22S NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LIX No. 123 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1957 ‘ Per Copy—15*
SCIENTIST PREDICTS SATELLITE
WILL FALL WITHIN A WEEK
By JOHN H. HARRIS
WASHINGTON, (B—A govern
ment scientist says Russia’s Sput
nik—which has circled the earth
for 12 days—may plunge from its
orbit and burst into flames within
a week.
That view, expressed by Robert
Jastrow of the Naval Research
Laboratory here, generally runs
counter to other Western predic
tions that the satellite might re
main aloft for several months,
possibly a year.
Losing Altitude
Jastrow, a theoretical consul
tant at the laboratory, also said
last night there were indications
Sputnik was losing altitude. On a
recent pass over Washington, he
added, the satellite’s altitude was
estimated at 147 miles.
Most previous estimates have
had the orbit ranging from 170
miles up to about 560 miles.
“Based on its altitude, the way
it looks at the moment the satel
lite might bum out in a week,” he
said. “It most probably will dis
integrate and bum up, depending
on its design and altitude.”
Radio Signals
Jastrow declined to estimate
the altitude at which atmospheric
friction would set the moonlet on
fire. He said there is no way to
determine whether there will be a
change in the radio signal from
the satellite to tell of its end.
Jastrow’s views about the pos
sible early death of the satellite
coincided with a report broadcast
by Moscow Monday which indi
cated Sputnik likely would fall
from outer space in a week.
Electromagnetic Forces
The naval consultant said in an
interview that electromagnetic
forces might possibly explain the
variations in Sputnik’s orbit that
have baffled some scientists.
There have been references to
an “unknown” force which appar
ently was causing a slight side
wise drag on the sphere, creating
difficulty in electronic computa
tions of the orbit.
Mysterious Force?
But in Cambridge, Mass., the
director of the Smithsonian As
trophysical Observatory said he is
not yet convinced than any mys
terious force is acting on the sat
ellite. Dr. Fred L. Whipple said
last night:
“We don’t intend to call on nov
el forces to account for the vari
ance when we haven’t exhausted
the standard forces, that is, the
combination of gravity and atmo
spheric drag.
“We can’t say novel forces do
not exist, but we prefer not to
consider them until we have ex
hausted normal procedures and
methods of analysis.”
NOME FIELD LIGHTS
WORKING AGAIN
Work on the runways at Nome
Field lies been suspended for the
winter. The Service Electric Co.
completed installing the approach
and field lights yesterday, which
have not been in operation for
some time. They will return in
the spring to complete the project.
3>
City Council
Meeting Notes
Dr. Woodcock has been appoint
ed health oficer starting Oct. 15,
replacing Dr. F. Langsam, whose
contract was terminated by the
Council.
All fire mains have been
drained in readiness for winter, it
was reported at the City Council
meeting.
Mayor Andersen is scheduled
to leave for Anchorage and rep
resent Nome in the meeting of the
League of Alaskan cities.
The city made application to
C.A.A. for the use ef a power unit j
now situated at the base on a
monthly basis.
The Council accepted a con
tract with the Boarcl of Juvenile
Institutions although some of the
clauses are still being negotiated
relative to out-of-town delin
quents.
The Pioneer Water Co. was
awarded the contract of servicing
the city building with the low bid
of .008 cents per gallon.
Steve Pederson was sold the
west half of Lot 27, Block 67.
Richard Small’s request for a por
tion of a lot was denied with the
request he take the whole lot.
The Police Department was
authorized to purchase a trans
former receiver unit for the police
car at the approximate cost of
$500 for better efficiency, espec
ially when the car is in use as a
prowl car at night.
Goodrich, Manning
Will Represent
Chamber at Juneau
Dewey Goodrich and Jerry Man
ning have been chosen to repre
sent the Northwestern Alaska
Chamber of Commerce at the
All-Alaska Chamber of Com
merce meeting scheduled for next
week in Juneau, it was announced
at the regular Chamber luncheon
on Monday.
A resolution has been prepared
for the endorsement of the All
Alaska meet stressing the im
portance of Highway 97 continu
ing to hold its place as a priority
construction project until com
pleted.
Guests at the luncheon were
Dorothy Warren of the N.C. Co.
staff and J. Shaw of Molitor and
Doremus.
Sitka Pulp Mill
Signs Contract For
50 Year’s Timber
SEATTLE, UR — The United
States Forest Service Tuesday
signed a contract with the Alaska
Lumber and Pulp Co. to log 514
billion board feet of timber on
Baranof and Chichagof Islands to
supply its Sitka Pulp Mill, now
under construction.
The timber, mostly hemlock, is
to be logged off during the next
50 years. The pulp mill is ex
pected to be in operation in 1959,
with its output going to Japan.
The Alaska Lumber and Pulp
Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Alaska Pulp Co., which is
financed by Japanese interests to
the extent of 2614 million dollars
and by American interests to the
extent of 19 million dollars.
Proposed States-Alaska Airlines Be
Stripped of Intra-Alaska Routes
WASHINGTON, (51—Attorneys
for two Alaska local service car
riers asked the Civil Aeronautics
Board yesterday to consider strip-*
ping all intra-Alaska routes from
airlines in the States-Alaska trade.
The suggestion was made by
Theodore I. Seamon, attorney for
Northern Consolidated Airlines,
Inc., and Charles J. Clasby, Wien
Alaska Airlines attorney, during
oral arguments before the CAB
on the four-year-old intra-Alaska
service case.
Seamon said the issue of divest
ment of local routes from States
Alaska carriers such as Pacific
Northern Airlines and Alaska Air
lines has been involved in every
I
I
recent case involving Alaska air
service but has been deferred.
