m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LIV No. 130 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31;-1952 Per Copy—15r
Probe Underway
Of 89 Million
Tungsten Deal
WASHINGTON, (TP) — A “top
to-bdttom” investigation was un
derway today into a government
deal to buy nine million dollars
worth of tungsten, already the
center of a political storm and
rough words on both sides of the
Atlantic.
Defense Materials Administra
tor Jess Larson—who signed the
contract and then canceled it as
chief buyer of critical goods for
the government—told a news con
ference yesterday he is heading
the investigation.
Larson said one thing he wants
cleared up is why he was not
given an unsigned letter-contract!
which disclosed that the tungsten
deal involved a 5 per cent fee to !
three men.
One of the three, Col. Lawrence
Westbrook, was fired Wednesday
night as a Democratic National
Committee official. Democratic
Chairman Stephen A. Mitchell
ordered the dismissal after a New
York Herald Tribune story called
the case “the biggest 5 percenter
deal ever exposed in Washing
ton.”
Larson said he has found no
evidence thus far of “wrongdoing
or influence” in his agencies in
connection with the contract for
tungsten, a scarce metal used in
steel production. He said he will
publish all findings and, if there
appears to be wrongdoing, will
refer it to the Justice Department.
Westbrook told the Herald Tri
bune from Dallas.he had done no
thing wrong. He blamed the con
tract cancellation on an interna
tional group which he said wanted
to sell strategic materials to the
United States at a higher price
than his client, a Portuguese firm
called Companhia Atlantica.
One member of this rival group,
Westbrook said, was Brig. Gen.
Tom B. Wilson, European director
of the Defense Materials Procure
ment agency headed by Larson.
In London, Wilson issued a
statement saying Westbrook “has
talked himself into a law suit.”
New York Times Declares
It Will Not Switch to Adlai
NEW YORK, (/P) — The New
York Times today reiterated its
support of GOP presidential no
minee Dwight D. Eisenhower,
denying what it termed rumors
that the newspaper would shift
its support to Adlai E. Stevenson.
In a news - box headed “the
Times does not intend to change
to Stevenson,” the newspaper
took cognizance of rumors “spread
word of mouth and by at least
one radio commentator” that it
would switch to the Democratic
presidential nominee.
Political Polltakers
Cautiously Say Ike
Has Lead In Popular Vote
NEW YORK, (/P)—Three of the
nation’s top political polltakers
say that, as of now, it looks as
if Gen. Eisenhower will command
a slight lead in the popular vote
on election day.
But the pollsters — Dr. George
Gallup, Archibald M. Crossley and
Elmo Roper—say this prediction
must be tempered by the ques
tion: How fast is Gov. Stevenson
catching up?
The consensus of the poll-takers
came out yesterday at a meeting
of the New York chapter of the
American Marketing Association,
and the dominant mood of all
three of them was: caution.
They were remembering the
way the voters upset their 1948
prediction^ that Gov. Thomas E.
Dewey would beat President Tru
man.
Although they said they’ve cor
rected their methods since then,
they still were wary about esti
mating the outcome.
None was willing, yet, to pre
dict what the electoral vote will
be, although all said their latest
findings indicate an Eisenhower
popular-vote victory.
However, there has been a re
cent trend toward Stevenson, they
said, and they haven’t determined
to what extent it will count by
Nov. 4.
Crossley said the big headache
is the undecided category. He es
timated 10 per cent of the voters
are in this group.
Actress Who Saved Nome
Bank By Pawning Jewels
Dies in Juneau at 80 Years
JUNEAU, (/P)—A former New
York actress who once pawned
her jewels to stop a run on a bank
died at her home in Haines Wed
nesday afternoon. She was Fran
ces Muncaster, 80-year-olcl terri
torial pioneer who came here from
New York 54 years ago.
She was most famous in Alas
ka for saving the Nome bank in
1S08. Hearing that the bank was
threatened with a run in the
economic panic of that year, she
pawned her jewelry and mushed
in a dog sled across Seward Pen
insula with $10,000 to deposit.
She died of a heart attack.
Little Hope Held For
Recovery of Dixie Lee
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., {&)—
Crooner Bing Crosby’s wife, Dixie
Lee, 40, continued in a coma to
day with no change in her con
dition.
In poor health for several years
she was stricken gravely ill last
Sunday. Her physician said there
ws little hope of her recovery.
He declined to specify the nature
of her illness.
Replacing of GI’s j
By ROKs, Subject
Campaign Debate
WASHINGTON, (iP) — The
great campaign debate over send
ing South Koreans into the line
'to replace American soldiers in
Korea mushroomed like an atomic
explosion today, billowing out to
Tokyo and Paris.
At its vortex, the heat of the
word battle brought a White
House denial that Gen. James A.
Van Fleet is being relieved as
Eighth Army commander and
from secret Pentagon files, a mass
of data showing:
1. Van Fleet’s request that
South Korean forces be doubled
—from 10 to 20 divisions—was
opposed as premature by Gen.
Matthew B. Ridgway, then United
Nations commander in Tokyo and
now supreme commander of North
Atlantic Treaty forces in Paris.
2. Ridgway’s position was up
held by the joint chiefs of staff
and Secretary of Defense Lovett.
3. The Defense Department
says it has been carrying out a
long-range program to turn over
the defense of Korea to' the South
Koreans as soon as leaders can be
trained and seasoned in combat.
4. Gen. Mark Clark, Ridgway’s
successor in Tokyo, has pursued
this program and has submitted
a longer-range proposal for fur
ther expansion, now being studied
at the Pentagon.
