I
Alaska Shortwave Fans
Intercept Dramatic
Plane Rescue Message
ANCHORAGE Feb 19 Rescued
by brother fliers who performed
almost unbelievable landings and
takeoffs on the side of a snow
covered mountain “Steve” Davis
is recovering from crash injur
ies in Anchorage.
Hospital attendants said he had
a fractured vertebra, kidney in
juries and frozen feet.
Although one foot is still in
danger of amputation physicians
are confident of Davis’ recovery.
The story of his rescue added
another startling chapter to Al
aska’s history of remarkable air
achievements.
Pilot Kenneth Neese who locat
ed Davis’ plane from the air. was
unable to land. He summoned
two smaller ships. Gren Collins
I flying a Piper Cub landed in a
space 75 feet long, heading the
plane up a precipitous slope as
the skis touched. Collins and
Clarence Rhode were forced to
jump out and prop the plane to
prevent sliding down in the moun
tain snow.
Dick Miller duplicated the feat
with an Aeronca with Inspector
I
---- j
I K McWilliams circling above
the scene radioing news of the
rescue attempt.
The rescuers made a half-mile
climb. Davis freed himself by
shooting a heavy revolver, cut
ting a panel and freeing his froz
en foot held to the ground nearly
24 hours.
i
Miller succeeded in taxiing his
plane to a point nearby and Dav
is was put aboard.
Collins headed his ship down
the mountain and with gunned;
motor raced down the incline j
thru knee-deep drifts taking off.
McWilliams Relates Story
Scores of Alaska shortwave
radio owners suddenly found
themselves tuned Saturday last,
to a verbal description of the
dramatic rescue of Civil Aero
nautics Authority Inspector Ben
ton W “Steve” Davis.
The Anchorage CAA officer
was found beside his wrecked
ship at the head of Rabbit Cr.,
near Portage Pass by intrepid
fliers who “pancaked” two mid
get planes into a 75 foot clearing
near the crash site.
Throughout the landing of the
small craft—a Piper Cub with
Wild Life Agents Gren Collins
and Clarence Rhode, and Pilot
Dick Miller in an Aeronca—and
subsequent precarious takeoff by
Miller with Davis in the ship,
CAA Inspector I K McWilliams
circled overhead relaying by ra
dio details of the scene which
spread below in the dwindling
daylight.
It was this message with its
human import which held nu
merous shortwave listeners thru
out tire Territory fixed to their
radios:
The Message
“The men are circling on foot
around the plane which is in a
steep rocky ravine. They are hav
ing considerable trouble getting
to the plane.
“Now the men are gathered
around Steve. He is out of the
plane. I will circle around here
for a few minutes. They may
want to write something in the
snow or they may all want to
start down soon.
“The Cub with Collins and
Rhode and Miller’s Aeronca land
ed about a half-mile below the
‘duck’. Miller is back at his air
plane and cranking up to return
to Anchorage. He has the engine
started and is taxiing slowly.
“The boys are moving Steve
down toward the Aeronca and
will be coming back to Anchor
age in a few minutes. Have an
ambulance stand by at the field.
May not need it but have it
ready.
“They are proceeding slowly
through the snow—Miller is now
taxiing up to meet them—Now
they are 50 feet from the Aer
onca and still sliding down the
snowbanks.
“Pilot Miller has Steve in the
Aeronca and is taxiing down,
awaiting the Cub to get under
way.
“The Cub is off.
“The Aeronca is over the tree
tops.
“All is clear.”
A radio message a few minut-|
es Later indicated that although i
the Davis plane was described
as “pretty well scattered arou
nd”. the CAA inspector may
have suffered only a broken leg.
No cause was quoted for the
ship's coming to earth apparent
ly crashing into a mountainside
in the forbidding terrain..
Flying a Fleetwing amphibian
—known as a "Duck”—Davis had
left .Anchorage Friday at 10:20
AM for Valdez. He was said to
have been unreported by radio
after taking off at Anchorage.
