m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LXI No. 106 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1959 Per Copy—15tf
Father Tom Dies
At Barrow of
Heart Attaek
POINT BARROW, UP) —Father
Tom Cunningham, 53, the parish
priest of the Arctic, died of a
heart attack yesterday in his
cabin at this northernmost tip of
the United States.
His death ended 25 years of
missionary work in the largest
Roman Catholic parish in the
United States — 150,000 square
miles of ice and tundra above the
Arctic Circle.
In November of 1958, Father
Cunningham and 20 others were
rescued from a windswept Arctic
ice island that had broken up in
a polar storm. The Jesuit priest,
a recognized authority on ice con
ditions, had chosen the ice floe
at the request of the Alaskan Air
Command for use by scientists
carrying out International Geo
physical Year studies.
Father Cunningham, a native
of New Zealand, came to Alaska
in 1931. He first served on Little
Diomede Island, then at Nome
and Kotzebue before coming here.
In visiting his far-flung par
ishioners, Father Tom often trav
eled as much as 2,500 miles by
dogsed. He camped out with the
Eskimos, went hunting with them
and learned to speak their lan
guage.
An Air Force plane from Ladd
Field will pick up his body and
fly it back to Fairbanks.
Sput . . . Sput
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE,
Calif., UP — An XI5 rocket ship
went aloft today for what had
been scheduled as its first power
flight but a last-minute fuel dif
ficulty cancelled the attempt.
The tiny black dart, only 50
feet long, rose with its mother
B-52 bomber to the seven - mile
height at which it was to be re
leased.
The two ships, with the X-15
fastened under the larger plane’s
wing, then went into the launch
ing flight pattern. A faulty regu
lator was then discovered in the
helium system which keeps the
fuel flowing under constant pres
sure to the engine.
This was the second time with
in a few days that technical dif
ficulties forced postponement of
the X-15’s first flight under its
own power.
There was no announcement
when a new attempt will be set,
but indications were it will be
early next week.
Rivers Votes No On Highway Tax
WASHINGTON, UP — Repre
sentatives Ralph Rl^er of Alaska
and A1 Ullman and Edith Green,
both Oregon Democrats, were the
only Pacific Northwest congress
men to vote against the highway
financing bill yesterday.
The House passed the measure,
under which the federal gasoline
tax would be raised one cent for
the next 21 or 22 months, by a
vote of 243-162.
Standard Oil President Says State’s Oil
Future ^Clouded by Problems, Failure,
But Illuminated By Cautious Hopes"
FAIRBANKS, UP>—Standard Oil
Co. of California is studying plans
for a pipeline to carry its Alaska
oil to tidewater, company presi
dent T. S. Peterson reported to
day.
Word of the pipeline plans was
included in an address in which
Petersen said the state’s oil future
is “clouded by present problems
and past failure but illuminated
by cautious hopes.”
In an address prepared for the
Pacific Northwest Trade Assn,
meeting, Petersen said the three
wells Standard now is operating
on the Kenai Peninsula, called its
Swanson River unit, are produc
ing about 650 barrels a day.
“This is about all that we are
able to handle,” he said, “under
the present system of trucking oil
to Seward, for storage there and
ultimate shipment to pur refinery
at Richmond, Calif.”
Petersen said the most practical
pipeline route appears to be from
Swanson River to Cook Inlet.
Such a line, he noted, would cross
public land and would have com
mon carrier status so it could be
used by other companies.
“Naturally,” he said, “we will
have to take a look at the results
of wells now drilling, and others
to be drilled in the months to
come, before we can come to any
definite decision on a project as
sizable as this pipe line. But I
can assure you we’re studying the
situation closely and will go
ahead with the plan just as soon
as our engineers and analysts tell
us the line can pay its own way.”
Peterson said drilling at the
Swanson River area, where Stan
dard is operating company for a
four-firm partnership, is proceed
ing at a “pace which is most
| likely to return the maximum ec
onomic rewards to all concerned,
j meaning both the people of the
state and the lease-holders.”
j A step-by-step approach, he
' said, is “minimizing failures, and
' thus wasteful development costs,
j Neither the oil industry nor Al
aska can . afford an excessive
| number of dry holes. They are
not only bad financially, they are
bad psychologically.”'
Petersen touched on these other
j points:
Another oil company “reputed
; ly sank seven million dollars into
: its well fat Bear Creek) before
calling it a day. This makes our
: two million worth of dry holes on
i Swanson River and at Deep Creek
look like a bargain.”
