m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVII No. 112 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1955 Per Copy—15^
Returnee Says He
Spied In China
For The U:S.
TOKYO, UD—'Walter A. Rickett
said today U.S. naval officers told
him “to keep my eyes open” when
he first left for Communist China
on a Fulbright Scholarship.
The 34-vear-old ex-Marine lan
guage officer told newsmen that
officers at Seattle’s 13th Naval
District Headquarters gave him
these instructions on the basis of
his previous training with the
Marine Corps and Intelligence.
Rickett arrived in Tokyo to
day enroute home after more than
four years in Red Chinese pri
sons on charges of espionage.
Ricketts repeated that he was
guilty. When released at Hong
Kong last week, he said he had
** spied for the United States.
“There was no question about
it. It was spying in the Chinese
Communist dictionary . . . and
in my dictionary too,” he said.
“I gave political and military
information to the American con
sul (in Peiping).”
Rickett added it is his “firm
conviction that the present Chi
nese government has the firm
support of the majority of the
people. They have done a lot.”
lone Whistles Out To Sea
By the Associated Press
While hurricane lone whistled
lonely over the North Atlantic
Ocean today, shattered towns in
North Carolina and Mexico count
ed a sad toll of death and damage
brought by her and her sister
storm, Hilda.
Mexico was left with at least
16-6 dead and 100 missing in the
Gulf port of Tampico and sur
rounding area where Hilda hit.
Continuing floods threatened to
raised this toll.
In North Carolina, which took
the brunt of lone before she veer
ed to sea, five persons were dead
and property damege was in the
millions.
lone skirted New England, still
busy repairing damages of the
earlier Hurricane Diane.
The Washington weather bu
reau, tracing lone over the open
sea, reported she still is a dan
gerous storm and advised caution
for all shipping in the area. At
5 a.m. she was centered 150 miles
southeast of Halifax, N.S., travel
ing at a fast clip of 45 miles per
hour.
Northwest Airlines To Get
Lease on Shemya Air Base
SEATTLE, UP)—Sen. Magnuson
(D-Wash) said yesterday the Civil
Aeronautics Administration had
advised him it soon will sign a
long term lease with Northwest
Airlines for use of Shemya Air
Base, in the Aleutian Islands.
He said all facilities at Shemya
will be available to Northwest
and that the company must keep
it open to other airlines, includ
ing Canadian Pacific.
Shemya has been closed to com
mercial airlines for several
months. During the Shemya clos
ure Northwest has been using
Cold Bay was an Aleutian base.
Latest Returns For Seven
At-Large Delegate Seats
A few additional precinct re
ports have put Byron Gillam of
Fairbanks back into seventh rank
among the candidates for the
seven territory-at-large seats in
the Alaska Constitutional Con
vention.
He displaced Warren Taylor of
Fairbanks by 28 votes in their j
see-saw contest.
Unofficial vote totals were:
Ralph Rivers 5,425; Mrs. Mildred
Hermann 4,407; Katherine Nor
dale 4,001; Steve McCutcheon 3,
555; George Sundborg 3,531; R.
Rolland Armstrong 3,393.
Gillam’s total was 3,077.
Selective Service Hopes
To Take Younger Men .
In 18-to-26 Age Group
WASHINGTON, UPI — The gov
ernment is considering a change
in draft regulations aimed at get
ting younger men into uniform.
The proposed change is prompt
ed by the rising average age of
draftees—now up to about 23—
and is coupled with the admin
istration’s new military reserve
program.
Officials said the proposed
changes — designed to be more
“lenient” with older draft - age
men—are being circulated among
interested agencies for review and
comment. They said they did not
expect early action.
At present, the practice is to
draft from the top down—that is,
to take the oldest men first in
the eligible 18V£-26 age group.
However, a Selective Service
official said that as things now
stand, the average draftee will
be about 25 when he finishes a
two-year hitch and moves into the
ready reserve. This is only a year
under what this official said is
the age at which most men reach
their peak of military efficiency.
