the NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No. 49 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1954 Per Copy—15p
Civil Defense Director Pomeroy
Meets Nomeites On Survey To
Prepare For Effective Program
Harold Pomeroy, director of<
Civil Defense for Alaska visited
Nome Wednesday on a tour of
northern Alaska communities.
He was accompanied by Lt. Col.
H. W. Stickle, Jr., liaison officer
for Civil Defense with the head
quarters of Gen. Acheson of the
Alaskan Command. They left yes
terday for Kotzebue.
Wednesday evening Pomeroy
and Stickle met at the City Hall
with members of the local C.D.
organization: Lester Bronson, di
rector; Clint Gray, assistant;
committee chairmen Larry Gal
vin, Dewey Goodrich, Jack Blatt
ler, Dr. Fred Langsam; and Bob
Emmons of C.A.P. and Wm. Bar
ber of C.A.A.
Mr. Pomeroy told the local
men that he and Col. Stickle
were on a survey of the territory
to see that local Civil Defense or
ganizations are organized and
functioning and to prepare for
a program that would operate
smoothly with the military.
The local men discussed their
special problems with the direc
tor and he outlined what he ex
pected of the local organization.
Mr. Pomeroy asserted that
under the Civil Defense Act pass
ed by the Alaska legislature, that
in the event of an emergency,
an attack by a foreign nation, j
certain powers and duties be- |
come effective for the Civil De- j
fense. One of these is that in the !
event of occupation, to insure that |
a local government will be in ef- I
feet to deal with the occupier’s and j
to minimize conflict with them, j
To that end Civil Defense has1
organized supply, welfare, mecli-1
cal aid and auxiliary police.
At the moment of attack, if
it does come, evacuation of all
persons who wish to leave and
of women and children will come
under a Civil Defense priority
system. Allocation of transport
to each locality will be made by
Civil Defense to carry the estimat
ed number of people who would
wish to' leave. This authority is
provided by the Civil Defense
Act.
Mr. Pomeroy reiterated that
Civil Defense is a service that
you cannot buy. That in the
event of an attack, no amount of
money can purchase the things
you will do for yourself under
Civil Defense that could probably
mean the difference between life
and death.
Each locality must prepare a
program to meet what they con
sider what would be their pro
bable needs in time of emer
gency.
CORVALLIS, Ore., LT) — The
Sophomore class at Oregon State
College elected Larry Back, An
chorage, Alaska, president, yes
terday.
First 220 ’Troopers
Arrive Indochina
By C-124 from Paris
SAIGON, Indochina, UPi — Am
erican airlifted paratroopers from
France began pouring into Indo
china today as the desperate
French defenders of Dien Bien
Phu battled new Vietminh attacks
on their hard-hit northwest de
fenses.
The first of a fleet of huge
U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemas
ters touched down briefly in Sai
gon with 220 beret-wearing
French jump troops who were
rushed out of Paris’ Orly field
Tuesday.
The total number being ferried
out by the American air force in
the hurry-up move to save Dien
Bien Phu was a military secret.
Advices from Paris said the Am
ericans possibly would airlift 1,000
troops in 10 planes.
En route they were forced to
detour from the direct Europe-to
Asia commercial route to refuel
at the British base at Colombo,
Ceylon. India’s Prime Minister
Nehru announced that Ms gov
ernment would permit not foreign
troops to cross Indian territory, J
by air or 'oy any other route. j
The reinforcements were sorely j
needed at Dien Bien Phu.
Eisenhower Likens
Communist Aims
To Those of Hitler
NEW YORK, MPt — President
Eisenhower likens Communist
aims to those of Adolf Hitler and
counsels the free world to build
a cooperative peace to avert Red
domination.
“Aggression is still a terrible
reality,” he said last night. “Either
the nations will build a cooper
ative peace or, one by one, they
will be forced to accept an im
posed peace, now sought by the
Communist powers, as it was by
Hitler.”
The President declared: “If this
is not to be an age of atomic hy
steria and horror, we must make
it the age of international under
standings and cooperative peace.
An unprecedented police guard
was posted for the President,
largely because attacks on Ameri
can public officials by Puerto
Rican nationalist fanatics were
plotted in New York.
Without referring to current
hearings on the dispute between
Sen. McCarthy and the Army,
Eisenhower said:
“If the day comes when per
sonal conflicts are more signifi
cant than honest debate on great
policy, then the flame of freedom
will flicker low indeed.”
Alaska May Go
“Dry” Pending
3rd Division Suit
ANCHORAGE, Uft — Alaskans
who like their whiskey raw with
a little water for a chaser may
soon be limited to chasers if a
court challenge to the territory’s
liquor regulations is sustained.
This developed yesterday as ar
guments on the validity of the
current liquor laws closed in dis
trict court here. The possibility
marked a complete turnabout
from the effect envisioned when
the laws first were challenged. At
that time it was thought liquor
could be dispensed freely, without
any controls at all if existing stat
utes were found unconstitutional.
But Atty. Gen. J. Gerald Wil
liams dragged out an amendment
to the Organic Act, the basic law
governing the territory. Passed by
Congress following the repeal of
the 18th amendment, the amend
ment provides:
“No spirituous or intoxicating
liquors shall be manufactured or
sold in the territory of Alaska ex
cept under such regulations as
the territoTia*! legislature shall
prescribe.”
“If the territory’s liquor laws
are found unconstitutional,” Wil
liams observed dryly, “we’ll all
be thirsty.”
