THE IPATEV ALASKA EMPIRE
' “ALL THE NEWS rALE THE TIMET’ ___
VOL. LXXVII., NO. 11,793
JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1951
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRICE TEN CENTS
UN Forces Fall Back Half Of 100 Mile Front
43 KILLED
IN (RASH
OF PLANES
I
KEY WEST, April 25 — !iB— All
explosive collision sent a Commer
cial Airliner and a small Navy plane
crashing into the ocean off Key
West today and a death toll of 43
was feared.
Pan-American Airways said “it
looks like” the Commercial plane
was a four-engined DC-4 operated
by its affiliate, Compania Cubana
de Aviacion. The plane, more than
two hours overdue at Havana, out
of Miami, carried 34 passengers
and five crewmen.
The Navy plane, an SND trainer,
carried a crew of four.
No Survivors
Navy and Coast Guard planes
found no trace of survivors. Nine
bodies had been recovered by 2 p.m.
' The Cubana passenger plane left
Miami at 11.03 a.m. It was due in
Havana at 12:16. The crash occurred
at 11:45 a.m. in full view of hun
dreds of sunbathers.
In Washington, the Navy Depart
ment said the Navy plane had col
lided with a Cubana Airliner.
Recovering Bodies
Navy boats that reached the scene
a few minutes after the crash recov
ereda the bodies of two Navy men!
and a woman. Bits of wreckage j
were floating slowly to the surface.'
The Navy plane, an SND, normally j
carries a crew of four, but the Navy
could not say immediately whether
it was fully mauned.
Told !>y Eyewitnesses
Eyewitnesses said they saw the
liner and tl.! tmall Navy plane fly
ing alongside each other directly
over the beach. They said the Navy
plane blew up. One wing fell off
and the ship plummeted rignt be
hind it into 30 feet of water from
a mile to a mile and a half off
shore.
The airliner remained on a level
course for about 50 seconds, then
went over into a nosedive, hit the
water and disappeared beneath the J
surface. The spot was just offshore
from the “Little White House’ where j
President Truman spends his vaca- j
tions.
TWO CALIFORNIANS VICTIMS I
MIAMI, Fla.. April 25 — W—Pan
American World Airways announced
today a list of passengers and crew
men of a missing DC-4 Compania
Cubana de Aviacion aircraft which
was believed to have crashed in the
ocean off Key West. They included:
Allan and Elvira Nelson, both of
Turlock, Calif
STEVENSON LEAVES FOR
SKAGWAY HOME THURSDAY
D. L. Stevenson leaves Juneau
Thursday for his home in Skagway
after attending the Territorial As
sociation of Elks convention held
in Kodiak April 18 through April
21. He reports that a total of 45
Elks were in attendance from lodges
in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Cordova,
Seward and Skagway. Stevenson,
who is district deputy grand exalted
ruler, was an observer for the
grand exalted ruler.
The Washington
Merry-Go-Round
By DREW PEARSON
(Copyright. 1»61. or Bell Sradlccte, Inc..
Washington.—a highlight of
the current Truman-MacArthur
controversy is the New York Times
story summarizing the conversa
tions between the two men at Wake
Island.
Because the New York Times sto
ry had the earmarks of being
leaked out by the White House,
some MacArthur proponents have
challenged it, while MacArthur
states that no records were made
of the conversations on Wake Is
land.
In view of this controversy, the
Washington Merry-go-round’s ac
count of the Wake Island confer
ence, published on Jan. 23, some
months prior to the Times’ April
21 account, may be significant. For
the President can hardly be ac
cused of any partiality toward this
writer except in his choice of cuss
words.
Writing at that time — three
months before the Truman-MacAr
' (Continued on Page Four)
War Humor with an Edge
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ttmkY ■
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% IF - YOU
pm mm
fjpWE
ASK POOS
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-JU.'
Some GI wag, remembering those shaving cream signs back home,
put up these on poles along a highway in Korea. A military police
man patroling the road scratches his head as he reads the series.
In order they are: Disagree with Harry — If you want to get back —
If you don't think it's true — Ask poor ole Mac! UP) Wirephoto.
SCOUR PASS
FOR PLANE
LOST SUNDAY
ANCHORAGE Alaska, April 25 —
IIP!—A widespread air search con
tinued today for a light private
plane lost since Sunday in the
snowy mountain region north of
here with a school teacher and two
! children aboard.