“We want younger men than
the 25-year-olds going into that
ready reserve,” he continued.
“We want men who can serve in
the ready reserve several years
before they reach 26.”
70-Year-Old Baseball Fan,
Grandma Powers, Slams
$32,000 Homer On TV
NEW YORK, l# — Grandma
Myrtle (Myrt) Power, the base
ball sage from Dixie, has kept up
her perfect batting average by
hitting safely on the $32,000
question.
Drawing on her amazing dia
mond lore again last night, she
identified six major league play
ers who collected 3,000 or more
hits in their careers.
The 70-year-old baseball fan
from Buford, Ga., who has been
working as a housekeeper can
keep the $32,000 or try for the
grand sjam $64,000 question next
Tuesday night. If she goes to bat
and strikes out, she’ll get an auto
mobile for a crying towel.
When master of ceremonies Hal
March told her she had a week
to make up her mind, she in
quired with a smile: “Can I an
swer it now?”
March threw up his hands.
“You almost blew a whole pro
gram,” he told her.
Senator Lyng, 64,
Dies of Injuries
Received in Fall
SEATTLE, (Jf)—Territorial Sen.
Howard Lyng of Nome died at
5:30 a.m. Tuesday of injuries suf
fered in a fall from a hospital
room Monday.
Lyng fell from his fifth-floor
room to the roof of a first-floor
wing. He suffered head injuries
and the hospital reported he was
in such a state of shock that doc
tors were unable to attempt brain
surgery.
Lyng was admitted to the hos
pital Thursday evening after he
became ill aboard a plane. He was
enroute from Alaska to the home
of a sister in Porterville, Calif.
His physician said he was suffer
ing from hypertension.
In the 1955 legislature, Lyng
was majority floor leader. He was
a former speaker of the Alaska
House of Representatives and a
former Democratic national com
mitteeman from the territory.
The body was taken to the King
County morgue pending funeral
arrangements.
Marciano Favored
19-1 Over Moore
By MURRAY ROSE
NEW YORK, GP—A brisk, clear
day brought a brisk demand for
tickets to the postponed Rocky
Marciano - Archie Moore heavy
weight championship fight today.
They are scheduled to climb
into the ring at Yankee Stadium
j at 6:45 p.m. (PST) tonight for the
15-round title bout put off yes
terday because of the hollow
threat of Hurricane lone. Cham
pion Marciano, quite accustomed
to such postponements, was more
heavily favored than ever after
the one-day delay.
If the postponement had any
effect on ticket sales it was to
stimulate them a bit. Given a
guarantee of clear, though cool,
weather the fans who had held
off buying the cheaper seats be
cause of the threatening weather
started looking for them.
. Although they weren’t required
to weigh in a second time, both
fighters were examined by phy
sicians this morning, ate hearty
breakfasts and took long walks
to limber up.
Yesterday Marciano weighed
18814 pounds and challenger Ar
chie Moore 188 even.
Challenger Moore, after down
ing his usual large glass of orange
juice with three raw eggs whip
ped into it, proclaimed that the
crisp, autumnal weather was
“made to order” for him.
The odds favoring the 31-year
old champion lengthened to 19-5
following the postponement and
there was a possibility they might
jump another point or two before
the bell sounds.
The gate receipt was $670,000
already in the till before the post
ponement yesterday and the pro
moters hoped to add another
$150,000 today.
Alaska Highway To Be
Designated “Route 97”
JUNEAU, UB — The “U.S. 97”
signposts familiar to motorists in
California, Oregon and Washing
ton soon will mark the Alaska
section of the Alaska Highway.
Territorial Road Commission
er A. F. Ghiglione disclosed yes
terday that in response to a re
quest from the British Columbia
minister of highways the territory
will bring its section of the Inter
national Highway into the inter
state highway system, designating
it Route 97.
U.S. 97 begins at Weed, Calif.,
and runs through eastern Oregon,
Washington and British Columbia
to the Alaska border.
Ghiglione said the Alaska High
way will be the first in the terri
tory to be an integrated part of
the interstate highway system of
the United States.
