From The
Nation's Capitol
• The Weekly Newsletter from the
Office of Senator Ernest Gruening)
By GEORGE SUNDBORG
Administrative Assistant
■ WASHINGTON — Flying of all
first class mail to Alaska was ad
vocated last week by Sen. Mike
Monroney, chairman of the Sen
ate Post Office subcommittee, as
he presided over a hearing on
S. 1849, by Sens. Bartlett and
Gruening, amending the law re
lating to the Aleutian mailboat
contract.
Sen. Monroney called the exist
ing practice of carrying mail to
Alaska by boat “an intolerable
, situation” and likened it to “Pony
Express” service. He declared
that “we could and should break
this bottleneck at the earliest pos
sible time.
Calling for a recommendation
from the postmaster general in
the matter, Sen. Monroney stated:
“I don’t think the Congress ought
to adjourn and go home and still
take about five days and five
nights to get mail up to Alaska,
first class mail, when there are
means and there is transportation
available that could get it there
within 12 to 14 hours-.”
The senator urged that the Post
Office Department use existing
authority dealing with experi
ments in flying first class mail to
get the mail to Alaska faster and
concluded by asking: “When are
we going to stop experimenting
and start acting?”
WEDNESDAY BASEBALL
American League
Washington 3, Detroit 0.
National League
Chicago 5, Milwaukee 2.
Los Angeles 3, Pittsburgh 0.
Cincinnati 11,. St. Louis 5.
Pacific Coast League
San Diego 3, Sacramento 1.
Spokane 4-9, Vancouver 2-5.
Salt Lake City 10, Phoenix 5.
Seattle 6, Portland* 1.
VANCOUVER, B. C., UFi — A
strike deadline of July 25 was set
here Thursday by the United
Fishermen and Allied Workers
Union, representing 5,000 British
Columbia salmon net fishermen.
The union said the fishermen
would walk out unless a settle
ment on price scales is reached
before the deadline.
A strike date for 3,000 tender
men and other workers will be
set after government-supervised
strike vote are held July 24, the
union said.
Foreign Steel
Pours Into U. S.;
Prices Soar
HOUSTON, Tex., (51 — Foreign
steel poured into Texas through
the port of Houston today as the
nationwide steel strike entered its
third day.
Foreign steelmakers ‘■‘are throw
ing the book at us” in an effort
to take over the market, said Wal
ter H. Leo, sales manager of the
strike-bound Sheffield Steel Co.
plant at Houston.
About 21,600 tons of the metal
from Belgium and Japan was un
loaded from five ships at Houston
Wednesday. Two other ships were
waiting at empty berths.
Leo said foreign steel prices
rose $6 to $9 a ton Wednesday
“and my salesmen report cus
tomers have been told the price
will go up more.”
The huge Sheffield plant on
the Houston ship canal was shut
down as 3.000 workers joined in
the strike.
Two other Houston plants were
picketed.
PAA Reaches Contract
Settlement with Stewards
NEW YORK, WPi — Pan Amer
ican World Airways and the
Transport Workers Union have
reached tentative agreement on a
new contract. It will be submitted
to workers Monday.
The agreement was reached
Wednesday night 3M> hours be
fore the deadline for a strike.
The agreement, with terms
withheld pending ratification, will
be submitted for approval to 1,200
stewards, stewardesses and purs
ers. The settlement was believed
to be along the lines suggested by
a presidential fact-finding board.
The board had recommended ac
ceptance of a company offer last
March with wage increases rang
ing from $39 to $53 a month for
flight service personnel'
The old contract, which ex
pired last November 30, provided
wages ranging from $262.50 to ,
$475.50 a month for flight em- |
ployes.
Flight service personnel had
threatened to strike unless the air
line increased its flight differen
tial pay for services performed on
jet planes.
Body Lice—Fleas
on Bogs, Oats or Birds
Simply sprinkle BUHACH lightly through
fur or feathers—then watch the vermin
roll off—Safe—Easy to Use—Economical.
BUHACH
Noel Wien Photo
FIRST AIR-COOLED ENGINE PLANE—Noel Wien stands beside
the first air-cooled engine cabin plane to be used in Alaska
throughout the winter. In the winters of 1927-28, a weekly
schedule was pretty well maintained. Wiens carried passengers,
-mail and freight and, carried the first fresh produce flown to
Nome. The photo was taken at Nome.
Fiery Atlas Dud
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., UP —
A powerful engine of an Atlas in
tercontinental ballistic missile ig
nited early yesterday, but the
trouble-plagued rocket failed to
get off the ground.
The Atlas remained locked on
its pad engulfed in billows of black
smoke.
When the countdown reached
zero a flash of orange flame burst
from the base of the 85-foot mis
sile. It died quickly.
The last five Atlases were fail
ures. Four of them exploded short
ly after launching.
HIGH WATER MARK
ATLANTIC CITY, UP — Resi
dents of this New Jersey resort
are walking today where Wed
nesday they waded. Water depos
ited by heavy rains has drained
off the streets.
The water had been ankle-deep.
Since Tuesday morning a total
of 7.65 inches of rain had been
recorded.
Seaton Flying to Cambodia
LOS ANGELES, Secretary of
the Interior Fred A. Seaton is fly
ing to Cambodia to represent the
United States at the inauguration
of a highway there. He will take
a plane for Honolulu today.
Numbered Duplicate Stub Tickets
For Sale at The Nugget
BRING YOUR
WATCH
to the
Nome Drug Store
for
EXPERT REPAIRS
Youth is the first 50 years of
your life and the first 20 years
of anyone else’s.
GLUE POT
Soda Fountain
CIGARS, CIGARETS
TOBACCO
CANDY
FRESH ICE CREAM
EVERY DAY
Noel Wien Photo
FOKKER F-3 MONOPLANE—This is Ihe plane that made ihe first flight to Nome on June 16, 1925.
To the extreme left is Jimmy Rodebaugh, pilot and early day pioneer in Alaska aviation. Dr. De
LaVerne, mayor of Fairbanks at the time, gave Noel Wien a letter to the mayor of Nome, second
from left. Next are Dick Wood and his wife Marian, presently connected with Fairbanks Insurance
Co. In the center are Ralph and Noel Wien. Next to them is Jerry Moore of the Alaska Railroad. The
two ladies cn the right were secretaries to Norman C. Stines, engineer officer for Fairbanks Explor
ation Co. Stines was instrumental in making the pioneer flight to Nome to negotiate the purchase
of ihe Hammond Mining Co., now operated by the U.S. Smelting, Refining and Mining Co.
—Wien Alaska Airlines Photo toy Frank Whaley
A LOOK AT THE LATEST—Hundreds of curious spectators took advantage of the Wien "Open
House" at the Fairbanks International Airport recently, when the first of the Wien F-27A prop jets
were one display. Passengers in these planes have a good view of Alaska's Arctic through the large,
unobstructed windows of the newest and finest in prop jet travel.