m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN AiAfigl-MEMBHt ASSOCIATED PRESS ___
VOL. LX No. 112 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1958 _Per Copy—15^
Alaska Land Commissioner Visits Tex.
To Investigate Tidelands, Homesteads
AUSTIN, Tex., UP) — Alaska’s*
land commissioner visited Texas
yesterday to pick up a few tips
for the 49th State, particularly
on tidelands and homesteading.
“Weve got lots of land and lots
.of problems,” said Everet T.
Brown, director of the Alaska
Department of Lands.
Brown talked with Texas^Land
Commissioner Bill Allcorn and
personally checked on operations
of the State General Land Office.
Brown said Alaska has, or will
have upon becoming a State,
about three million acres of land
to use as it sees fit.
He only smiled when told that
Texas had traded more than three
million acres of land back in
1875 for construction of the ornate
pink granite state capitol building.
“Texas and Alaska land prob
lems are alike in that each re
ceived its land in big blocs and
not in scattered sections like
most other states,” Brown said.
“Our problem right now is to de
cide how to administer the land.
What sections we should hold for
5>
revenue purposes, whether to set
up a ..omestead system or just
ma' e outright grants to settlers.”
Brown allowed that Alaska
might have an even larger tide
lands problem than Texas, al
though possibly of a different
type.
He said “Our coastline is longer
than the entire United States com
bined. We know we will get the
submerged lands to the three
mile limit, but the problem now
is to decide where the submerged
lands end and the shore begins.”
No decision has been made on
shore line boundaries in Alaska.
In other states shore lines are set
by state statutes, usually based on
average high tides over a period
of years.
Some coastal states, including
Texas, are fighting the Federal
law which limits state-owned sub
merged lands to three miles.
Texas’ claims, based on old Span
ish titles, that it owns tidelands
foVt miles seaward, will be aired
in a Supreme Court case set for
Oct. 15.
Mildred Hermann,
‘Madame Statehood,’
Honored at Nome Dinner
Mildred Hernann, who is
known as “Madame Statehood,”
was honored at an informal din
ner last evening at the Seaview
Dining Rdom by a group of her
friends, some of whom had served
with her during the Constitutional
Convention.
Other former members of the
convention, M. J. Walsh and John
McNees, called attention to the
fact that Mrs. Hermann has been
a member of the Statehood Com
mittee since its inception in 1949,
and is still serving as secretary
of the group.
Judge Walter Hodge presented
some of the problems to be con
sidered under Statehood reorgan
ization, from the judiciary stand
point and the State Courts.
M. J. Walsh and John McNees
were most eloquent with their
praise of the fine work Mrs. Her
mann has done during her forty
years in the Territory, and her
share in many projects during the
development of the country into
the status of Statehood.
Mrs. Hermann reminded her
friends that the work is not fin
ished, and the biggest hurdle of
all will be the accomplishments
of this first State Legislature, and
urged every citizen to be alert and
assist those elected to serve.
U. S. Jet Tanker
Sets 9 Flight Records
SPOKANE, UP) — 'A KC-135 jet
tanker plane streaked to nine un
official world speed records for
cargo craft Wednesday, the Air
Force announced today.
The four-jet tanker; a version
of Boeing Airplane Co.£ 707 com
mercial jet airliner, zoomed
through the skies at an average
of 587.13 miles an hour.
It traveled a 3,107 mile course,
consisting of five closed circuit
laps, from a point near Spokane
to Hoquiam, Wash., on the Pacific
Coast, and the return.
It carried a payload of 22,246
pounds.
• The flight marked the longest
non-refueled closed circuit flight
distance for jet aircraft. Normally
the plahe is used for mid-air re
fueling of Boeing B52 jet bombers.
The flight lasted little more
than five hours. '
U. S. Living Costs
Take August Drop
WASHINGTON, UR — Living
costs as measured by the govern
ment dropped in August for the
first time in two years. The fall
was two-tenths of one per cent.
The Labor Department attrib
uted the decline to the usual late
summer drop in food prices as
fruits and vegetables hit the mar
ket in quantity.
Ewan Clague, the government’s
price expert, indicated belief the
index may show a further small
decline when September data is
i available because of continued
I late summer food price reductions.
The government index for Aug
ust announced today was 123.7
per cent of the 1947-49 average.
This is 2.2 per cent higher than
in August last year.
The index had hit a record level
21 times in the past 24 months.
This was a rise of about 6 _per cent
in general living costs in, two
! years.
