little girl went to sleep
while flying here from New York
yesterday and had to be coaxed
into a smile when asked by pho
tographers to pose with a peti
tion she plans to present to Pre
sident Truman.
The petition urges the President
to make it possible for more milk,
fruit and vegetables to be flown
into Alaska.
It also protests the Civil Aeron- '
autics Board's recent action revok
ing the permit of Air Transport ,
Associates, Inc., an irregular air
carrier operating between Seattle
and the Territory.
Tiny Pearl, the daughter of an .
Eskimo chieftain of the Athabas
can tribe at Minto, Alaska, and her
mother were clad in parkas and '
moccasins. They began their trip
by dcgsled last Wednesday.
Greeting them at the airport
was Senator Gillette (D-Iowa), j
a member of the Senate Small
Business committee which recently i
asked the Board to adopt a policy j
of encouraging air travel to Al- |
aska.
He said today he favors the com- i
mittee "continuing and broadening
its inquiry" into the board.
‘ This ts an important humant- !
tarian issue as well as a question j
cf low-cost transportation and a
dispute over whether we are go
ing to have a' monopoly of the
airways, he said in a statement.
i
Polar Express
Takes Letters
To Santa Claus
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Dec. 12—lift
—A commercial airliner flew over
the north pole for the first time
today to drop mail for Santa Claus
and a striped pole to mark the top
of the world.
Alaska Airlines reported the
bag with 5,000 children's letters to
Saint Nick and the pole were
pushed out of the four-engine
“Polar Express” at 12:58 a.m.
(5:58 a.m., EST). The pole was
an Alaskan's idea for marking
the north pole with something
• besides ice.
The airline reported all well on
the 2,600-mile round trip flight in
sub-zero cold from Point Barrow,
the northernmost tip of the con
tinent.
The big airliner was due back to
Barrow around 8:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m.,
EST).
The specially fitted four-engine
commercial airliner left here yes
terday afternoon on the first leg
of the trip, landing at Pt. Bar
row three hours later for refuel
ing. The plane was dubbed the
“Polar Express” and was the out
growth of plans sponsored by two
Alaskans—neither of whom was
allowed to accompany the six
crewmen aboard the plane.
The 9-foot steel north pole,
(Continued on Page Two)
• •
• WEATHER REPORT •
• (U. S. WEATHER BUREAU) •
• Temperatures for 24-Hour Period •
• Ending at 4:30 A M Today •
• At Airport: Maximum, 43; •
• Minimum, 34. •
• *
• FORECAST •
• (Juneau and Vicinity) •
• Partly cloudy and colder to- •
• night with lowest temperature •
• near 28 degrees in town and •
• as low as 22 degrees in outly- •
• ing areas. Fair with gusty •
• northeasterly winds Thursday. •
• Highest temperature Thursday •
• around 32 degrees. •
• •
• PRECIPITATION •
• (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today •
• At Airport — 0.03 inches; •
• since July 1—19.66 inches. •
Parents Decide
Children to See
Juneau Christmas
CLEVELAND, Dec. 12—MV-Char
les Stejer, 7, and his four-year-old
sister, Sharon, are going to spend
Christmas at Juneau, Alaska, be
cause of a settlement reached by
their divorced parents.
The settlement reached in com
mon pleas court here yesterday
gives Mrs. William S. Twenhofel
permission to take the children to
the home of their stepfather who is
chief of the U. S. Geological Sur
vey in Alaska.
Their father, Francis A. Stejer,
was formerly a geologist with the
survey in Alaska and his immed
iate superior was Twenhofel.
Stejer is to have the right to
visit the children in this country
or in Alaska.
He dropped his motion that Mrs.
Twenhofel be punished for taking
the youngsters to Alaska last sum
mer without consent of court, and
dismissed a $105,000 alienation of
affections suit against Twenhofel
and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Rob
inson, parents of the present Mrs.
Twenhofel.
Four Accused
In California
Tax Frauds
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12——
James G. Smyth, ousted northern
California federal tax collector, and
three others are accused of tamper
ing with income tax returns to de
fraud the government, as the cli
max to a seven month grand jury
probe.
San Francisco’s holdover federal
grand jury ended its work yester
day by voting the four indictments.
This didn’t mean the. northern
California Internal Revenue shake
up was over. In Washington Attorn
ey General J, Howard McGrath said
he is naming a special assistant to
handle income tax cases here.