“It has to be decided some
time,” he said.
Together with Clasby, Seamon
contended elimination of the
States-Alaska carriers from local
service routes would save such
carriers money by eliminating
Alaska-based maintenance facil
ities, would lessen their subsidy
and would improve traffic loads
of strictly local service carriers in
Alaska.
James Bell, Alaska Airlines
counsel, challenged pertinency of
the divertment issue, contending
neither Seamon nor Clasby had
advanced any legal theory under
which the board could reach such
a decision, nor any figures -to
show what would happen if Alas
ka were restricted to its Port
land-Seattle-Fairbamks route.
Discussion of the divertment
issue highlighted a day-long oral
argument in which attroneys for
nearly every airline in Alaska
argued merits of a CAB examin
er’s decision last spring recom
mending realignment of air routes
in ell parts of Alaska but its
southeast section.
Alaska participants in the pro
ceeding included Wien and Alas
ka Airlines, Munz Airways and
nine others.
Tornadoes and Storms
Lash Southern States
(By The Associated Press)
Severe thunderstorms and tor
nadic winds lashed areas in Loui
siana and Mississippi and more
rain drenched Texas today.
Nineteen persons were injured
last night as a tornado struck at
Opelousas, La. Five or six homes
were leveled.
Stormiest weather appeared in
extreme southeastern Louisiana
and extreme southern Mississippi
along a 60-mile front from Baton
Rouge, La., to 10 miles west of
Mobile, Ala.
RUSSIA NO SANCUTARY
IF TURKEY ATTACKED,
SECY. DULLES WARNS
WASHINGTON, (fl—Secretary
of State Dulles said today the
United States must be on guard
against the possibility of an at
tack by Syria and Russia against
Turkey.
Dulles said that in event of
such an attack the United States
would not leave the Soviet Union
as a* privileged sanctuary.
Along with his grim warning,
Dulles said he thinks an outbreak
of war in the Middle East is un
likely, largely because of the
United Nations’ focus of attention
on the area.
Reds Ahead With Missiles
At his news conference Dulles
said on the subject of Russia’s
Sputnik and intercontinental mis
siles he thinks the Soviets may be
ahead of the U.S. in this area of
weapons.
But he declared emphatically
the United States now has and
will have marked military super
iority over the Russians because
of this nation’s lead in heavy
bombers.
Bombers More Decisive
He said bombing planes are (
presently the more decisive weap
on in modem forces.
In five or ten years, Dulles said,
missiles may be the decisive
weapon and it is important for
the United States to push ahead
in this field.
If the question is one of ade
quate defense expenditures or a
reduced budget and tax cuts, Dul
les said certainly security has got
to come first.
U.S. Aroused
Dulles described Russia’s suc
cessful launching of the first
earth satellite as a useful thing
because he said it arouses the
whole country and Congress to
the importance of the missiles
program.
He argued that the Administra
tion has realized all along how
important this is and the degree
of Russia’s advances in the field
but he clearly indicated a belief
Congress arid the nation generally
were not really awake to the
problem.
Overlordships Ruled Out
Dulles ruled out any direct ne
gotiations between the United
States and Russia to carve up the
world and establish what he
called an overlordship of othfer
nations.
He said the Soviets have long
awaited a Moscow-WashingtoE*
deal to that end, but he said the
United States arid Russia are not
the only powers in the world and
this country would have nothing
to do with trying to tell other
countries what to do.
POWER BLACKOUT
FOR SIX HOURS
Power failure disrupted down
town business late yesterday af
ternoon resulting with several
stores closing early. This was fol
lowed by more trouble later in
the evening which blacked out
most of the community and street
lights as well.
Manager Luther Dunbar states
that the first trouble was caused
by aU three cut-outs on the trans
formers in front of the Wallace
Hotel being broken off. This was
followed by transformed trouble
later in the evening.
Why all cut-offs were broken
has not been ascertained.
Power was off for a total of
about six hours. >
BRITISH SCIENTISTS HARNESS
HYDROGEN BOMB FOR PEACE
6-Year-Old Boy Wasn’t
Kidding; Baby-Sitter
Gets Shot in Arm
CINCINNATI, tff»—If was a
brisk 'afternoon yesterday for
6-year-old Michael Schaible Jr.,
who, police said, shot his baby
sitter.
The baby-sitter, Mrs. Naomi
Bobe, 45, was wounded in the
right arm in the Schaible home.
Mrs. Bobe arrived and found
Michael holding a .22 rifle, and
said he told her: “This gun is
loaded; if you come in, I’ll shoot
you.”
The baby-sitter thought it was
a toy and walked in unafraid. The
rifle discharged, striking her in
the forearm.
Mrs. Bobe was released after
hospital treatment, but police
took over her baby-sitting chores
temporarily.
? LONDON, UPi—British scientists
today were reported to have
found a way to harness the hydro
gen bomb for peaceful purposes
and Moscow radio said the Rus
sians also are close to a solution.
The Daily Express said experi
ments at the atomic energy cen
ter at Harwell had produced a
controlled thermonuclear reaction
in a laboratory—an H-blast in a
test tube.
It said the experiments were
conducted by Dr. Donald Fry and
Dr. Peter Thonemann, British
scientists, and their Canadian col
league, W. B. Thompson.
There was no official confirma
tion, but such an experiment is
known tt> have been made. And a
source close tp the three scientists
said they were optimistic that
they had been' successful.
If so, this would demonstrate
for the first time that energy can
be produced by fusing -hydrogen
atoms in less thaii annihilating
quantity.