The marine seismic survey of
Cook Inlet, recently completed,
cost more than one million dol
lars. When bidding for tracts in
the Inl^t takes place in a few
weeks “We’ll have a pretty good
idea of what the oil companies
think of this prospect.”
Petersen said acreage lease re
strictions have held back oil de
velopment in Alaska, but he said
the industry is encouraged by the
new state law which provides for
holdings up to 500,000 acres.
Land withdrawals and restric
tions' on exploration in certain
wildlife areas also hamper oil de
velopment, Petersen said. Ex
pressing hope that all of the
moose range and other areas of
oil potential eventually will be
opened to exploration, he added:
“I am totally convinced that all
such areas could be examined,
without harm to resident wildlife,
by responsible companies which
are ready and willing to take the
special pains necessary.”
House Prepares
Cut-down Public
Works Bill
WASHINGTON, UPl — Daring
another veto, the House Appro
priations Committee today ap
proved a shaved - down Public
Work appropriation bill includ
ing 67 projects objected to by
President Eisenhower.
It sent to the House floor a
$1,185,140,863 bill financing river
and harbor, flood control and re
clamation projects in almost ev
ery state after refusing to delete
the 67 projects which drew a veto
last week.
The House fell one vote short
of overriding the veto.
To keep the measure in line
financially with the President’s
budget, the committee cut every
project in it by 2Yi per cent.
The initial cost of the 67 proj
ects objected to by the President
was $51,51G,000. The committee
cut this amount to about $50,
200,000.
Calcutta Quiet After Riots
CALCUTTA, India, (*>—'Troops
stood by today as Calcutta re
turned to normal after a day of
violence that took 15 lives. Apart
from two clashes between police
and hooligans in the early mor
ning, the city and its industrial
suburb of Howrah were quiet.
Yesterday’s riots developed from
Communist - led demonstrations
against the Bengal state govern
ment’s handling of food supplies.
Russians Not
Fishing for Salmon
In Bering Sea
SEATTLE, UP)—Russia’s fishting
fleet in the Bering Sea and North
Pacific apparently is after bot
tomfish, not salmon, a pair of
fisheries experts said here yes
terday.
D. Lee Alverson, of the Bureau
of Commercial Fisheries Office
here, and John Gharrett, Alaska
regional director of the bureau*5
said the Soviet fishermen are.
taking large quantities of bottom
fish and transporting them to Si
beria by freezership.
Alverson described the Soviet
fleet as “really immense—beyond
the scope most people can imag
ine.”
He said the Russians have sev
eral trawlers 240 feet long, one
huge mother ship nearly 400 feet
long besides numerous auxiliary
vessels, including freezerShips,
tankers and freighters.
The Soviets also have a whaler
unit operating south of the tip of
the Aleutian Islands, Alverson
said, and since mid-July Russian
boats have been taking king crab.
Gharrett said the Navy and
Coast Guard have been keeping
the Russian fleet under close ob
servation in cooperation with the
Burau of' Commercial Fisheries.
There were no indications, he
said, that the Russians were in
the area for anything other than
fishing.
Alverson returned here by air
after a trip to the area on the
research vessel John N. Cobb,
which visited the Soviet fleet.
Russian crewmen were friendly
with crewmen on the Cobb, Al
verson said.
There was no “cloak and dag
ger stuff,” he added.
LAOS APPEALS TO U.N. FOR AID
- 5
I
Planning Commission
Expects To Report To
Gov. Egan in December
Pearse Walsh, who has been at
tending the State Planning Com
mission meeting fn Juneau, re
ports that with the aid of George
Rogen, economist, and planner
Vic Fischer, it is hoped that a
completed plan will be in the
hands of Governor Egan by De
cember 15.
In order to get more informa
tion and to get the communities
into this overall picture the Com
mission plans to hold hearings at
Nome,' Anchorage, Palmer, Cor
dova, Valdez, Juneau, Ketchikan
and Fairbanks. They will start in
Anchorage on Sept. 21.
Walsh is now in Fairbanks rep
resenting the NWA Chamber of
Commerce as one of 200 dele
gates at a meeting of the Pacific
Northwest Trade Assn. He will
present a paper on Northwestern
Alaska at the meeting. He will
also attend the International Rail
and Highway Commission meet
ing in Fairbanks.
Walsh said that because Con
gress has not adjourned, Sens.
