OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LXI No. 133 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1959_.__Per Copy—15?
My Father . . .
ANTONIO POLET came to Alaska like many others,
seeking a quick fortune in 1900, and stayed to
make this his permanent home, because he loved
Alaska and had faith in its future.
His fortune was to be the thousands of people in
all walks of life, who called him friend, and respected
him for his untiring effort and complete confidence in
the future of the territory.
Forty years as secretary of the Chamber of
Commerce, past president of the Grand Igloo of the
Pioneers of Alaska, 16 years with the Alaska Develop
ment Board and its forerunner, the Alaska Planning
Council; promoter of the tourist industry lopg before
the Alaska Visitors Association was even thought of;
active member of the Selective Service Board since
its inception, and many other important duties filled
his years, in addition to being a very successful
businessman, and above all, faithful in his church
duties through the years.
Only his family knew how he put his personal
pleasures aside and sacrificed in many ways to help
and serve others. When he merged his mercantile
business with the Northern Commercial Company ten
years ago, he might have retired and rested on a life
time filled with good deeds, but he chose instead to
continue to invest in the part of Alaska which he loved,
and to help the people who were his friends.
A man of vision, he sometimes saw too far ahead
for his associates, who scoffed at his ideas at first, but
who later joined him wholeheartedly when they
realized the scope of his projects. He was so well
known and respected throughout the state that he was
frequently referred to as “Mr. Alaska,” for his en
thusiasm, honesty, cheerfulness and sincerity.
This was my father — May Alaska have many
more like him ! . _
BUTLER WARNS DEMOS.
PAY UP QUOTAS
WASHINGTON, UP) — Demo
cratic National Chairman Paul M.
Butler has told state party organi
zations to pay up their campaign
contribution quotas or face poorer
accommodations at the 1960 con
vention.
Butler issued a list ox slow
payers Saturday, and said 30
states and territories had paid
nothing <?n their 1959 quotas.
A. Polet Funeral on Tues.
SEATTLE, UP — Funeral serv
ices will foe held from the Colum
bia Funeral Home here at 9 a.m.
Tuesday for Antonio Polet, 78,
pioneer Nome merchant, who died
Friday of a heart ailment. Burial
will be in Tacoma.
Billy Pangman to be Buried Tues.
SEATTLE, UP—Billy Pangman,
former Nome waterman, died and
will be buried Tuesday in Seattle.
Convention Elects
Nome Mayor to
Head Cities League
The League of Alaskan Cities
Convention completed its work
here Saturday, and the delegates
left by chartered plane Sunday
morning.
The League delegates, repre
senting cities from Ketchikan to
Kotzebue, elected new officers for
the ensuing year. These were an
nounced at the annual banquet at
the North Star Seaview Room
on Saturday night.
Nome’s own Mayor Steffen An
dersen was chosen to head the
League as president, and Richard
Hardcastle of Ketchikan is vice
president. The board of trustees
include Mrs. Lucy Mick of Pal
mer, executive secretary; Benny
Leonard of Anchorage, Willmer
Oines of Petersburg, Larry Park
er of Juneau and Bill Poland of
Kodiak.
Each of the delegates was pre
sented a billikin good luck charm
from the City of Nome.
Saturday’s banquet address was
presented by Dr. Brooke Graves
of the Carnegie Foundation, visit
ing professor of State and Local
Government at the University of
Alaska. Dr. Graves discussed
“The Challenge t o Alaskan
Cities.” He said Alaska cities have
an unprecedented opportunity
for orderly development in that
they can profit from the experi
ences of the cities in the “South
48.”
HAMMARSKJOLD TO LAOS
FOR FIRST-HAND VIEW
OF RED REBEL TURMOIL
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., —
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Ham
marskjold leaves Tuesday to visit
Laos and to learn first-hand about
the Indochinese kingdom’s
troubles with Communist rebels.
He plans to return toward the
end of next week. Diplomatic
sources said he might leave a
representative to supply further
information. This would give Laos
“U.N. presence” for an indefi
nite time.
Alaska Superior Court Judges Named
JUNEAU, (jF) — Eight Alaska
lawyers today were appointed as
$19,00G-a-year judges in the
State Superior Court system and
will take office November 27.
Appointments, by Governor
Egan, took two men from the
Alaska State Senate and removed
from the Governor’s cabinet the
state’s public safety commissioner.
Appointees include State Sen
ators Hubert A. Gilbert, Fair
banks, and J. Earl Cooper, An
chorage a veteran Alaska law
maker and James A. Fitzgerald,
who has been serving as head of
State Police in the role as Pub
lic Safety Commissioner.
Cooper, 52, and Fitzgerald, 39,
will serve as Superior Court
judges at Anchorge in the Third
Judicial District—along with Ed
ward W. Davis, 49, Anchorage, a
past president of the Alaska Bar
Association.
Gilbert, 44, was named judge
for the Second District at Nome.
James A. von der Heydt, 40,
of Nome, the current president of
the bar association, and Walter E.