Military and civilian aircraft
scoured the Rainy Pass area for a
trace of the missing Stinson Voy
ager which disappeared o', a 400- [
mile flight from McGrath to Anch- |
orage.
Piloting the small plane was Bert
Gann, Bethel school teacher. He
was believed to have been flying his
six-year-old daughter to Anchorage ;
for hospital care. Also aboard the
plane was a 14-year-old boy, one
of Gann's pupils. j
Capt. Lloyd Casto, of the lQth Air |
Rescue squadron, said the search |
is being conducted north and south !
of Rainy Pass on the chance that •
Gann strayed off the radio beam. !
The ‘Pass radio operator said he
heard no planes on the snowy Sun
day when the craft disappeared. !
The plane’s three occupants were
not clothed for cold weather and I
carried no emergency supplies. They
carried only sandwiches for food.
Searchers feared that a recent
snowfall would cover traces of the j
plane if it was forced down or |
crashed.
NINETY-EIGHT DIE,
FREAK ACCIDENT;
OTHERS INJURED
YOKOHAMA, Japan, April 26,—
(/PI—Ninety-eight persons died today |
when a dangling power line turned !
an old-style wooden coach into
a blazing funeral pyre.
Fifty-nine others were injured, |
some seriously.
Seven of the dead were American ■
soldiers. Their names were with-1
held.
Japanese sources said bodies of j
40 women and eight children were ;
among the 98 charred corpses ,
pulled from the smouldering coach. •
Police said the fire started as the :
electric suburban train pulled into
Sakuragicho station. «•
The flames quickly enveloped the
train’s first car after an electric!
| power wire touched the roof. The I
| second car was partially burned,
before police stopped the fire.
The operator was killed before \
he could open the door for the |
horrified passengers.
The Americans were identified by
their army dog tags.
NLRB CLEARS ILWU
SEATTLE LOCAL AS
AGENT FOR ALASKA
SEATTLE, April 25 -AM— The
National Labor Relations Board
certified Local 7-C, International
Longshoremen’s and Warehouse
men’s Union (Ind), as collective
bargaining agent for 2,500 non-resi
dent Alaska cannery workers today.
The action overrued objections by
rival CIO and AFL unions which
were defeated in the workers' elec
tion held last summer.
Regional NLRB Director Thomas
P. Graham, Jr., had recommended
the ILWU be certified.
The cannery workers have been
the center of rivalries the past year
between the ILWU; Local 77, United
Packing House Workers’ Union
(CIO); and the Alaska Fish Can
nery Workers’ Union (AFL).
Cruiser Juneau
At Pearl Harbor;
PEARL HARBOR, April 25,—W—
The cruiser Juneau docked here
yesterday after 11 months’ duty in
Korean waters. She leaves for Long
Beach, Calif., tomorrow.
LOAD RESTRICTIONS
LIFTED ON HIGHWAY
Chris Wyller, district engineer for
the Bureau of Public Roads, said
today that load restrictions on Glac
ier Highway have been lifted and
allowable loads are back to normal.
However, he added that a 30 mile
per-hour speed limit for trucks is
still in effect.
ENGINEER DIES
ABOARD BOAT IN
WRANGELL TUES.
Joseph B. Herron, engineer aboard
the MS Neptune, died aboard that
vessel in Wrangell yesterday, ac
cording to a wire receiyed today by
U. S. Marshal Walter Hellan from
Deputy Marshal Jack Krepps of
Wrangell.
Krepps stated that no foul play
was suspected and that there would
be no inquest.
The Neptune was en route to
Kenai to work for the Libby, Mc
Neill and Libby cannery there,
KIWANIS PARTY TONIGHT
The Juneau Kiwanis Club will
hold a ladies night party in the
Gold room of the Baranof hotel at
7:30. Lt. Norman Steinig, in charge
of the program, has arranged for
good entertainment.
i
ASSOCIATED
PRESS MAN
DISAPPEARS
William Oatis, Bureau
Chief at Prague, Mys
teriously Missing
LONDON, April 25 — Itfl— William
N. Oatis, Associated Press chief of
bureau at Prague, has been missing
since Monday and efforts to trace
hitn have been fruitless so far.