Bartlett of Alaska and Magnusson
of Washington, were not at the
meeting.
President Rests
In Scotch Castle
By EDDY GILMORE
TURNBERRY, Scotland, OP —
President Eisenhower arrived in
Scotland today for a short vaca
tion at a highlands castle before
returning to the United States
from his nine-day diplomatic
mission to western Europe.
Eisenhower flew by jet directly
from France, where he held two
days of talks with President De
Gaulle rounding out a tour that
took him to Bonn, London and
Paris.
He plans to spend a sporting
resting weekend at Culzean Cas
tle. Several fine golf courses and
hunting areas are nearby. Scot
land gave him a 16-room apart
ment in the castle as a token of
respect for his leadership as Al
lied commander in World War II.
He tackled the beautiful 6,690
yard Oilsa course, five miles frotn
the castle, this afternoon. Playing
with him yere his son, Maj. John
Eisenhower, and John Hay Whit
ney, U.S. ambassador to Britain.
The President is returning to
Washington after the Labor Day
weekend here.
His beautiful third-floor apart
ment looks out over the broad
sweep of the Firth of Clyde.
A cheering crowd <?f 50Q Scots
greeted the smiling President at
Prestwick airport. He showed
none of the strain of his grueling
schedule.
Eisenhower said farewell to De
Gaulle at Rambouillet Chateau,
Paris, where he spent the night.
De Gaulle bade him a “Bon
voyage, Monsieur le President.” A
helicopter flew Eisenhower from
Rambouillet to Paris’ Le Bourget
airport, where he boarded the
plane for Scotland.
WASHINGTON, tP — The
Atomic Energy Commission has
started development of a new and
simplified nuclear power plant
for Navy submarines and ships.
The work will cost 18V& million
dollars.
(By The Associated Bresst
Laos appealed to the United
Nations today for troops to bol
ster its defense against Commun
ist battalions knifing deep into
that little southeast Asian king
dom.
It accused Communist North
Viet Nam of intervening on the
side of Red rebels with troops
and artillery.
The Laotian delegation at the
U.N. delivered the urgent appeal,
addressed to U.N. Secretary Gen
eral Dag Hammarskjold, who re
turns Sunday from a Latin Am
erican tour.
It is questionable what the U.N.
could do, or what a majority of
the members of the U.N. would
"favor.
The lightly armed emergency
force in the Middle East is the
only U.N. military force in being.
Its job is limited to watching the
Egyptian-Israeli frontier and ad
jacent territory.
An appeal first would go to the
Security Council, where the So
viet Union has the power of veto.
An appeal there could wind up in
the General Assembly, which
meets Sept. 15. Long debate pro
bably would precede any action
in the Assembly.
Laos’ request that the United
Nations send troops to its aid took
Washington officials by surprise.
Key authorities hurried to staff
meetings to determine what fur
ther action might be taken.
The tiny kingdom is already re
ceiving more than 30 million dol
lars worth of U.S. aid a year, and
the rate of shipment was recently
stepped up. But sending in for
eign troops is something else.
If the U.N. should approve in
tervention, the volume and type
of U.S. aid might change sharply.
This would not necessarily mean
that American forces would be
involved.
U.S. forces nearest Laos are in
Formosa.
Congressman Asks Why
Pentagon Banned
“Design For Survival”
WASHINGTON, —A banned
book is getting considerable at
tention on Capitol Hill. It is called
“Design For Survival,” and was
written by Gen. Thomas S. Pow
er, head of the Strategic Air Com
mand.
“Contrary to reports,” said Rep.
John E. Moss (D-Calif) today, “the
book does not advocate preven
tive war.”
Moss, as chairman of the House
government information subcom
mittee, demanded an explanation
from Defense Secretary Neil Me
Elroy of why the Pentagon pre-*
vented the book’s publication.
WASHINGTON, UP>—'The Sen
ate Armed Services Committee
has delayed action on the nomina
tion of Maj. Gen. David M. Shoup
as commandant of the Marine
Corps. Chairman Richard B. Rus
sell iD-Ga) said “We want to find
out why he was not given a four
year appointment as required by
law.” Shoup received a two-year
appointment.
PITTSBURGH, Pa., UP> — De
tained behind a black sedan while
driving, James Carlson, 25, shout
ed at the car: “Get that blankety
blank heap outta my way.”
Two policemen emerged from
the black patrol cruiser and took
Carlson before a magistrate. He
was fined $10 for using vile lan
guage in public.