And the foreman of the outgoing
grand jury told the federal court
there were matters still under in
vestigation for the current jury to
act on. “Anything can happen in
the next few months," he added.
Smyth, his former chief office
deputy, Paul V. Doyle, and his
chief field deputy, John J. Boland,
were charged jointly in one indict
ment with backdating income tax
returns, unlawfuly extending tax
deadlines and removing office re
cords.
Three other indictments accused
Doyle and Lloyd J. Cosgrove, prom
inent San Francisco lawyer, of plot
ting to defraud the government of
$38,664 by back-dating three tax
returns.
Eighth Army
To Remain
in Korea
U. S. EIGHTH ARMY HEAD
QUARTERS, Korea, Dec. 12—IJPI—
The U.S. Eighth Army is going to
stay right here in Korea until South
Korea can defend itself, Gen. James
A. Van FJeet declared today.
“That is my mission now," the
Eighth Army commander said in an
interview. “Of course the plans
can change, but right now I am
under orders to build up the South
Korean army until it can stand on
its own two feet.”
Van Fleet, who is a noted trainer
of underdog fighting men all the
way from Greece to Korea, gave the
interview in his school house head
quarters.
“We want the Republic of Korea
to have the sense of security it
needs so that its people will feel
certain they are going to remain
free,” said the man who chased the
Communists out of Greece and
then got them on the run in Korea.
FROM SEATTLE
Harland Smith of Seattle is re
gistered at the Baranof Hotel.
• DECEMBER 13
•
• High tide 2:10 a.m., 15.2 ft
• Low tide 7:40 a.m., 4.6 ft.
• High tide 1:38 p.m., 17.5 ft.
• Low tide 8:18 p.m., -1.2 f:
!***••••••*
lank from Plane Sets House Afire
An Air Force jet plane taking off on a ferry flight to San Antonio, Texas, e.cciilently jettisoned its
two wing fuel tanks O’.Vr Van Nuys, Calif, They crashed into- a new house, setting it afire (left)
causing damage to housV and furnishings estimated at JIC.OCO. A neighbor woman and the only eye
witness, fainted at what she saw and is being eom 'orted at right by a friend, (ffi VVircphoto.
ANS Tuberculosis Patients
Publish Unusuai Christmas Card
The tuberculosis patients In the1
sanatorium ward at the Alaska Na
tive Service Hospital in Juneau are
the authors and illustrators of an
unusual Christmas card.
It is a mimeographed booklet in
which each patient has written
a paragraph about his or her
place of residence, includes greet
ings to relatives and friends, tells
about the life they led before en
tering the hospital and is illustrated
with drawings and parka border
designs.
Prisoner Swap
Plan Snags
Truce Talks
MUNSAN, Korea, Dec. 12—(<f)—A
new Red plan for exchanging pri
soners of war and an Allied com- i
promise for supervising a Korean
truce with neutral observers fell
on cold shoulders today.
The United Nations command
expressed fears publicly for the first
time that the Communists might
not give up all the prisoners they
hold.
The fear was expressed In turn
ing down a five-point prisoner ex
change plan advanced today by
Communist negotiators at Pan
munjom. The Red proposal still
called for release of all prisoners.
The UN insists on a man-for-man
exchange.
“The UN command is concerned,”
an official communique said, “that
premature agreement on bulk ex
change of prisoners before adequate
data is available could result in
sizeable numbers not being recov
ered.”
Allied negotiators, .the com
munique added, “excoriated the
Communists” for not letting the
Ited Cross see how prisoners are
being treated and for refusing to
say how many prisoners they hold
and where.
The Reds have said they would
..apply the information only after
the Allies agree on a blanket ex
hange. They kept this stand in
their five-point plan.
The number of Allied troops in
Ifted hands has been estimated at
from 98,000 to 139,000. The UN says
t holds between 120,000 and 135,
jGO Chinese and North Korean
Reds.
The Reds said it would take
them a month to deliver all pri
soners.
Brig. Gen. William P. Nuckols,
UN spokesman, said “the ques
tion of prisoners of war is being
held over our heads" to force
what he called an undesirable
' olution of the prisoner and truce
supervision problems.
A UN spokesman said the Allies
made “major compromises and con
cessions” in its new effort to break
the 16-day deadlock over how to
. upervise the truce.