Low late-day fogs prevented
launching of a search Friday af
ternoon. Then after a squadron
of eight planes combed the sec
tion all day, some of them flying i
completely to Valdez and return
pilot Ken Neese of Star Air Lin
es sighted Davis’ plane about 3
PM cracked up within 15 min
utes flying time from Anchorage.
Pilot Miller who brought Dav
is to Anchorage flies for Haakon
Christensen out of Cantwell.
Other pilots who reportedly
took up their ships during the I
day-long search were Charles R.
Burnett Fairbanks CAA inspec
tor, Larry Larson of Anchorage;
Roy Holm of Woodley Airways j
Anchorage; and Bill Lavery of
Lavery Airways Fairbanks.
Burnet and Lavery had flown
to Anchorage to attend the Fur
Rendezvous when they heard re
ports that Davis was missing.
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ARCTIC SOFT DRINK PARLOR
Cigars Tobaccos Cigarettes
All Kinds of Soft Drinks
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Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau
FORECAST, NOME AND VICINITY
Fair and colder tonight and Sat urday
I
Data For 24 Hours Ending 1:00 pm Today
Highest temp — 31 Lowest temp — 16 Precipitation 0.00
Total precip this mo 0.30 Total since Jan. 1, 1940 0.75
Temp. Humidity Wind Weather
12 Midnight ... 28 67 NE-17 Pt Cldy
tarn . 24 63 NE-10 Clear
12:30 p m . 31 47 NE-6 Clear
One Year Ago Today
Highest temp — 33 Lowest t emp — 25 Precipitation— 0.02
Tomorrow: Sunrise 7:29 am Sunset: 5:00 pm
The Peninsula: Temp. Wind Weather
Handle .
Council . 1 Calm Clear
Holovin .i. 4 NW-8 Clear
Kotzebue . -3 E-6 Clear
Solomon . 18 NE-12 Clear
Teller •••«••.. •••••••• •••••••• . ••
WhIcs ...«••• ........ •••••••• ........ ........ ....
-
Weather Elsewhere: 1:00 am Nome Time *
Temp. Wind Weather Precip.
Anchorage .- 12 ESE-6 Clear 0.00
Bethel .. 15 NE-6 Clear 0.00
Cordova ... 31 NE-3 Clear 0,00
Butch Harbor . 41 SE-28 Rain 0.56
Fairbanks . -17 SE-3 Clear 0.00
Juneau . 25 NE-15 Clear 0.00
Ft, Barrow . -6 NE-10 Cloudy 0.00
F WEATHER SYNOPSIS AND GENERAL
Only minor changes have tak
en place in the distribution of
barometric pressure during the
last 24 hours; pressure being
high over Alaska with crest of
high pressure northeast of Point
Barrow and an area of low pres
sure centered southwest of Dutch
Harbor.
Mostly clear sky prevails over
entire Alaska. Temperatures
have fallen some during the
night, ranging from around ten
degrees below zero at the inter
ior stations to fifteen or more
above zero at stations along the
coast from Seward Peninsula
southward. Present conditions
are favorable for continued fair
weather and slowly falling tern
peratures tonight and Saturday
over the Seward Peninsula.
I
Suggestion* and Criticisms Invited
ALASKA INDIGENT FUNDS
HAVE BEEN DEPLETED
Edward L Bartlett, acting Gov
ernor of Alaska in the absence
of Gov. Ernest Gruening, issued
the following statement recently
concerning the status of relief
funds in the Territory. His state
ment follows:
"I am informed by W B Kirk,
Director of Public Welfare that
an extremely heavy relief load
throughout the Territory since
last April when the new appro
priation became available has
drastically depleted funds avail
able for relief.
“The situation is so serious it
will be necessary for the Depart
ment of Public Welfare to act
under much more stringent re
gulations in the providing of re
lief.
“During the remainder of the
biennium for which relief funds
were appropriated it will be nec
essary to grant assistance only in
those cases having an emergency
aspect.
