THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
E. P. BOUCHER .?.... Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY . Production Manager
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Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943 at the
postoffice at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3. 1879
HE NEVER TOLD A Lit
THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY
The proper observance of Washington’s birthday
anniversary did not come about overnight after his
death. The colonies and the states were slow to
recognize the magnitude of the accomplishment and
contribution of General Washington. Not only had he
won independence for the colonies, he had served as
the first President, and he had set the precedent for
a two-term limit for Chief Executives.
Moreover, he had established the foundation prin
ciples of American governments—one of them being
staying out of the affairs of other nations. That policy
was the wisest course for the young nation at that time
and this doctrine allowed the country to grow and
prosper during its early years.
In the last years of his life and the first years after
his death, political feeling in the country between the
parties was so strong that some of the observances
suggested for Washington’s birthday anniversary were
denounced as political demonstrations. Only slowly
did the nation come to recognize its founder and mili
tary hero as his services to his country merited.
After he died, on December 14, 1799, the Congress
(then meeting in Philadelphia) proposed that February
22, 1800, be observed throughout the country with
exercises in honor of the first President of the country.
This congressional proposal was widely acted upon
and exercises were held in the principal cities.
Thereafter, observances of Washington’s birthday
spread rapidly and today its observance is general
throughout the nation. This is appropriate since Wash
ington is often under-rated both as a general and as
a President. Every American citizen owes as much
to Washington, or more, for his freedom and the inde
pendence of his country as to any other American hero.
One of the mysteries of life to a school-age young
ster will always be why he has to go to bed when he
isn’t sleepy and get up when he is.
Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind
braces us, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such
thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good
weather. —John Ruskin
\
New Alaska Bill
Would Get Butler
Vote In Senate
WASHINGTON, Uft—Sen. But
ler (R-Neb), long-time foe of Al
askan statehood legislation, prom
ised Alaskans Friday night he
would vote for "statehood when
the bill comes to the Senate for
action.
Butler, chairman of the Senarte
Interior and Insular Affairs Com
mittee, gave his assurance in a
tape recording prepared for use
at an “operation statehood” -ban
quet held in the Elks Hall at
Anchorage.
He recalled that he has “repeat
edly said that I could not vote for
Alaskan statehood unless Uncle
Sam offered the people of Alaska
a fair bargain... a deal under
which Alaska will control its own
resources, and under which you
will be able to make a go of state
hood, financially and otherwise.
“The bill we are reporting
meets those specifications and I
shall ‘vote for Alaskan statehood
when it comes up for action on the
floor of the Senate-.”
Butler referred to the bill re
cently approved by his committee
as “radically different from any
bill ever before considered by the
Congress.” Previous bills, he said,
have given Alaska no land nor
federal reservations.
“The bill we are reporting for
the first time gives the State of j
Alaska the right to take the coal I
reserves, the potential oil lands
now under lease, the land with
drawn along both sides of all prin
cipal highways, and so forth,” he
declared.
“Furthermore, this bill makes
far more generous provision for
financial assistance on highway
construction than any bill previ
ously reported by either the House
or Senate committee.”
Wiring On Sabres
Ordered Reclieeked
After Accident
CHICAGO, Iff*—The wiring sys
tem of every F-86D Sabre jet
plane in the Air Defense Com
mand was ordered recheeked Fri
day following the accidental dis
charge of a combat-loaded rocket
at O’Hare Air Force Base.
In the O’Hare accident Thurs
day, the rocket was discharged
from a parked aircraft. It rico
cheted off a concrete ramp, soared
a mile and a half and exploded
against the foundation of St. Pat
rick’s Academy, a girl’s high
school. Windows were shattered
but none of the 350 pupils was
injured.
» Col. Ben. S. Preston, vice com
mander of the 4706th Defense
Wing at O’Hare, said the nation
wide checkup did not mean that
any Sabres had been ordered
grounded. An examination at
O’Hare, he said, indicated the
accident resulted from a malfunc
tion in the complicated wiring of
the plane, rather than the rocket.
“This was the first accident of
this type in the United States,”
Preston said.
HODGE APPROVED AS
2nd DIVISION JUDGE
WASHINGTON, Iff)—A Senate
Judiciary subcommittee Friday
approved this nomination by Pres
ident Eisenhower:
Walter H. Hodge, Cordova, to
be U.S. district judge for Division
Two, Alaska.
Kotzebue News
Out-of-town teams registered
for the Arctic Dog Derby races,
sponsored by the Arctic Circle
Chamber of Commerce, included
Alfred Wells, Noorvik; Sam Reed,
Roger Atoruk, Clifton Jackson,
Theodore Westlake, of Kiana; Ben
Forglove and James K. Wells,
Selawik; Nelson Griest, Shung
nak; Robert Mitchel and Ross
Stalker, Noatak.
