2£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No, 50 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1954 Per Copy—15r
Stevens Says He Was Not ‘Afraid’
Of McCarthy But Did Ask That
Probe of Army Be Called Off
WASHINGTON, UP)—Secretary'
of the Army Stevens agreed today
he once suggested that Sen. Mc
Carthy lay off his pro’be for Com
munists at Ft. Monmouth, N.J.,
and let the Army handle it. He
denied, however, that he was
“afraid” of the Wisconsin senator.
Stevens made the statements
under hammering cross-examina
tion by special counsel Ray Jenk
ins at the third day of hearings
into the row between the Wiscon
sin senator and high Army offi
cials.
A little earlier, the ordinarily
quiet spoken secretary testified
that McCarthy’s “publicity tac
tics” at Ft. Monmouth had caused
“a great deal of misinformation
and excitement.” But Stevens also
conceded McCarthy did “speed
up’’ some suspensions.
Jenkins demanded to know
whether Stevens had not gone to
New York City last November to
“make peace with McCarthy” af
ter telling newsmen in Washing
ton that there was no “current
espionage” at Ft. Monmouth.
“No, sir,” Stevens said, laugh
ing.
Jenkins recalled that Stevens
had testified that two McCarthy
aides had told him the senator
was displeased with Stevens news
conference statement.
Why then, asked Jenkins, “did
you go trapsing off to New York
to make peace with this man if
you were not afraid of him?”
Stevens 'said he did not go to
New York—this was last Novem
ber—because he was afraid of
McCarthy, but because it was “in
line with my policy of cooperating
with Congress.’’
Jenkins asked him if the secre
tary had not discussed turning the
investigation over to the Army.
“Certainly,” replied Stevens. “I
said I didn’t like the constant
hammering of the Army in the
headlines, that’s what I objected
to.”
What he told McCarthy, Stev
ens continued, was that the Army
wanted to take over the Ft. Mon
mouth inquiry, make “progress
reports,” and then if it failed to
do the job McCarthy’s committee
could step back in.
(Continued on Page Two)
Military Supplies Being
Funneled Through ’Frisco
To French in Indochina
SAN FRANCISCO, UP^T h e
Navy has disclosed that military
supplies, including aircraft and
vehicles, are being funneled
through San Francisco' Bay area
shipping centers to French forces
in Indochina.
The 12th Naval District said the
carrier Windham Bay was load
ing planes at Alameda Naval Air
Station and will sail Tuesday.
Some high-priority cargoes also
have been airlifted from nearby
Travis Air Force Base to the Phil
ippines where French-chartered
planes take over for the flight to
Indochina.
9
Test of New
Polio Vaccine
Starts Today
WASHINGTON, The test of
the new polio vaccine in selected
areas across the nation gets under
way today.
Final sanction of the tests was
given late yesterday by the Na
tional Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis after an advisory com
mittee of polio experts had recom
mended the go-ahead following a
two-day appraisal, primarily for
the standpoint of safety.
The U.S. Public Health Service
also approved the decision, which
stipulated certain conditions for
the use of the vaccine first devel
oped by Dr. Jotnas E. Salk of the
University of Pittsburgh.
The foundation’s action released
stocks of vaccine which already
had been delivered to 20 of the 45
states scheduled to participate.
Vaccine for the other states is
expected to be delivered in a
fairly short time.
Officials estimated that approx
imately 500,000 children in some
170 communities of the 45 states
eventually will receive the vac
cine, with 400,000 others receiv
ing inoculations with an inert
substance. These latter children
will be among youngsters who
will be used as “controls” for the
test—an evaluation report am
which is not expected before late
in the fall.
Gloom Peddlers are as
Wrong as They Can Be,
Says Joe Martin
NEW ORLEANS, GPV—Speaker
of the House Joseph Martin Jr.
(R-Mass) said Saturday “the
gloom and doom peddlers are as
wrong as anyone can be.”
Rep. Martin spoke at the clos
ing session of the annual conven
tion of the American Cotton Man
ufacturers Institute.
He said the “merchants of pes
simism” took the “unfavorable
factors which do unquestionably
exist in the economy, and they
have overstated and over-empha
sized them to' the exclusion of the
countless favorable factors which
also exist.
State and Territorial
Governors Meet to Discuss
Major Government Issues
WASHINGTON, UP)—The na
tion’s state and territorial govern
ors assembled here today to be
briefed on major government
problems and to ask questions
about Indochina, subversives, tax
es and other issues.
The special meetings behind
closed doors will last three days.
The briefings will not get under
way until tomorrow, but Presi
dent Eisenhower is having an ini
tial conference with the state
heads at a dinner at the White
House tonight.
VOTE TOMORROW
The residents of Nome have a
duty to perform tomorrow at the
polls. Each and every eligible vot
er must do his share to bring to
office those legislators who are
awaxe of our needs and are sin
cere in their efforts to work for
the Second Division and the peo
ple here who call Alaska their
homeland.
To vote is a privilege. Many
people in the world today live
without this privilege and can
only envy the American way of
life.
Show your interest in Alaska
tomorrow by voting. The polls
will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Anyone over 21 years of age.
a resident of Alaska for one year
and in the precinct for 30 days
can participate. Advance registra
tion is not required.
Top Diplomats
Of 19 Nations
Meet in Geneva
GENEVA, MS—The top diplo
mats of 19 nations met here today
with Asia’s future in the balance.
Prince Narathip Pongpraphan
Wan Waithyakon of Thailand
called the assembly to order in
the somber council chamber of
the United Nations headquarters,
formerly the 'League of Nations
Building.
Final peace in Korea and an
end to the bloodshed in Indochina
were the momentous issues before
the conference, but grave and
bitter differences were still to be
settled in preliminary debate.