He added that joining the inter
state system could help Alaska to
be included in the $101 billion
highway program proposed by
President Eisenhower. Alaska
was not included in the orginal
program.
Suggests U.S. Reveal
Size of A-Bomb Stockpile
As Deterrent To War
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS,
W.V., (4*)—A nuclear scientist has
called upon President Eisenhower
to reveal the size of this nation’s
atom bomb stockpile in the be
lief that the revelation “could be
a potent force for peace.”
Dr. Ralph E. Lapp, director of
Nuclear Science Service in Wash
ington said the stock-pile already
“amounts to several tons of TNT
for every inhabitant of our plan
et.” The world’s population is
estimated at 2Vz million persons.
Dr. Lapp said the pile is so
fantastically large that there is
no longer any point in keeping
it secret.
Dr. Lapp described a hydrogen
or neutron bomb which would
produce the same destructive
force as 18 million tons of TNT.
He said such a bomb can be set
off at a cost of less than a cent
per ton of TNT.
He also said he foresees a sharp I
slump in the uranium market in
the next 10 years. U.S. military
requirements already are being
satisfied, he said, and supplies
are adequate for the AEC’s pro
duction plants.
It likely will be several years
before the demand for industrial
use takes up* the slack, Dr. LafJp
said.
/
25 MSTS Ships Due In
Seattle From the Arctic
SEATTLE, UP) — More than 25
ships are on their way to Seattle
after completing their missions in
the Arctic in connection with the
distant-early-warning-line radar
network, the Military Sea Trans
port Service said today.
The Waltham Victory, due to
day, will be followed by ships
arriving nearly every day through
October 2. The vessels are mem
bers of the fleet of some 40 ships
which sailed from Seattle in July.
Argentine Rebels
Win Unconditional
Peace Agreement
BUENOS AIRES, (*» — Argen
tina’s rebel forces today won a
peace agreement — apparently
with unconditional surrender —
from the loyalist followers of
Juan D. Peron.
The rebels established Maj.
Gen. Eduardo Lonardi as tempor
ary president of the nation.
A brief communique did not
disclose Peron’s fate, but the
rebels in their four - day revolt
gave as one of their conditions
of surrender the handing over of
the man who ruled Argentina for
a decade. The last authoritative
information had him aboard a
Paraguayan gunboat in Buenos
Aires harbor.
The communique read over the
state radio said the two sides had
reached “complete accord” and
the loyalist forces had “accepted
the points stipulated by the
rebels.”
The rebels had announced be
fore peace negotiations began
that they would accept only an
unconditional surrender.
Lonardi in 1951 retired volun
tarily from the army after writing
a letter protesting the plan—later
abandoned — to designate Eva
Peron as vice president. He was
active in a short-lived revolution
in 1951, and in 1952 was included
in a group reported under arrest
for plotting against Peron.
DEW Line Construction
Spurs Development By 50
Years of Canada’s Arctic
VANCOUVER, B.C., (*>--Cana
ada’s northern defense installa
tions will spur the peacetime de
velopment of the Arctic 50 years
ahead of schedule, N. R. Crump,
president of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, said here Tuesday night.
Crump made the prediction
after completing an eight - day,
7,000-mile flying tour across the
Arctic and through northern Brit
ish Columbia.
“The DEW line has tremendous
significance for the development
of the Canadian Arctic, even in
the event that there is never an
other world war,” Crump told
reporters.
“It has established airports ac
ross the northland, and the days
of the dog team and the old river
boat are gone. It has pushed back
the frontier in time by 50 years.
“It has to be seen to be be
lieved,” he said.
Insurance Commission
Meeting Postponed
Because of Dispute
JUNEAU, UP)—The dispute be
tween Gov. Heintzleman and the
Attorney General’s Office over
status of members of several Al
aska boards and commissions has
resulted in postponement of a
scheduled meeting here this week
of the Territorial Insurance Com
mission.
Delay of the meeting was an
nounced here yesterday by Curtis
Shattuck, commission secretary.