m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVII No. 39NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1955 _Per Copy—15^
Gas Is Discovered
Near Northway On
Alaska Highway
. FAIRBANKS, i# — An Alaska
Highway service station operator
drilling lor water Tuesday struck
gas which burst from the shaft
with tremendous force.
William Seaton, owner of Sea
ton’s Service Station, 292 miles
south of Fairbanks discovered the
gas while seeking water 200 feet
under the surface.
The water drilling rig was se
verely damaged by the gust of
gas which is pouring from a six
inch shaft.
The discovery immediately
touched off a rtm to the Land Of
fice. More than 20,000 acres of
land was leased in the area by
noon and new filings were flood
ing into the office.
Bill Darlin, owner of Scotty
Creek lodge, eight miles south of
the Seaton property described the
outpouring of gas in a long dis
tance conversation with the
Newsminer.
“When I got there at 3 o’clock
Wednesday the gas had been j
pouring out for 24 hours.” He said
“Its velocity seemed to have sub
sided from when it first started
according to people who had been
watching it. But it still had such
force it was impossible to hold
your hand over the six-inch pipe.”
Doctor Ernest Patty, president
of the University of Alaska and
long-time Alaska mining engi
neer, said the gas could be either
commercally worthless methane
or swamp gas, or it could be
valuable natural gas. He said the
area was dotted with lakes and
swamps giving rise to the possib
ility this was a large pocket of
swamp gas. But he said the tre
mendous volume of escaping gas
gave reason to believe that it
was natural gas. He said a sample
of the gas was being gathered
and would be analyzed by the
University and until then there
could be no way of determining
the value of the discovery.
Seaton’s Service Station is lo
cated about 30 miles south of
Northway on the Alaska High
way. The area is north of large
petroleum fields in Canada.
Ike Returns 29,118 Acres
In Alaska To Public Lands
WASHINGTON, WV- President
Eisenhower issued a proclamation
yesterday taking 29,118 acres out
of the Glacier Bay National Mon
ument in Alaska.
The White House said Secre
tary of Interior McKay and Gov.
Heintzleman had recommended
the action.
Two separate tracts are includ
ed in the order: 18,934 acres in
the Gustavus area and 10,184 on
the east side of Excursion Inlet.
The first tract includes the
4,308-acre Gustavus airfield, built
during World War II. The order
said lands needed for the field
will be retained while the bal
ance, 8,210 acres, will be made
available for public entry.
The second tract is returned to
Tongass National Forest. The
White House said the area was
included in the monument in 1939
“through incorrect description . .
resulting from inadequate topo
graphic information."’ It said the
section contains a “good stand” of
Sitka spruce and hemlock.
Of the Gustavus area, the state
ment said studies indicate it
might have potentialities for de
velopment as an agricultural com
munity.
12 Per Cent Pay Boost
Effective Day For
Career Men In Services
WASHINGTON, UO—An aver
age boost of 12 per cent in basic
pay became effective today for
nearly 1,700,000 military officers
and enlisted men.
President Eisenhower signed
into law yesterday the pay bill
designed to keep trained men in
the services rather than leaving
j for higher - paid jobs in private
industry.
The raises are designed for
career men, and do not go to
enlisted men with less than two
years’ service—the normal draft
period—nor to officers with less
than three years’ service. The
bill does, however, provide bene
fits for reservists and retired per
sonnel.
In addition to the Army, Navy,
Air Force and Marine Corps, the
new pay rates apply also to the
Coast Guard, Public Health Ser
vice and Coast and Geodetic Sur
vey.
Henry Roden
f
Retires From
Alaska Politics
JUNEAU, (jVt — The “grand old
man of Alaskan politics” steps
into retirement today.
Henry Roden, at age 80, will
turn the Territorial Treasurer’s
Office over to Hugh Wade, who
was elected in the October elec
tion when Roden did not choose
to run again.
Over a long public career, the
energetic little Swiss-born Alas
kan has held several of the high
est offices which it lies within the
scope of Alaskans to bestow upon
a fellow citizen.
He was lured to Alaska origin
ally by the gold fever at age 24
and in 1910 he entered public
service as an assistant U.S. dis
trict attorney at Fairbanks. He
was elected to the first territorial
legislature in 1912.
Roden served in five sessions
of the legislature—five times as
a Democrat and once, in 1935, as
an Independent. In 194-1 he was
president of the Senate.
