Oldest Newspaper in Alaska. '‘’The News Of The Dav In Pictures ’ Member of I he Associated Press*
p-sr i THE NOME NUGGET [ J
VOL. 41. No. 10. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JAN. 23, 1939. ***«• per Copy IS*
Govt. Orders Barcelona Evacuated
Jury Finds Mrs. Pederson Murdered by Joe Hanaka
Civilians Are
Evacuating
Barcelona
UNDATED, Jan. 23 1/P)—'U. S.;
officials arranged to remove Am
ericans from Barcelona as the]
Spanish government ordered civ- j
il evacuation of its capital under]
ihe threat of insurgent armies a
little more than 15 miles from]
Barcelona's gates. American em
bassy officials at Barcelona said
they had summoned the cruiser
Omaha and told Americans to b&j
prepared to leave tonight. The,
ship Omaha is at Villa France,
France, about 12 hours nprtheast
of Spain.
Steps were also taken in Lon-]
don to evacuate the British Na
tionals in Barcelona.
The government of Spain mean
while went under a drastic full
state of war, which border ob
servers believed would mean
•partial law. A commission was
created to remove Barcelona's en
ttire civilian population, except
persons needed in its defense.
Vital services were put under
governruent control. Mobiles* and
.vtborers began encircling the
<»ty with trenches while Franco’s
armies pressed steadily toward
1he coastal city.
Warplanes continued bombing
at one to two hour intervals.
Simultaneous advances of three
nsurgerSt columns, war bullet
ins, said placed the vanguards at
rllghtly more than fifteen miles
from Barcelona and within can
non distance, which forced the
government troops back under a
deadly hail of bul ets, bombs and
shells.
Despite reports that the gov
ernment would move to Gerona
jf the insurgents approached
(much closer, by its own acknow
ledgement. some of the depart
ments have been shifted else
where. Cabinet members said the
tapital would remain at Barcel
ona and that there they would
right to the bitter end.
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Emilv Pederson
J
Murdered By
Joe Hanaka
The discovery late yesterday
of the body of Mrs. Emily Ped
erson, by her son, Steve, who re
turned to Nome Sunday from
Solomon, brought to light an al
leged murder which is supposed
to have occurred about 'New
Year’s.
U. S. Marshal B. B. Mozee and
Chief cf Police W. W. Laws work
ing on the case last night, arrest
ed and placed into custody Joe
Hanaka, under suspicion of mur
der.
This morning U. S. Commis
sioner Tanner called a Coroner’s
Inquest and a Jury was immed
iately empanelled, including
ThoruLf C. Lehmann, Fred Rohn,
Harry Hagen, Alvin Polet,
Charles H. Code, and Bob Pher
rin. The Jury proceeded to the
scene of the discovery and view
ed the body. They then adjourn
ed to 2 p.m.
Verdict Rendered
The Coroner’s jury this after
noon rendeaaed.« verdict iu sub
stance as follows: “the cause bif
death was from head injuries
and suffocation, and that the said
deceased was murdered by a per
son named Joe Hanaka."
Mrs. Pederson, who has been
sent to Morningside Sanitarium
three different times, returned
from there on the last boat in
the fall. She had apparently been
brutally beaten before death re
leased her from the agonies of
torture which were alleged to
have been committed by her as
sailant. Her family including her
husband, and two daughters,
Betsy and Emma, are reported to
be liviag at. Edmonds, Washing
ton.
Her body was found in a cabin
frozen to the floor, in the vicinity
of the trail that leads to the
Radio Station.
It is learned that Mrs. Peder
son returned to Nome from Solo
mon about the 28th of Dec.
Charley Ringhisen
Found Dead In
Burning Cabin
Answering a fire alarm about
7:30 A.M. Saturday, the Fire De
partment made a run to the Stan
dard Oil warehouses East of tow’n j
following a report that Charles
Ringhisen’s cabin located on ai
bench beyond the old milk ranch
was ablaze.
Several of the members of the
Department ran on to the cabin
and upon entering discovered
Ringhisen lying on his bed ful
ly clothed. Jimmy Davidson drag
ged the man from his bed and
pulled by others they were drawn ,
into the open air.
There they discovered he had
apparently been dead for some;
hours past—probably having been
suffocated by the fumes and the
smoke which filled the cabin.
Without any apparatus to fight
•the blaze, the cabin soon burned
to the ground.
The alarm was first made by
Jimmy Mills who reported to
Paul Luke who turned in the al
arm thru box 13 near the resi
dence of S. D. Mazen. No defin
ite cause of the fire could be
determined although several par
ties declared Charlie had been
in the habit of filling his stove
with long sticks of wood and
leaving the long ends sticking
out of the stove.
Charles Ringhisen has been a
Pioneer of the Nome country foi
many years. Recently he became
| toe aged to perform manual lab
| or and was receiving Old Age
Assistance from the Territory.
No funeral arrangements have as
yet been announced. He was
slightly scorched about the face.
Pioneers Attention
Regular meeting tonight 8
o'clock, I O O F Hall, business
of importance. Refreshments fol
lowing meeting.
Chos. Code, President
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B R I T A IN S CLAIMANT FOR SPEED is the Frobisher (above), a 13-ton air liner to
be put into the cross-channel passenger service. With two sister ships, the Fortuna and Falcon, the
Frobisher is said to rate among the fastest air liners in Europe. It has a cruising speed of more than
200 miles an hour. Note how its size dwarfs lad on a bicycle.