Additional teams arrived before
■the races began on Friday. Local
teams which competed included
those owned by Daniel Snyder
and Samuel Dives.
The children’s and women’s
races were run Friday, with
blanket tossing, foot races, human
dog musher race and other games
on the ice in front of the village.
A candy hunt for children and an
Eskimo dance were held Friday
evening.
The men’s races started Satur
day noon and the large bronze
cups and cash prizes were award
ed the winners at the Community
Hall. s
* * *
Between Feb. 13 and 16, 27
additional wolves and one wolver
ine wero killed by hunters in
planes, including Gene Joiner and
Tommy Sours, who got nine in
one day, Bert Beltz and Rod Lin
coln, Merle Smith and Paul Ballot
of Selawik, Bogie Bogenrife and
Bob Savaria, bush pilot, and Wien
Doug captain from Fairbanks.
This brings the total close to 50
wolves killed in the Kotzebue
vicinity since Jan. 1.
Harry Brown, Second Division
representative on the Game Com
mission, tagged many wolf skins
for bounty purposes when going
through Kotzebue recently en
route to Juneau for a commission
meeting.
Unofficial reports are that 24
polar bear have been taken this
3rear at Point Hope. Also, some
30,000 caribou are said to be in
the hills back of Noatak.
Louis Rotman, Kotzebue trader
and hotel owner, returned from a
business trip to Fairbanks. He was
accompanied by his son, Seymour.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Waite,
after serving a year and a half
with the Weather Bureau at Gam
bell and six months at Kotzebue,
are leaving for the States. They
are replaced by Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Willis of Brownsville,
Texas, on their first assignment
in Alaska.
Bob Mitchell of the CAA visited
Fairbanks enroute to Anchorage
for a regional maintenance meet
ing.
* * »
John Hakala with Resources of
the ANS • is on a field trip to St.
Michael and points south of here,
inspecting reindeer herds and
conditions.
Raymond Paul Wins First
Heat Of 100 - Mile Alaska
Sled Dog Championship
ANCHORAGE, UPi — Although
one of his dogs was exhausted
and riding in the sled, Raymond
Paul of Galena, won the. first 25
mile heat of the 100 mile, $4,000
Alaska championship sled dog
race Friday.
Time of the 1951 champion was
1 hour, 53 minutes, 42 seconds.
Second in the heat was the 1953
champion, Clem Tillman of Big
Lake, in the time of 1:58.01. The
1950 and 1952 champion, Gareth
Wright, Fairbanks, was third at
2:04.08.
The event will pay $1,500 to the
winner and $900 to the second
place man.
Japanese Agree
Not To Expand
Alaska Crabbing
(The Juneau Independent
The Japanese have agreed not
to expand their king crab fishing
operations in Bering Sea this year
beyond the scope of the 1952 fish
ery, Clarence L, Anderson, direc
tor of the Alaska Department of
Fisheries, said last week upon his
return from the initial session in
Washington of the new Interna
tional North Pacific Fisheries
Commission.
Last year a Japanese mother
ship with its fishing fleet canned
more than a million king crab.
The agreement not to extend this
operation was made off the record
and not in open commission ses
sions, Anderson said.
The Juneau man, who attended
as an observer, said Gov. B. Frank
Heintzleman was appointed one
of the four United States official
representatives on the commis
sion. He was unable, because of
the press of other business in
Washington to attend more than
one session of the meetings which
continued for two weeks.
An important development of
the meeting, Anderson said, was
the appointing of a joint commit
tee of biologists, consisting of two
U.S., two Canadian, and two Jap
anese representatives, to prepare
a master research plan for presen
tation at the next commission
meeting in October.
One problem to be studied will
be whether the present line at
175 degrees west longitude was
the proper division between Am
erican and Asiatic waters.
SAVINGS BONDS CHIEF
SEES RECORD IN ’54
Washington, D. C., January—:
Earl O. Shreve, National Director
of the U. S. Savings Bonds Division,
Treasury Department, has ex
pressed his appreciation to the
American people for their record
support of the Savings Bonds pro
gram in 1953. In a year-end state
ment, Mr. Shreve forecast that
more series E and H Savings Bonds
would be sold in 1954 than in the
past record postwar year, lie said
further that all indications pointed
to a record sale of savings bonds to
people who planned to buy their
individual 1954 annual maximum
of $20,000 E Bonds or H Bonds
during January and February, lie
added that his confidence in 1954
Savings Bonds sales reaching new
highs was based on the popularity
of the Payroll Savings Plan with
many millions of employees across
the country, and the enthusiastic
support given to the Bond-A
Month Plan by banks. Mr. Shreve,
formerly president of the Chamber
of Commerce of the United States,
and sales vice-president of the
General Electric Company, also
reported that owners of 75 per cent
of about $10 billion in E Bonds
that have so far matured are re
taining these bonds to take advan
tage of the automatic ten-year ex
tension privilege.