Formosa Snakes
More Dangerous
Than Communists
AN AIR* BASE,. Central For
mosa, (£) — The most immediate
danger American airmen face
when they move into this Nation
alist Chinese base is not Commu
nists. It’s snakes.
Coral snakes, kraits, cobras, and
a variety the Chinese call eye
glass snakes all thrive in the
thick grass around runways, near
living areas, and in nearly cane
fields.
So far no one has been bitten.
But a deadly coral snake 5 feet,
2 inches long was killed last week
near the mess hall. A jeepload of
airmen ran over a cobra on a
roadway.
The snakes are rated as 5-step
pers, 10-steppers, 50- and 100
steppers. ^The classification indi
cates the number of steps a .per
son can take after being bitten,
before dropping dead.
WEATHER FORECAST
(Dept, of Commerce Weather Bur.)
Partly cloudy tonight and Sat
urday. Cold temperatures. Winds
decreasing tonight. Low tonight
26, high tomorrow 36.
U. S. Command In
Formosa Becomes
Combat Ready
By SPENCER MOOSA
TAIPEI, Formosa, Iff) — The
United States has announced re
organization of the American Ad
visory Command .on Formosa,
making it — in effect — a reg
ular combat command.
The announcement by the com
mander of the U. S. Formosa De
fense Command, Vice Adm. Rol
and M. Smoot, said the step was
taken to attain an adequate de
fense posture in the face of re
cent stepped-up Chinese Commu
nist actions.
In the Quemoy area, Communist
and Nationalist gtms thundered
in fresh battle today. The Nation
alists said the Reds fired 6,613
shells between noon and 6 p.m.
The bombardment was particu
larly heavy while three LSTs
were unloading supplies at Que
moy. The Defense Ministry here
said the ships accomplished their
mission without damage, and re
turned safely to base.
Smoot’s command announced
that the United States has aug
mented its army, navy and air
force in the Formosa area. It said
this augmentation has established
a requirement for centralizing op
erational control of all forces as
signed to the Formosa area.
The announcement said the joint
chiefs of staff established, the
U. S. Formosa Defense Command
as a subordinate unified command
under the Commander in Chief,
Pacific. Over-all direction remains
under Smoot.
Reorganization of the U. S. For
mosa command was announced as
the Army assigned a Nike-Hercu
les missile battalion to the defense
of the Nationalist stronghold.
British Sailboat To
Race U.S. Columbia
For Americas Cup
NEWPORT, R. I., UR — Some
time tomorrow morning two slen
der yachts will slip their moorings
and head out into the Atlantic
Ocean to renew the 107-year-old
sea battle for the America’s Cup.
Heading a spectator armada of
some 1,500 crafts will be Presi
dent and Mrs. Eisenhower aboard
the new guided missile destroyer
Mitscher.
They will be watching the Brit
ish challenger Sceptre try to do
something no yacht has ever done
— win the ancient cup from the
American defender.
Sixteen times American yachts
successfully have defended the
cup, first won in 1851 in Eng
land by the yacht America. Sail
ing for the United States in the
first renewal of the series since
1937, will be the creamy white
Columbia.
Whether Columbia will be the
gem of the ocean or Sceptre the
first challenger to take the garish
old trophy home will be decided
in a best-of-seven races over a
24-mile course. '
With good weather, some 6,000
to 9,000 spectators should be bob
bing on the Atlantic to watch the
race.
Sceptre is staying out of the
water until the last moment. Her
skipper, Cmdr. Graham Mann,
says she will slide down the ways
“about tea time this afternoon.”.
Stepovich Dubs Water Route Under
North Pole ‘Alcan Water Highway’
SAN FRANCISCO, <£> — The*
former Governor of Alaska today
dubbed the route under the North
Pole the “Alcan Water Highway,”
and said it would shrink the world
for cargo craft of the future.
Mike Stepovich, who resigned
recently as governor to become a
Republican candidate for Senator
of the new State, predicted Alas
ka would play a vital part in
developing the route, furnishing
cargoes of oil, timber and min
erals and providing stopover
ports.
Addressing the Commonwealth
Club, he'* reminded his audience
that Commander W. R. Anderson,
who skippered the atomic sub
marine Nautilus beneath the Pole,
had pinpointed Barrow as a like
ly site for a future transpolar sub
marine cargo ]pase.
“Alaska has not been involved
too deeply in intra-Pacific trade,”
Stepovich said. “However, the de
velopment of the atomic-powered
cargo submarines may well place
us in the center of your vast trade
lines.”