Despite the strong words and the
failure of negotiators to accept
cither plan advanced, the feeling
persisted here that negotiators could
still agree to an armistice before
the December 27 deadline. If they
sign on the dotted line by then, a
cease-fire line already drawn will
become effective. Otherwise a new
line willhave to be 6et.
;>_
Greetings are given in three lang
uages.- Eskimo (Agoiyunikpok), Al
eut (Asagutaq Tagadaq, Slulaq;
and Tlingit (See-goo-wu Dl-kee-on
Knvvu-Du-Veet Ku-yu-geeyee).
The idea of the card grew from
a spark ignited by Dr. Prank Mar
esh, medical officer in charge of
I lie hospital. His contribution to
the card consists in telling a few
highlights and incidents.
He says that in the states the
discharge of a patient from a tub
erculosis sanatorium is a compara
tively simple affair and the patient
makes all his own arrangements.
However, in Alaska it “becomes an
involved scheme which calls for a
knowledge of geography, climatol
ogy. aeronautics, ichtyology, com
munications, etc. Each situation de
mands an individual solution. A
patient may arrive in July wearing
summer clothing, but when he de
parts for the tundra the sanatorium
may have to provide polar apparel.”
Singular Incident
Dr. Maresh tells of a 4-year-old
Aleut from King Cove who started
her 1,000-mile trip to the hospital
here without any escort, without
any ticket, without any identifi
cation, without any money, without
any baggage and arrived here safe
ly.
i in* cnnu a niuiuer expiamcu me
situation to a sympathetic skipper
of a mailfcoat who somewhere along
the way tranferred the child to
an understanding bush pilot so she
might arrive here more quickly.
Pretty Lea Apayaok from Barter
Island does not speak English but
her ward mates translated her
paragraph in which she tells of her
life in that Arctic outpost.
Kathryn Eluska from Nikolai on
the Kuskokwim River writes that
the post post office there is only
open in winter when the ski-planes
can land.
Bertha and Christopher Lake tell
of their home life at Hooper Bay.
Harding's Band
Martha Shaquanie of Kake gives
a Chamber-of-Commerce desciiption
of her home town including the
President Harding Band which led
the parade to the governor’s man
sion here when President Warren
G. Harding visited Juneau. She
writes “This year when the band
strikes up its Christmas music, I
wish all the happiness and peace
of the Yuletide Season to Aubrey,
Byron and Karen Shaquanie."
“When I am away, I remember
Juneau as it is in the spring," writes
Daisy Hayes.
Fisheman Frank Lee from Haines
gives an interesting description of
the hooligan (eulachoni run there.
Willie Eluska writes of the signs
and pictures on the cliff faces at
Cape Alitak where the old timers
carved them a long time ago when
they killed whales from their kay
aks. "Today there are no kayaks
in Alitak," he says.
Fort Yukon is represented by
Hannah Peters who writes that “It
isn't so big, but it is the biggest
town along the Yukon River." She
entered the hospital when she was
in the sixth grade.
Illustrations for the booklet were
done by Bertha Lake of Hooper
Bay; Clara Owletuk, Marshall; Vir
ginia Afcan of Fish Village; Agnes
Shelton, Alakanuk and Jacob Kum
eroff, Kwiguk.
FROM SITKA
Glyn Freeland of Sitka is regis
tered at the Oastineau Hotel.
Resignation
Of McGrath
Requested
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12—UP)—Re
signation of J. Howard McGrath as
Attorney General was demanded
today by Representative Byrnes'
(R-Wis), member of a Congression
al committee holding hearings on
tax scandals.
When the committee met today,
Byrnes handed reporters a pre- j
pared statement which said:
"McGrath should be immediately
replaced by an Attorney General
who is willing and able to assume
responsibility for tue proper opera- j
tion of the Justice Department, j
The Attorney General’s testimony
before the subcommittee yesterday j
revealed that he is either unwilling i
or incapable of providing the kind !
of leadership necessary to restore i
the confidence of the American'
people in our principal law-enforce
ment agency.”
McGrath testified to the House
Ways and Means subcommittee yes- !
terday that he had approved an ex
pense-paid trip to Europe last
summer by T. Lamar Caudle, As- 1
sistant Attorney General who -was
fired by President Truman last I
month.