The United States embassy at
Prague told the London office of
the Associated Press by phone today
that it had asked the Czech foreign
office to help locate him.
Oatis, 36, is from Marion, Ind. He
was first employed by the AP in
1937 and after working in the In
dianapolis, New York and London
offices, went to Prague last June.
One of two Czech employes re
maining in the AP Prague bureau
reported by telephone that Oatis
had not returned after leaving his
office Monday afternoon and that
inquiries at his hotel brought only
the reply that "Mr. Oatis is not
here.”
A telephone call to the Prague
hotel from Frankfurt brought the
same reply.
One of Oatis’ American colleagues
in Prague said We was last seen
going to an appointment with Ru
dolf Popper, foreign press chief in
the Czechoslovak ministry of in
formation.
This correspondent, Russel Jones
of United Press, reported that in
quiries to Popper about Oatis's
whereabouts brought “only very
vague replies.”
LADD AIR BASE
REPELS ENEMY IN
"FIRESTEP" WAR
LADD AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska,
: April 25 — All is quiet at Ladd Air
Force base. The “aggressor” has
been almost completely annihilated
and driven from the area by the
tremendous final surge of the de
fending forces against the main
part of the aggressor troops in ex
ercise “Firestep.”
The enemy was caught in a triple
pincer movement by friendly forces.
; Attacked from the front and sides
by the defenders and engaged from
the rear by reinforcing paratroop
ers, who made their spectacular
| jump Monday, the invaders had
j little chance to do more than escape
i with heavy casualties inflicted
against them. The threat to Ladd
has been successfully overcome and
umpires and observers have express
ed satisfaction with the results of
I the over-all operation.
SCREEN ACTOR SAYS
CURIOSITY CAUSE OF
JOINING COM. PARTY
_
WASHINGTON. April 25 —Uf)—
Screen Actor Marc Lawrence told
the House Un-American Activities
Committee today that intellectual
curiosity — "I was a curious kind
of a Schmoe”—led him to join the
Communist party. He said this was
“an unholy mistake.”
Lawrence named Screen Actor
Lionel Stander as “the guy who in
troduced me to the party line.”
Tlie fast talking character actor
testified that, after he came to Hol
! lywood in 1938, Stander told him to
I go to classes at which Communists
: made speeches.
“These guys confused me, they
' gave me a headache.” Lawrence tes
! tified. "After about 12 of these
| meetings, I left.”
First, however, he said he signed
i a card at the request of someone—
I using a name he picked out of a
; newspaper and has since forgotten.
Stander is to be heard later. So
are screen writer and novelist
Abraham Polonsky, Agent George
Willner and Actor Morris Carnov
sky. Polonsky has been named by
two previous witnesses as a Com
j munist party member.
Man has destroyed about a third
of the earth’s original forests.
Reds Strike on 100-Mile Front
Chinese Reds unleashed their expected spring offensive and Initial gains slammed a 15-mile bridgehead
across the ImJIn River (A) on main approaches to Seoul. No-man s town of Kaesong in this area may
have been token by the Reds. Northwest of Hwachon reservoir (B), and east of the dam (
Nations units were forced to puU back their lines. There were clashes, too, on the dormant east c
front (D). (ff) Wirephoto Map. ________
CONFERENCE
ON CHANGES
IN CONTROLS
I
WASHINGTON, April 25 — UR—
President Truman called in his top
economic mobilization team today
(12:30 p.m„ PST) for a conference
on what changes are needed in the
economic controls law.
He is expected to send Congress
soon ’ a message asking extension
and revision of the Defense Pro
duction Act which expires in June.
The economic controls are author
ized by that act.
Nearly one fourth of the American
economy was brought under a single
sweeping price order which the gov
ernment said will roll back “the
general level of manufacturers’
prices.
Authority Needed
However, some officials working
with the stabilization program con
tend more authority is needed to
hold down prices of food and farm
products. The present law forbids
ceilings on them below parity—a
price defined in farm laws as fair
to both producers and consumers.
Price Director Michael V. DiSalle
expects the factory ceiling, cover
ing 75,000 plants, to wipe out part
of the runaway price boom that
followed the Korean invasion.
The country will find, DiSalle
predicted, that his office of price
stabilization has “not been playing
pat-a-cake with prices" — that in
the months ahead people will real
ize “the whole program is tougher
than they have been led to believe.”