DOUBLE HEADER BASEBALL GAME!
FIRST GAME BEGINS 8 P.M. HAMMONS vs. NOME
Lee W. Reat
Asphyxiated By
Monoxide Gas
Lee Warder Reat, 17-year-old
son of Mr .and Mrs. Ralf Reat,
was asphyxiated Saturday after
noon by monoxide gas at the
pump station of the Allyn Wat
er Delivery. He had left town
sometime before four o’clock
with the Caterpillar and tank and
when he failed to return in nor
mal time. Cliff Allyn decided to
walk out and investigate. Near
ing Belmont Point he heard the
sound of the Caterpillar motor,
and believing the rig was com
ing along, decided to wait in the
U.S. Engineer’s quarters.
When young Reat still failed
to appear he became markedly
uneasy and ran on toward where
he saw the cat and tank parked
near the red bridge on Snake riv
er. He saw no sign of the young
man and immediately proceeded
to the well.
Opening the door he saw the
youth lying unconscious on the
floor and realized instantly that
his condition was probably due
to monoxide gas, which, incident
ly, is practically odorless. He
aired out the pump house and
rushed to towm for assistance.
A delivery truck immediately
made a hurry up trip to the scene
and they brought the unfortunate
lad to the hospital. By this time,
part of one leg and one hand
had become slightly frost-bitten.
He was still alive when brought
in, and though the staff at the
Hospital worked strenuously for
several hours to revive him, he
passed away.
According to bis instructions,
said reports, young Reat was to
drain the pump when he left on
his final trip to town. From the
position of things it appeared he
had overlooked it until he got to
the red bridge. From there it was
supposed he ran back to drain
the pump. It was believed that
when he opened the door and
stepped inside he immediately
fainted from the effects of the gas
before he had been able to drain
the pump.
The sympathy of the entire com
munity goes out to the saddened
parents who, struck by the un
expected death of their son, were
prostrated. He had been alive and
active thruout the day, leaving
home in the morning and work
ing about the town. Many had
seen him leaving for his last trip
to the well and remarked how en
ergetic and full of life he was.
Prominent among .the younger
element of Nome, a senior in the
local high school, and active in
sports and athletics and other
school activities, Lee Reat was
admired and well thought of by
his many school chums and old
er acquaintances. His passing
comes as a sharp blow to all.
Funeral services will be held
Wednesday, Jan. 25th at 2 p. m.
at the Federated Church.
There will be a meeting of
the Nome Health Council Jan.
30th at city hall, 7:30 p.m. Ur
gent business. Members request
ed attend and the general public
is cordially invited.
Henry Miller, Chairman.
3 HIGH SCH<
COMMERCIALS
District Atty.
Hugh O’Neill
Passes Away
Hugh O’Neill, United States
District Attorney for the Second
Division died here aboiC 4:00 a.
m. today of heart failure follow
ing a prolonged illness.
Hi5 secretary Miss Margaret
Scott, it is understood has com-'
municated with the Attorney;
General’s office, advising them of
the District Attorney’s death.
The flag at the Federal Building
was ordered flown .t half mast
in accordance with regulations.
District Attorney O’Neill was
appointed to office in February,
1934 and has held that position i
ever since. During the Wilson:
administration he had occupied
the position of U. S. Commission!
er for the Cape Nome Precinct
and was City Attorney of Nome
for some years.
Mr. O’Neill came to Alaska at
an early age. He was about 58
years old at the time o>f his:
health, and is sui* ived by his;
widow Mrs. O’Neill of Nome.]
Funeral arrangements will bej
announced later.
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Confirms Hopkins
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 UP)—
The Senate confirmed the nom-.
ination of Harry Hopkins as Sec
! retary of Commerce by a vote of t
58 to 27.
Are you reading your own pa- j
per—The Nome Nugget sub
scribe Now.
To Try Impeach
Secretary Labor
Frances Perkins
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (/P)—
Representative Thomas said he
would introduce tomorrow, a
resolution to impeach Secretary
of Labor Frances Perkins. The
announcement came a few min
utes after Chairman Norton of
the Labor Committee read to the
House a letter from Miss Perkins
explaining the Department's de
cision to suspend the deportation
proceedings against Harry
Bridges.
She accused the Dies Commit
tee, of which Thomas is a mem
ber, of making chargest against
Bridges without supporting evi
dence.
Warfare in China
Is Renewed
SHANGHAI, Jan. 21 <JP) —
After a long deadlock marked
only by sporadic fighting both,
Chinese and Japanese reports in- .
dicated the renewal of warfare
on a major scale.
Increasing Japanese activities
near Canton are believed will- de
velop into an offensive against
Shuushing, an important military
base, and from there hope to
carry out the long threatened in
vasion of Kwamksi Province.
The Chinese are moving heavy
reinforcements into the vicinity
of PakJhioe, dear Fretvfi Indo
China. where the Japanese may
attempt to land troops.
SHERMAN'S WAR was never anything like this—fast
action at tire Veterans of Foreign Wars party in Kansas City,
Where the swing "jitterbugs" showed that they hadn't yet heard I
of the revival of waltzing, thanks to hoop skirts.
)0L GYM WED, JAN. 25
vs. ALASKANS. ADM. 25c & 50c