As an attorney, he became one
of the territory’s foremost author
ities on mining law, and from
1941 to 1945 he served as attorney
general.
He was appointed 'territorial
treasurer in 1949 to fill a vacancy
and led the ticket as a vote
getter when he ran for the office
in 1950.
Roden has varied business in
terests and is the chairman of the
board of trustees fof the Pioneers
Home at Sitka—a duty to which
he says he hopes now to devote
more of his time.
He said he expects to maintain;
an office in Juneau and keep a
hand in his business interests.
Soviets Man 4th Arctic
Ice Station Near the Pole
LONDON, (£l — Another group
of Soviet polar explorers left
! Moscow by air yesterday for the
central Arctic, the Moscow radio
said.
The group included a new team
to man one of the Soviet ice floe
research stations—Station No. 4—
near the north pole.
The locations were not pin
pointed, but earlier this year the
Moscow radio said Russians scien
tists manning big ice floes had
made more than 2,000 meteoro
logical observations, between the
north pole and Greenland.
Violent Quakes
Rock Southern
Philippine Islands
MANILA, UP)—Violent earth
quakes rocked the southern Phil
ippines today, causing possibly
hundreds of deaths and untold
damage.
The Philippine News Service
reported “hundreds” dead or
missing in the Tugaya district
alone of Lanao province. Earlier
PNS said there were 164 confirm
ed deaths in four districts of that
province.
For nearly eight hours the earth
trembled and shook. The ground
split open. Sand and hot water
was reported issuing from cracks
in the ground.
Communications were disrupt
ed in most section^, but reports
filtering out of the stricken island
of Mindanao indicated wide
spread disaster.
A Manila Times correspondent
messaged that “Everyone thought
the world had ended and death
had come.”
Coming in the early morning
hours when most people were
asleep, the earthquake threw vil
lages, towns and cities into panic.
Water spouted from broken
mains, electric lines snapped and
men, women and children scram
bled for safety in the predawn
darkness.
Anchorage Construction
Men Indicted For Bribes
Offered Federal Employes
ANCHORAGE, UP —Two offi
cials of the Macri Construction
Company have been indicted on
charges of offering bribes to a
federal employe at Fort Richard
son, it was disclosed yesterday.
One of the alleged bribes was
a deep freeze.
The indictment was returned
by a grand jury last week after
a lengthy investigation into the
awarding and performance of lo
cal army contracts and sub-con
tracts. It named Don and Paul
Macri.
One indictment still bears the
mark of “secret.” Two published
previously charged Harvard S.
Malmsten, Clifford E. Warren and
Isadore Cohen with conspiracy to
defraud the United States. Cohen
is former purchasing and con
tracting officer at Fort Richard
son.
Cohen allegedly was the recip
ient of bribes offered by the
Macris. It was charged Paul Macri
gave Cohen a 9.2 cubic foot deep
freezer in June or July of 1954
and that during September of
1953 Don Macri gave Cohen
$2,000.
The indictment stated both
“gifts” were tendered with the
“intent to corruptly influence the
action and decision of Cohen . . .
in awarding certain government
contracts which Cohen was au
thorized to enter into as the rep
resentative of the Department of
the Army.”
BULLETIN
NENANA—Ice 42 inches thick.
Weather has been cold in below
zero mark. Old-timers say late
breakup, since weather has turned
cold. Not much change in snow
here or on hills. Five feet water
under ice at tripod.
—Archie Holmstrom
Democrats Condemn Heintzleman
For Tie-Up In The Legislature
By JIM HUTCHESON
JUNEAU, LP>—A series of shock
J ers hit the Alaska legislature
with stunning impact yesterday
and tension built up rapidly. The
rapid-fire developments included:
1. The territory’s Public Wel
fare Dept, activities were report
ed to be nearly at a standstill.
2. An opinion from the U. S.
Atty. Gen. said the territory can
not borrow from the Federal Un
employment Insurance fund. The
reason—it would violate the Or
ganic Act’s provision against in
curring any territorial indebted
ness.
3. Governor Heintzleman sug
gested to the lawmakers they pass
the appropriation bill and bills
to authorize a territorial loan to
the Employment Security Com
mission fund and make effective
a five-man commission for the
ESC, and then go home.