Walsh, 60, Juneau were named
judges for the First District. Von
der Heydt was designated by Egan
as Superior Court Judge at Ju
neau. Walsh a lawyer for the In
terior Department, was named to
serve at Ketchikan.
Harry O. Arend, 56, and Everett
W. Hepp, 44, both of Fairbanks,
were appointed as judges for the
Fourth District at their home city.
Egan said that to the best of
his knowledge all were Demo
crats.
The eight will be sworn in at
10 a.m. November 27 in cere
monies at Juneau. The three-week
period between the appointment
and the actual oath-taking cere
monies was designed to give the
attorneys time to wind up their
private legal affairs.
Alaska Indians’ Claim to
Land Upheld by Court
By FRITZ WITTI
WASHINGTON, UP) — The
Tlingit and Haida Indians may
have established a claim tp 20
million acres in southeastern Al
aska but the legal aspects of their
case are far from finished.
Steps still to be taken are out
lined in a report prepared by I.S.
Weissbrodt, the Indians’ Wash
ington attorney, for the annual
meeting of the tribes this week.
The Court of Claims ruled last
month that the Tlingit and Haida
Indians have a claim to an area
that includes the Tongass Na
tional Forest, the Glacier Bay Na
tional Monument and the Annette
Islands.
Weissbrodt said the decision
“lays the foundation for an ulti
mate and very substantial vic
tory” for the Indians.
The next step, his report said,
is the lengthy and complex pro
cedure to fix a fair value foe, the
land including its mineral, timber
and fishing rights.
The procedure involves not
only lawyers, but historians, an
thropologists and land appraisers.
Air Force Fails Again In
Attempt to Snare Capsule
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE
BASE, Calif., Iff) — For the sixth
time, something has gone wrong
in the Air Force plan to make a
flying catch of a space package
over the Pacific.
The Discoverer VII satellite,
launched here Saturday, was sup
posed to eject a heavily instru
mented capsule Sunday after
circling the earth 17 times. Planes
equipped with trapeze-catching
devices were set to take off from
Hawaii and try to snatch the 300
pound capsule as it came down on
a parachute.
Discoverer VII achieved orbit,
but the Air Force said power fail
ure occurred in the electrical
supply system that was to eject
the capsule.
The Air Force also said the sat
ellite was tumbling through
space instead of following an even
course. It is expected to remain*
in orbit only about two weeks.
Steel Will be Slow In Rolling From
Mills, Open After 116 Day Strike
By JOHN MOODY
PITTSBURGH UPi — Major pro
ducers edged the first small ship
ments of finished steel into de
livery pipelines today — two days
after an 80-day Taft-Hartley in
junction halted the longest strike
in steel industry history.
The early shipments — gather
ings of what was left behind
when the 116-day strike began —
meant little to customers already
hurt by shortages. It still will be
weeks before newly produced
steel moves in significant
amounts.
Thousands of the half-million
strikers were called back to work
over the weekend. Steel firms
were reluctant to start figures
— changes occurred too fast.
Most big companies began heat
ing ironmaking blast furnaces and
steelmaking open hearths 24 hours
after mill gates swung open.
Throughout the industry there
was a gigantic effort to get all
facilities producing as quickly as
possible. Customers — many
closed because of steel shortages
— pressed for speedy deliveries.
Producers could Count on only
, 80 days of operations. If the labor
dispute is unsettled when the in
junction expires January 26,
workers could renew the strike.
The U. S. Supreme Court fig
uratively struck the match that
rekindled mill furnaces. The court
by an 8-1 vote Saturday upheld
the injunction that had been
stayed more than two weeks by
United Steelworkers appeals.
Secretary of Labor Mitchell, in
a television appearance, Sunday
said it will be up to Congres to
keep the mills operating beyond
January 26 if a l^bor agreement
still is beyond reach.
Mitchell said President Eisen
hower would be ready promptly
with recommendations to the law
makers if the strike is resumed.
He refused to hint what the rec
ommendations might be.
There was no indication that
either the industry or the union
was in a mood to make major
concessions. No negotiations were
scheduled.
Columbia U. and Moscow
Plan Educator Exchange
NEW YORK, ltfi — Columbia
University and Moscow State Uni
versity will exchange five pro
fessors for orte year on an experi
mental basis.
Dr. Grayson Kirk, Columbia
president, said Sunday the ex
change will allow visiting pro
fessors to observe research at host
schools, engage in research of their
own, participate in seminars and
conferences, and teach.
Japanese Expedition Found
Safe in Himalayas
KATMANDU, Nepal, OP — A
Japanese mountain climbing ex
pedition missing in the Himalayas
is safe the Nepalese Foreign Of
fice announced today.
A statement said the 32-mem
ber party will return to Katman
du soon.
A five-man search party had
left only Sunday to look for the
climbers, feared lost in an ava
lanche.
The party vanished five weeks
ago on 25,400-foot Mt. Gauri San
kar, named for the Hindu god of
destruction. The peak is 35 miles
west of Mt. Everest, highest in
the world.
The foreign office announce
ment said the climbers were at
Menung village, a two-week trek
from Katmandu.