The New York Daily News pub
lished a story today saying Van
Fleet was being relieved for writ
ing a letter quoted in a campaign
speech by Gen. Dwight Eisen
hower.
The News said the official
(Continued on Page Three)
Chinese Human Wave
Assaults Push U. N.
Troops Off Triangle Hill
SEOUL, UP) — United Nations
troops struggled toward the crest
of Triangle Hill in the cold, slash
ing rain today after twice losing
the vital hill position to Chinese
human wave assaults.
But by night the Chinese still
held the crest and the Allied in
fantrymen pulled back from the
close-quarter hand grenade fight
ing.
Rain clouds cleared and a wax
ing moon shed a soft, pale light
over the death-filled ridges.
Allied gloom over the loss of
Triangle was eased slightly late
Friday when about 175 survivors
were found of three units cut off
on Triangle. Some were badly
wounded. Their comrades had
made and epic death stand against
the onrushing Chinese hordes.
Although the Chinese artillery
was heavy, Allied officers said it
seemed to be slackening from the
terrific concentrations of the past
few days.
Stevenson’s Train
Nearly Backs Over
Crowd at Back Platform
SILVER SPRINGS, Md., t/P)—
A tragedy was barely averted
here today when Gov. Adlai Ste
venson’s campaign train, having
overshot its stopping place, sud
denly backed up on a crowd that
had pressed around the rear car.
There were shouts of “stop the
train” from the crowd and a
scramble to get out of the way.
A railroad man pulled the
emergency cord and the train
halted without hitting anyone.
Several persons were knocked
down, however, in the rush to get
out of the way of the train.
Three or four teen - age girls
were scraped on their legs and at
least one lost her shoe. A woman
who tried to climb a fence divid
ing two tracks was cut on the lip
and also injured her ankle.
U.S. Newspapers Support
Eisenhower 4 to 1
NEW YORK, (/P)—Editor and
Publisher reports a new survey
shows that four U.S. newspapers
are supporting Gen. Eisenhower
for every one supporting Gov.
Stevenson.
The trade magazine said last
night its final pre-election poll of
1,385 daily newspapers showed
67.34 per cent of them—with 80.24
per cent of the total daily circu
lation — are supporting the Re
publican presidential candidate.
The Democratic candidate is back
ed by 14.52 per cent of the dailies
with 10.88 per cent of the total
circulation.
It also reported 933 dailies in
48 states for Eisenhower and 201
dailies in 39 states for Stevenson.
No Rain In Sight For
Dry, Burning East
(By the Associated Press)
A mass of dry air covered the
eastern half of the nation again
today, indicating no immediate
rain to halt the ever - spreading
fires which are burning over mil
lions of acres of wooded areas.
The damage from the flames
which have whipped over rich
timberlands in more than a score
of states mounted into the mil
lions of dollars. The situation in
some areas was regarded as
serious.
Heavy palls of smoke were re
ported over many years in the
fire belt east of the Mississippi,
resulting in widespread reduction
of visibility. Much of Oklahoma
was covered with a haze of smoke
and dust yesterday, cutting visi
bility to four miles in some areas.
The U.S. weather bureau had
no immediate hope of a heavy
general rainfall over the fire
stricken regions. Many states
have had only little rain in the
last two months.
USAF Bases In
French Morocco
Literally “Sagging”
By DAN DE LUCE
WITH THE U.S. AIR FORCE
IN FRENCH MOROCCO, </P) —
The newest bill for American
atom bomber bases in this res
tive African land is two million
dollars to repair sagging runways.
Two of the five projected bases
exist only on paper. They have
been delayed by continuing con
troversy with the French govern
ment over land expropriations and
other problems.
All present runways were built
before their drainage systems, re
versing peacetime engineering
procedure. When heavy rains
came last winter, a 200-ton roller
was sent out by an Army engi
neer to test one runway despite
protests from civilian builders.
The undrained runway, 12
inches of crushed rock with half
of its four-inch coating of asphalt
still missing, mushed under the
impact. The roller test was called
off until after repairs.
The two million dollar repair
bill is just One per cent of what
has been spent to date on the Mo
roccan air bases, which started
out as a “crash” project in the
first year of the Korean fighting,
bases on the Moorish springboard
The over-all cost of the five
poised between the Atlantic and
Mediterranean, was expected to
amount to 300 million dollars.
They were slated to be finished,
to the last storage shed, by the
end of 1953.
Now the earliest possible date is
1955, if all goes well. That re
quires a steady flow of money
from Congress, smooth U. S.
French cooperation and snafu-less
coordination between the Air
Force and Army Corps of Engi
neers.
The ultimate price tag may ex
ceed 400 million dollars.
—
Air Force Chief Inspects
: Air Bases In Morocco
MADRID, Spain, (/P) — Gen.
j H o y t S. Vandenberg, chief of
| staff of the U.S. Air Force, left
here by air Friday to inspect Am
erican air bases in Morocco. He
has spent two days in Madrid dis
cussing possible use of Spanish
airports by NATO air forces.
Five Uranium Prospectors
Killed In Underground Blast
HERRON, Mich., (,/P) — Five
men prospecting for uranium
were killed Thursday night when
an underground explosion ripped
through the 180-foot-deep shaft
of an abandoned gold mine near
here.
A sixth man miraculously es
caped injury in the blast which
hurled some of the bodies some
300 feet.
Youth for Christ Meeting
Tomorrow Evening 8 p.m. Assembly of God Church
MR. McGIFFIN, GUEST SPEAKER SPECIAL MUSIC SLIDES OF HAWAII
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