4. The governor said he would
call a second extraordinary ses
sion later, if no appropriation bill
was passed, after “giving mem
bers an opportunity to return to
their homes for much needed rest
and consultation with their con
stituents.”
5. The House said, in a resolu
tion there would be no interrup
tion of territorial activities be
cause the appropriations bill had
not been passed.
6. The Democratic Policy Com
mittee held a late - afternoon
meeting with the governor. A
spokesman for the group seemed
encouraged over the general sit
uation afterwards.
Conflicting Opinions
Earlier in the day, the U.S.
Atty. General’s opinion, first re
ported to the legislature by the
Associated Press, came as a jolt
to the Senate - House committee
which has been reported making
steady progress toward an agree
ment on a compromise Employ
ment Security act.
The conferees had been count
Sale of Surplus Property
In Aleutian Islands
Awaits Govt. Approval
JUNEAU, OP—Sale of govern
ment property left in the Aleu
tians after World War II, rang
ing from thousands of quonset
huts to Japanese guns, v is await
ing approval in Washington, Gov.
Heintzleman reported yesterday.
He said the Bankers Life and
Casualty Co. of Chicago has sub
mitted the best bid and is the
probable purchaser.
The left-overs are mostly build
ings and installations. Nearly all
of the most valuable portable
equipment was sold soon after
the war.
Removal of the remaining pro
perty is estimated to be a two
year job. The governor said it
could provide work for many
residents of western Alaska and
that he has wired the Chicago
firm a suggestion that Alaska
labor be used where possible.
William Olsen, Alaska Native
Service director, said he had been
negotiating successfully with the
firm for native labor.
The property is at 13 principal
locations from Kodiak to Attu. It
includes 14,000 buildings, ranging
from quonsets to hangars and
warehouses; scrap metal; huge
supplies of lumber; 400 fire hy
drants; 400 electric transformers;
oil storage tanks and lines; about
5,000 telephone poles.
♦- I
, ing on the federal loan.
Later, the governor’s message,
with his suggestions as to what
bills should be passed, did not
even mention the general ESC
bill. Most legislators had viewed
| it as the key to completion of the
special session job.
The governor’s message brought
a new flood of condemnation on
his head from Democratic mem
bers in the House. They accused
the governor of being instrumen
tal in maneuvering them into a
corner and that he had unjusti
fiably asked for a federal Dept,
of Justice ruling on the loan issue
after the Alaska attorney general,
the governor’s official legal ad
viser under the statutes, had ad
vised such a loan would be legal.
The House passed a resolution
of assurance to the public and
territorial agencies and employes
that the immediate absence of an
appropriations bill will not cause
any interruption in territorial act
ivities.
It said “the present situation is
not unusual in the experience of
state governments and need cause
no anxiety in Alaska since obli-'
gations as yet unprovided for will
not become due for payment until
April 30.”
(Continued on Page Two)
Col. Robt. McCormick,
Publisher of Chicago
Tribune, Dies In Sleep
CHICAGO, (iP —Col. Robert R.
McCormick, editor and publisher
of the Chicago Tribune and one
of the nation’s most prominent
newspaper executive, died today.
McCormick, who was 74, died
in his sleep at his farm home
near suburban Wheaton. Among
those at his bedside were his
widow and his stepdaughter.
I The veteran colorful newspaper
| publisher had been ailing since
1953 when he suffered an attack
of pneumonia after returning
from a European trip.
McCormick, who gained the
title of colonel from World War I
service, was the key man in a
publishing organization which
owns the two newspapers with
the largest circulations in the
United States—the Chicago Trib
une and the New York Daily
News.
I -
Joseph Pulitzer, Famed
Editor of St. Louis
Post Dispatch, Dies
ST. LOUIS, —Joseph Pulitzer,
editor and publisher of the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, died about
midnight Wednesday from a rup-,
tured blood vessel of the abdo
men. He was 70 years old.
Pulitzer, who headed the Post
Dispatch for 43 years, prided him
self with being a working news
paperman. Under his leadership
his afternoon newspaper became
known as one of the great crusad
ing newspapers of the nation.
Pulitzer was known as a per
fectionist and he demanded and
got good reporting.
His Post-Dispatch won a num
ber of Pulitzer awards, which
were established by Pulitzer’s
father. The newspaper itself' won
five; four were won by members
of the news staff; one by the
editorial cartoonist and one by an
editorial writer.