UN Loses 900
Planes, Korea,
Says Air Force
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12—UPI—1The
Air Force says the United States
and its Allies in Korea have lost
nearly 900 planes, while Communist
losses as confirmed by the Air
Force amount to 300 planes.
*Those totals included 317 non
combat Allied losses. But, the Air
Force said, they did not include
Red planes classed as “probable”
kills, or Red losses from non-com
bat causes.
For that and other reasons, the
Air Force said, the ratio of United
Ntaions to Communist losses in
the air was not as unfavorable
as the annoutdfed three-to-ciie
figures made it seem.
Other reasons the Air Force gave
were:
UN planes have been in action
since fighting started in Korea over
19 months ago, while the Comtnun
ists took to the air in significant
numbers only in the last eight
or nine months.
UN fliers make many low-level
attacks in support of troops, risking
heavy opposing fire from the
ground, while Red fliers stay high.
SHOPPING DAYS
TO CHRISTMAS
Tax Scandals
Are Arousing
President
WASHINGTON. Dec. 12 — (Art —
Attorney General McGrath and
FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover met
with President Truman at the White
House today amid Indications the
president will act soon to counter
tax scandal testimony flooding
from Capital Hill.
Both the White House and Jus
tlve Department press sections an
nounced the conference but neither
would say what was discussed.
Democratic Chairman Frank Mc
Kinney reported after a White
House call yesterday that Mr. Tru
man is angrily ready to clean house
in the tax scandal.
McKinney said the president
was “angry over being sold down
the river by some disloyal em
ployees of the government.”
There has been speculation that
Mr. Truman might name Hoover or
some other big name individual to
make a government-wide investiga
tion or set up a bi-partisan com
mission to make an inquiry,
Both the Justice Department
nnd thr Internal Revenue Bureau
have been rocked by the disclo
sures before a House committee
investigating tax Irregularities.
McGrath testified before the com
mittee yesterday and afterwards
said he was refusing to comment
any longer on whether he would
resign. He had said previously he
would not do so, despite demands
from Republican Congressmen that
he step out.
Herbert Lang Talks
On Sweden at
Kiwanis Luncheon
Herbert Lang, University of
Alaska graduate, gave a talk on hla
recent European trip art a regular
luncheon meeting of the Juneau
Kiwanis Club at the Baranof Hotel
this noon.
The members agreed to aid the
Salvation Army In Its kettle drive
for Christmas funds. It was an
nounced by Ken Morgan that the
club was providing a Santa Claus
and gifts for children in the hos
pitals here for Christmas. The
scrap drive was postponed until
after January 1.
Lang was introduced by Miss Hel
lene Price, university home demon
stration agent. She explained that
his trip was financed by the 4-H
Foundation and the University Ex
tension Service, as part of the In
ternational Farm Youth Exchange
program.,
Lang spent four months working
on farms for his board and room
in Sweden. He covered all parts
of the country from the Arctic to
the southern tip.
He illustrated his talk with col
ored slides as he explained methods
of farming, the system of coopera
tives, reindeer herding and the Lap
landers. Stockholm impressed him
especially because it was an un
usually clean city with many fine
apartment houses and no slums.
Lang will speak at 8 p.m. to
night to an open meeting in the
Methodist church and to the Ju
neau high school assembly tomor
row morning at 11 o'clock.
Sales Tax
For Valdez
VALDEZ, Alaska, Dec. 12—
Voters of Valdez, at a special el
ection, approved a 2 percent sales
tax by a six to one margin.
The funds from the tax are ear
marked by the ordinance to be used
only toward the costs of a contem
plated sewer system, school facilit
ies. and for water system, hospital
and street improvement. There was
a good turnout of voters.
Stock Quotations
NEW YORK, Dec. 12—Clos
ing quotation of Alaska Juneau
mine stock today is 3, American
Can 110, American Tel. and Tel.
158‘a. Anaconda 49%, Douglas Air
craft 59. General Electric 57%, Oen
eral Motors 5174, Ooodyear 43%,
KenneJott 86 V Libby McNeill and
Libby 8%. Northern Pacific 66%,
Standard Oil of California 50%,
Twentieth Century Fox 19%, U. 8.
Steel 40, Pound $2.80%, Canadian
Exchange 96.68 V
Sales today were 1,280,000 share*.
Averages today were as follows:
industrials 266.09, rails 82.59, util
ities 46.64