The State of Alaska, he added,
is rich in raw materials which
would feed world industry and
provide cargo for submersible car
riers. ^
“We are right in the middle of
the biggest oil exploration boom
in the history of the United
States,” Stepovich said. “In the
past year 25 oil companies have
invested about 30 million dollars
in exploration and development
>
work in the Territory.
“Our oil fields will be closer to
London and to Tokyo than any
other major producing area, via
the Alcan Water Highway.’
“In my opinion,” continued
Stepovich, “the potential develop
ment of Alaska’s resources is al
most beyond estimation. ‘We have
gold, tin, uranium and in fact 31
of the 33 strategic minerals, and
metals are known to exist in com
mercial quantities, in Alaska.”
Cargo submarines using the
Polar route, he said, will cut the
distance between London and
Tokyo from 11,200 miles to 6,300;
from Edinburgh to Vancouver the
distance will shrink from 9,100 to
6,000 miles; a cargo loaded in
j Oslo will travel 6,000 miles where
once it went 9,300 to reach
Seattle.
The new State also will provide
a rich new outlet for the world’s
goods. The former governor pre
dicted that the population of Alas
ka, now at 225,000, will within 50
years exceed the 20 millions of
Scandinavia.
“We will have a new market as
dynamic and demanding as any
previously known to man,” he
asserted. “For Alaskans are indi
vidualistic — they are highly
competitive and they demand the
best available.
“It is my considered opinion
each and every one of the great
countries on the Pacific rim will
benefit from our development.”
Seating Red China
In U.N. Put Off
Another Year
By MAX HARRELSOM
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., UR —
The United States formally pro
posed today that the U.N. post
pone action on the seating of Red
China for at least another year.
The move was made by Ambas
sador Henry Cabot Lodge in the
General Assembly’s powerful
steering committee.
Lodge spoke after Indian De
fense Minister Krishna Menon
urged full debate at the current
assembly session on the highly
controversial issue of giving Chi
na’s seat to the Peiping regime.
The U. S. proposal was similar
to motions adopted by the As
sembly in previous years. There
appeared no doubt that it would
be approved again this time.
Lodge told the committee “this
year, of all years, is not the time”
to consider ousting Nationalist
China and seating the Chinese
Communists. He made no direct
reference to the Chinese Commu
nist attacks on Formosa, but spoke
only of “recent developments” in
the Far East.
Nationalist China’s T. F. Tsiang
blasted the Peiping regime as a
product of Soviet indirect aggres
sion and subversion, and declared
it does not represent the Chinese
people. He also asserted it had
been branded by the U.N. as an
aggressor.
EMERGENCY LANDING* OF
PLANE IN NEWFOUNDLAND
GANDER, Nfld., UR — A Pan
American transatlantic plane
made an emergency landing here
early today with 72 passengers
after one engine failed three
hours from New York. The plane
was en route to Dusseldorf, Ger
many.
Washington Civic And
Business Leaders To
Visit Alaska Sept. 29
OLYMPIA, {ff) — Governor Al
bert D. Rosellini and a group of
businessmen and civic leaders
from the state will make a four
day “strictly non-political” tour
of Alaska, starting Sept. 29, the
Governor said Thursday.
More than 40 persons are ex
pected to make the trip, including
Dr. Charles E. Odegaard, presi
dent of the University of Wash
ington, and Dr. C. Clement French,
president of Washington State
College, Rosellini said.
“I know that I and others in
the group feel the trip can make
a constructive contribution to fu
ture commerce and cooperation,”
he said.
“We hope to build stronger-ties
between Washington and the 49th
State of Alaska.”
He said expenses will be paid
by private business firms through
the Alaska-Washington Economic
Development Committee.
The schedule calls for the group
to arrive for a luncheon in Ketchi
kan Sept. 29, then proceed to
Juneau. The following day will
be spent in Anchorage and the
final day in Fairbanks. The party
plans to return to Seattle Oct. 2.
Rosellini said the original invi
tation for the tour came from
Alaska’s delegate to Congress, E.
L. Bartlett.
SERIES SEATS SOLD OUT
NEW YORK, UR — The New
York Yankees said today they
were oversubscribed and would
accept no more orders for World
Series box and reserved seats.
The series is scheduled to start
in the National League Park on
Wednesday, ^Oct. 1, with the Yan
kee Stadium opener listed for
Saturday, Oct. 4.