Three More Ceilings
OPS will follow up with three
more major ceilings within a week.
These will cover machinery, cotton
textiles, and wearing apparel in
cluding shoes.
The new order will bring some
price increases — mainly for those
who heeded the government’s ap
peal for "voluntary’’ restraint and
then were caught in the Jan. 26
price freeze. But these will be out
weighed by the rollbacks, DiSalle
said.
Stripped to essentials, each fac
tory’s new price ceiling will be:
The pre-Korea price, plus wage in
t creases and increased cost of ma
! terlals. On most materials. Increases
only up to last Dec. 31 can be
| counted.
SEVEN ARRIVE ON
ELLIS AIRLINES
Seven passengers arrived on Ellis
AirUnes Wednesday flight with five
on interport.
. Arriving from Ketchikan: Clyde
Franks, Maj. Jelsma.
From Petersburg: Fred Seidell, C.
Fenn, E. E. Escola, P. Ridley, Comdr.
Larson.
LONGSHOREMEN
STOP WORK TO
TALK DEMANDS
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25 —
—Hundreds of Bay Area longshore
men stopped work today to discuss
contract demands and government
orders affecting them.
Local 10 of Harry Bridges’ In
ternational Longshoremen’s and
Warehousemen’s Union scheduled
the 19 hour work stoppage to end
at 7 p.m. after a day-long meeting
to discuss:
(1) The government’s waterfront
loyalty screening program; (2) the
ILWU’s opposition to wage stabiliz
ation and (3) contract demands, in
cluding 15 cents an hour wage in
crease and employer contributions
for wage and pension funds.
ILWU officials said sufficient men
to handle Army and Navy work,
mail, baggage and perishables re
mained on the Job.
The ILWU is one of five maritime
unions opening Pacific coast-wide
negotiations involving about 30,800
seafarers and dock workers whose
contracts expire June 15.
STORES GIVEN
TIME EXTENSION
CEILING PRICES
WASHINGTON, April 25. —UP—
The government today granted
278,000 retail stores another 30-day
extension—until May 30—to put
their new margin-type price con
trol ceilings in effect.
In ordering the delay, price direc
tor Michael V. DiSalle pointed out
that until a retailer files his pric
ing charts, his celling prices still
will be regulated under the general
price freeze. This sets price levels
at the highest figure for which
goods were sold during the base
period last Dec. 19 to Jan. 25.
After the new deadline of May
30, no retailer may lawfully sell
any item covered by the margin
type price control order unless he
has filed his pricing chart with an
office of Price Stabilization dist
rict office.
Gov. Long Is lor
Statehood, Hawaii
WASHINGTON, April 25,—0*1—
Oren E. Long, nominated by Pres
ident T.-uman to be the new gov
ernor of Hawaii, advocated state
hood for the Territory in his first
meeting with a House Committee
yesterday.
Members of the House's Terri
tories subcommittee applauded af
ter Long described the people of
Hawaii as “thoroughly American
and Just about the finest people
In the world.”
A vast majority of them, he said,
hope for statehood.
REPUBLICANS
WANT BOMB,
RED (HINA
I
WASHINGTON, April 25 —M*— '
Republicans have called for the
bombing of Red China bases. Demo
crats questioned a report that Lt.
Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway had
urged use of Chinese Nationalist
troops in battle.
Hot argument over the conflict
ing views of President Truman and
Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur on how
to fight the Korean war hit a new
peak in Congress as a Communist
offensive smashed at Allied lines
some 10,000 miles away.
In the oratorical infighting here,
Senator Wiley (R-Wis) proposed
that the United Nations be asked
to approve aerial attacks on the
Manchuria base • sanctuaries” about
which MacArthur complained before
Mr. Truman fired him as Pacific
commander.
Senator Hlckenlooper (R-Iowa)
asserted that if the UN "ever is to
be victorious in Korea” Chinese Na
tionalist troops from Formosa must
be used in the battle against the
Communist foe.
WEATHER REFORT
Temperature for 24-Hour Period
ending 8:20 o’clock thle morning
In Juneau — Maximum,
46; minimum, 38.
At Airport — Maximum,
49; minimum, 38.