Prince Narathip’s selection as
chairman for the first day, with
Yvacheslav M. Molotov of the
Soviet Union and Britain’s An
thony Eden to follow on succes
sive days, ended one of the dis
agreements. But the explosive is
sue of Communist China’s place
in the proceedings was bypassed
for later settlement or by the
course of the conference.
Molotov walked into the cham
ber, where the council of the old
League of Nations condemned his
nation for making war on Fin
land, with Deputy Foreign Min
ister Andre Gromyko at his side.
Molotov’s face was expressionless.
Eden laughed with his compan
iin, Lord Reading, undersecretary
of state in the British Foreign
Office. Eden had been in the
chamber many times during the
days of the League.
Red China’s Chou En-Lai ar
rived Saturday for the conference
and said this parley “will provide
possibilities for the settlement” of
Asian issues.
The Peiping Premier and for
egin minister touched down on
soil this side of the Iron Curtain
for the first time since the Com
munists took power over China’s
450 millions five years ago. Wear
ing a navy blue uniform and over
coat, he was greeted at the airport
by North Korea’s foreign minister
Nam II.
Swiss military guards with
tommyguns and steel helmets im
posed tight security measures and
kept Western newsmen at a dis
tance.
Eisenhower Says Indochina Is the
‘Cork in the Bottle’—Loss Would
Affect Millions in Southeast Asia
-<
Greatest Peacetime Army
Will Be Financed by New
Defense Dept. Budget
WASHINGTON, UP>—'The De
fense Department cash budget of
$28,680,706,500 was recommended
Monday by the House Appropria
tions Committee, with $7,615,523,
000 earmarked to finance “the
greatest army ever maintained by
this nation on a full year basis in
the absence of actual warfare.”
The total is $1,206,348,500 less
than President Eisenhower asked
for the Army, the Navy and the
Air Force and related activities
for the fiscal year starting next
July 1.
But the cut imposed by the
committee in a bill sent to the
House for debate starting Wed
nesday was actually less than half
as' large as it appears. Committee
cuts were about 541 million dol
lars, the balance of the reduction
having been volunteered by the
armed services or being in the
nature of bookkeeping savings.
Nehru Asks Nations Not
To Intervene in Indochina
NEW DELHI, India, (A*—Prime
Minister Nehru called on the Uni
ted States, Britain, Russia and
Red China Saturday to enter into
a pact at Geneva agreeing not to
intervene directly or indirectly in
Indochina.
He made his proposal in a state
ment before the Indian parlia
ment. It was part of a five-point
program for ending the 7-year-old
Indochina War.
Burma, India Bar
U.S. Planes’ Airlift
To Indochina
A FRENCH AIR BASE IN IN
DOCHINA, tf)—Successful com
pletion of Operation Bali High—
the record-breaking American
airlift of French paratroopers to
embattled Indochina—brought the
disclosure that Burma, as well as
India, barred the passage of the
U.S. planes over its territory.
The troop-ferrying mission, the
longest in history, ended Saturday
when the last of seven Douglas
Globemasters carrying the French
fighting men from Paris touched
down at this secret base. Officials
said the million dollar flight was
only part of the troop lift. An un
disclosed number of Globemasters
will complete the mission early in
May.
The planes avoided both Burma
and India after the governments
of those two nations refused tran
sit privileges. Indian Prime Min
ister Nehru previously announced
his government would not permit
the passage of troops to Indochina.
The huge, three-decker Globe
masters flew by way of Tunis,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Ceylon
and Thailand. After unloading the
paratroopers the planes roared
off for Clark Field, Manila, en
route back to the United States.
> WASHINGTON, UK— President
Eisenhower declared today that
this is “a time of great decisions’’
in world affairs, with the outcome
of the Indochinese War carrying
“the greatest significance for the
United States.”
He told the United States Cham
ber of Commerce that Indochina
is “the cork in the bottle” whose
loss would affect the fate of hun
dreds of millions in “the sur
rounding areas of Asia.”
Eisenhower declared that sur
vival of “the newly formed, Dem
ocratic government of Japan” may
also hinge on events in Southeast
Asia, since the affected area is the
one with which Japan must trade.
Eisenhower voiced hope, how
ever, that the conference of world
powers which opened today at
Geneva would find some peaceful
solution of the hazards.
Secretary of Defense Wilson also
referred to events in Europe and
Asia, saying that events in those
two continents may force a full
scale new look at United States
military plans, policies and spend
ing.
Addressing the chamber, Wilson
reported the first new look, start
ed shortly after the Eisenhower
Administration took over, has
been completed and has led to
“great and encouraging progress’’
in the military program.
The secretary said, however,
that military programs and fore
casts of money required to carry
them out are always subject to
change. He added:
“The next few months are ob
viously critical ones in world af
fairs, and what happens in Europe
and Asia during this period may
force a soul-searching review of
our specific policies, plans, objec
tives and expenditures.”
Unemployment Insurance
Claims Drop 65,000
WASHINGTON, UR—'The Labor
Department says initial claims for
unemployment insurance dropped
toy 65,100 during the week ended
April 17. The total for the week
stood at 322,800.
The Department’s bureau of
employment security attributed
the drop in part to a seasonal
increase in jobs and partly to the
fact that many workers acquired
new benefit rights earlier in the '
month and filed their claims at
that time.
The Department said unem
ployment among insured workers
totaled 2,150,500 for the week
ended April 10. This compared
with 2,147,200 in the week pre
vious.
COFFEE AT $595 A POUND
CHEBOYGAN, Mich.,' W — The
price of coffee will zoom to $595
a pound for one week in Cheboy
gan. But the car dealer who is
offering the high priced brew
material says a 1949 used car will
go with each pound.