The day of aridity, if it comes,
won’t be for several weeks. Judge
J. L. McCarrey took the matter
under advisement. The challenge
to the laws is being made by five
Spenard firms who seek liquor
licenses. They contend the current
law is unconstitutional because it
gives courts the right to issue
liquor licenses. They argue such
acts are ministerial and not ju
dicial in their .nature.
Alaska Railroad Asks
$4 Million To Repair
Tracks Laid In 1996
WASHINGTON, UP> — General
Manager Frank E. Kalbaugh of
the Alaska Railroad said today
that if Congress votes $4,594,000
for immediate use in rehabilitat
ing the 62-mile Seward to Port
age section of the railroad “the
worst spots” could be rebuilt this
summer.
He said the rails in that sec
tion were laid in 1906 and the
ties are in very bad condition,
necessitating a 10-mile speed lim
it on all trains. Elsewhere on the
railroad, he said, freight trains
have a 55-mile limit and passen
gers trains a 65-mile limit.
Kalbaugh said it was estimated
that the rebuilding job will in
volve employment of 200 or so
workers, whether done by the
railroad itself or by contract.
He said the staff of the rail
road had been reduced to 1,600 on
April 1, from 2,376 when he took
over direction last summer.
“The railroad is still running in
the black,” he said. “We expect
to show a good profit after de
preciation for this fiscal year.
Alaska’s Investigating Committee
Reports That Builders Permitted
Excessive Profits At Public Expense
Great Search Underway
In FHA To Unearth
Fraud and Conspiracy
WASHINGTON, C0 — The gov
ernment’s top criminal prosecutor,
Warren Olney III, charged today
that the scandal-ridden FHA has
considered itself “in partnership
with lenders and promoters” of
home repairs with “no responsib
ility for the victims of swindlers.”
Olney told the Senate Banking
Committee that the home repair
program, financed with FHA-in
sured loans, has “rapidly become
the means by which swindlers,
cheats and crooked salesmen have
been able to cheat and defraud”
unsuspecting home owners.
He said the FHA has been con
cerned only with keeping its fin
ancial records up to date and suf
fering no monetary losses.
Olney added that the FBI and
the Justice Department are now
engaged in a great search for
fraud and other criminal con
spiracies.
Russia Still Trying To
Seat Red China At
Geneva Meeting Monday
PARIS, WPi—Russia and the Big
Three Western powers fought an
other round today over whether
Red China will sit at Geneva as
their equal, making the Asian
parley in effect a big five confer
ence.
The Russians demanded anew,
in notes delivered to Washing
ton, London and Paris yesterday,
that the Peiping regime be given
equal status with Russia, the
United States, Britain and France
at Geneva in the talks scheduled
to start Monday.
In the reply note, the Western
powers said they were united in
the view that the agreement
reached at the Big Four foreign
ministers conference in Berlin last
February provided that China
was to have only the status of
other powers invited by the Big
Four to the conference, and spe
cifically that the invitation did
not amount to recognition of Com
munist China.
Col. Foote of Alaska Army
Engineers Named To Head
North Pacific Division
WASHINGTON, UP) — Appoint
ment of Col. Louis H. Foote as
North Pacific Division Engineer
with headquarters at Portland,
Ore., was announced by the Army
Engineers yesterday.
Foote, now Alaska District En
gineer, will succeed Brig. Gen.
Don G. Shingler, who is retiring.
Foote’s assistant, Col. Carl Y.
Farrell, will become Alaska Dis
trict Engineer.
S> (By the Associated Press)
Alaska’s Legislative Investigat
ing Committee announced today
it is sending reports to key U.S.
Senate committees to show that
“builders have been permitted ta
make excessive profits at public
expense.”
The reports are transcripts of
a public hearing on housing which
was held in Anchorage in Feb
ruary. The summary of the report
was released in Alaska by Rep.
Herald E. Stringer, the committee
chairman, and in Seattle by Jack
Wilcox, former FBI agent who
serves as the committee investi
gator.
The committee release said:
“According to Stringer, the fol
lowing facts brought out at the
hearing should be of interest in
any investigation of the FHA:
(1) Builders have been permit
ted to make excessive profits at
public expense. In one housing
project construction in Anchorage
in 1952 the builders made a pro
fit, in less than two years, of
$640,000 on an investment of
$360,000.
(2) Unrealistic methods used by
FHA in estimating costs of pro
posed housing have resulted in
excessive loans being made to
builders. This factor alone has
added hundreds of dollars per
house to the selling prices of
many new houses in Anchorage.
i3) Exorbitant land appraisals
have been made by the FHA.
(4) Mass production savings on
project construction have been
pocketed by the builders instead
of being used to reduce the price
of houses. The buyer is thus pay
ing the ’luxury’ price of an in
dividually styled house but is
getting a ‘project’ house of mini
mum standards.
Stringer said the U.S. Senate
Committee on Government Oper
ations had asked for a record of
the Alaska hearing.
Other members of the Alaska
Legislative Committee are Sen
ators Mike Stepovich, James No
lan and Howard Lyng and Reps.
William Boardman and Alden
Wilbur.
Alaska Youth at Chemawa. Ore.
Appointed To West Point
SALEM, Ore., W — William J.
Shepard, a 17-year-old Alaska
youth, has been appointed to the
United States 'Military Academy
at West Point.
The boy, a senior at Salem High
School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Allan Shepard, of Chemawa.
He was nominated by E. L.
Bartlett, Alaska Delegate to Con
gress.
William, a senior at Salem high
school, was named after his late
grandfather, an early Alaskan
pioneer who settled in Anchorage.
IT’S HERE NOW!
To be shown at 7:45
TONIGHT at the SCHOOL
Motion Picture in Color