FORECAST
Cloudy with rain tonight
becoming mostly cloudy with
occasional rain showers
Thursday. Decreasing south
easterly winds Thursday. Low
tonight near 38 and high
Thursday near 46.
PRECIPITATION
(Past 24 hour* ending 7:30 a.m. today
City ol Juneau — .15 inches;
Since April 1 — 7.42 inches;
Since July 1 — 65.35 inches.
At Airport — .02 inches;
Since April 1 — 2.56 inches;
Since July 1 — 38.41 inches.
Barr Confirmed
As U. S. Marshal
WASHINGTON. April 25 —M—
The Senate has approved the nomi
nation of Frank Barr to be U. S.
Marshal of Division No. 4 in
Alaska.
STEAMIER MOVEMENTS
Princess Louise scheduled to sail
from Vancouver 8 tonight.
Denali scheduled to sail from
Seattle Friday.
Baranof from westward scheduled
southbound Sunday afternoon.
PULLBACK
OF ALLIES
ORDERLY
Confidence, However, Ex
pressed by Van Fleet
New Kind of Reds
_
By Associated Press
Communist troop masses crushed
forward along the entire western
half of a 100-mile battle front today
in their third Invasion of South
Korea.
But to the east, counter-attacking
Allied tank columns stopped the
Reds in their tracks and even hurled
them back at some points.
On the West Central front, UN
forces pulled back abruptly and
broke contact with the Reds. The
| withdrawal was so rapid some rear
I elements were trapped.
Ambushed
One was ambushed by Communists
wearing white civilian garb or the
blue denim uniforms of South Kor
ean supply bearers.
UN troops rolled southward to
ward Seoul In a long column stretch
ing for miles.
“From the air It looked like an
epic and orderly traffic Jam." AP
Correspondent Tom Barnard re
ported. There was a solid line of mil
itary traffic — vehicles of all kinds.
The tanks came last. Their guns
were silent although Reds had al
ready infiltrated further south.
Communists on the hills command
ing the highway let the tanks roll
by.
Fall Back Orderly
In the extreme west, Allies fell
back In orderly fashion before
swarms of Chinese, exploiting their
Imjln river crossing. They were less
than 25 miles north of Seoul, South
Korean capital out of which refu
gees poured In dust clouded col
umns.
A tank-led relief column fought
its way to a trapped UN battalion
south of Imjln.
Some UN forces counter attacked
as Lt. Oen. James A. Van Fleet, 8th
Army commander, told his troops,
"In three days of battle (you) have
proven your superiority” over the
400,000 attacking Reds.
Confidence Expressed
He expressed confidence the bat
j tie would be won by the Allies’
! “enormous superiority In fire power
| and all types of weapons. In fact a
| tremendous superiority in every
thing except numbers."
The bulk of the Chinese in the
west were pouring down the Yon
chon-Uijongbu invasion route. This
highway also leads to Seoul.
Allied fighter planes and bombers
attacked them all day long.
Where Pullback Occurred
The most abrupt UN pullback was
to the east of this road. In the
West-Central sector. There the Al
lies broke contact with the Chinese
just south of the 38th Parallel. Then
they withdrew to new lines north of
! the threatened Seoul-Chunchon
1 highway which approaches the cap
ital from the east.
The ambush by the disguised
Reds was sprung during this with
drawal, Just east of the Kumhwa
Uijongbu road. Allied artillery and
warplanes cut up the Reds. But
field dispatches said at least three
Chinese divisions were streaming
southward.
Roar of Airplanes
AP Correspondent John Randolph
reported the Reds made no frontal
attack on the West Central front.
The only sound of battle came from
Allied artillery and the roar of alr
j planes.
i Allied reinforcements and counter
attacks plugged the hole on the Cen
tral front. An estimated 100,000 Chi
nese, including big strapping fel
, lows from the Manchurian plains,
were halted seven miles south of 38.
Fierce Battle Raging
A heavy Allied counter-attack
smashed into Reds pouring down
the main road toward Chunchon. A
fierce battle began early in the
morning and still raged in mid
afternoon.
Southwest of abandoned Hwa
chon, UN artillery blasted a path
for a counter-attacking column. Al
lies who pulled back from the res
| ervoir city wheeled and hit the Reds
on the flank.
Communists attacking Yanggu at
the eastern end of 11-mile-long
(Continued on Pag* Two) #
i