“On April 1st last year there
became available to the Depart
ment of Public Welfare $300,000
for the relief of needy and in
digent. The payments have been
so heavy for the past ten months
that $213,000 has already been
expended. In other words the
Territory has spent around $725
every day to take care of those
cases which appeared to be wor
thy. Now only $87,000 remains
and that sum must last until the
Legislature meets again. The in
evitable conclusion is that only
those persons in direst need can
be cared for henceforth.
“I am further informed by the
Department of Public Welfare
that requests for relief have in
creased greatly on account of Al
askans traveling from their hom
es in other communities at their
| own expense to Sitka and Kod
i iak in the hope of securing em
ployment at the Naval air base
projects and then finding them
selves without either employ
ment or money. The Department
is instituting a ruling that in
such cases no further relief can
be granted.
,‘‘Not only has $213,000 been ex
pended since April 1 1939 in this
manner but Works Progress Ad
ministration funds in the amount
of $117,000 have been advanced
since the fiscal year started last
.July 1st and substantially all
those employed on this work
have been certified as being in
need of relief. In other words
both the Territorial and Feder
al Governments have cooperated
in taking are of this serious pro
blem.
"So far as the Territory is con
cerned it is obvious that only the
most careful administration by
the Department of Public Wel
fare will enable emergency cases
to be dealt with adequately un
til the Legislature meets again.
SHOPLIFTER HAS $27,000
IN CASH IN PURSE
LOS ANGELES, Feb 22 (JP) —
When middle-aged Mrs Eliza
beth Clomp was arrested on a:
shop-lifting charge police mat-1
rons gave her the customary
search. They were astounded to
find that her purse contained
$27,000 in cash. Mrs Clamp's roll!
included 10 thousand-dollar bills;
83 hundreds 164 fifties and the
rest in smaller denominations.
The woman was seized as she
attempted to waik out of a store
with two sweaters and a dress
valued at $10. Mrs Clomp told
police that she liked to take
things from stores and had
trouble resisting temptation.
Sne said that she started work
as a housemaid at $1.50 a week
and pyramided her savings thru
real estate and stock investments
BODY. ENCASED IN 400
POUNDS ICE, RECOVERED
Returning to Mayo from the
scene of the accident where his
brother Alfred’s “cat” had plung
ed through the ice at a point 8
miles below the 26-Mile Post re
ports that the body was found
five minutes after Renni. Ander
son and Lance Corporal W W
Sutherland of the R C M Police,
reached the spot on the river ac
cording to the Dawson News.
Tire body was encased in four
feet of solid ice with his head
level with the surface. Still en
cased in about 400 pounds of ice
the body was brought to Mayo
by the police patrol for burial.
It took the four men who went
to the scene two days and two
nights to chop the remains out
of the ice.
Rennie Burian states that part
of the canvas from the cab of
the “cat” caught around his
brother’s forehead. The body was
vertical in the ice. It is believed
now that young Burian made a
desperate effort to fight his way
to rough the top of the cab when
the machine went through the
ice. but the strong canvas cover
ing prevented him from escap
ing. His prents Mr and Mrs Bur
ian are of New Westminister B C.
SOURDOUGH STATIONER\
That unique and humoro \
md typical Alaskan stationery -
Sourdough Roadhouse Letter
heads and Envelopes”, have beer,
orought strictly uptodate, and are
iow available at the Nugget offi
ce
T-H.*?U CH WINTIR-S WONDERLAN P_Spr„ lro„ of Mlchitlll
(pounding breakwater) touched with icy fingers this spot oil Mundelein college campus in Chicago.
■mKMHMr.'. .ftt,. ... —
f*' :•.*«. . x*»- ..c* j j&iv..-. ■.■' • ^
° L “ hM NTER BACS SOME DUCK S—H.r.'s p„, „t , dock o, 3„m,
- 1UU,UU0 du >n Erie county, Ohio, by the cold wave. Food s put out daily for starving birds.