2£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LV No. 5 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1953 Per Copy—15^
Truman Blames At
War Policy For I
WASHINGTON, UP) — President'
Truman says politically inspired
attacks on his Korean war policy
are to blame for 47,000 military
desertions.
Or, as columnist Doris Fleeson
quoted him as describing them:
“The kids who are being sys
tematically taught to believe that
the peace of the world is not
worth fighting for.”
The White House described her
interview, distributed by the Bell
Syndicate Friday, as an accurate
one.
Miss Fleeson wrote:
“Mr. Truman has studied the
desertion figures in detail as to
age, previous condition and geo
graphical distribution.
“In consequence, he points an
accusing finger at the Chicago
Tribune, the Scripps-Howard and
the Hearst newspapers, together
with their hero Gen. MacArthur,
who he calls ‘insubordinate.’
"The deserters, the President
charged are principally from
areas reached by the influence of
this group. He said that when
brought to book for their offense,
‘the kids parrot its slogans’.”
Miss Fleeson’s column contin
ued:
“Gen. MacArthur, 51 years a
soldier has set a bad example,
the President said calmly. When
he didn’t obey and wouldn’t im
port to his commander in chief,
the junior officers — lieutenants,
captains, majors — began to say,
‘well, if a general can get away
with that, I can.’
“The desertion problem, how
ever, centers around ‘the kids,’
as the President repeatedly called
them, always in sorrow, not in
anger. He left no doubt that he
felt his support must be on the
side of discipline in so grave a
situation.”
Unexploded U.S. Navy
Bomb Found At Scene
Mystery Korean Attack
TOKYO, iff)—The U.S. Marines
today started their own “new and
■ independent” i nvestigation of a
strafing and bombing attack that
killed 14 American soldiers and
wounded nine on the Korean cen
tral front last week.
An Air Force statement Sunday
indicated Panther jet planes of
the type used by Navy and Ma
rine pilots were scheduled to at
tack the Reds north and east of
the scene on the day of the mis
taken attack.
The Air Force said investiga
tion established that an unex
ploded 500 - pound bomb at the
scene bore the marking, “U.S.
Naval Powder Magazine, Japan
Bomb Ammo.”
It also said experienced wit
nesses identified the planes as
Panther jets.
Asked if Leatherneck planes
were near the scene at the time,
a Marine spokesman said only:
“The Air Force says there
were.”
No spokesman for any of the
three American services suggest
ed the attacking planes might
have been Communist. Red jets
rarely get south of Pyongyang,
which lies 100 miles north.
tacks on Korean
Military Desertions
t>
Allied Planes Continue
Bombing Red Rail Centers
SEOUL, UP—The heaviest Red
assault of the new year smashed
against the lines of a newly-activ
ated South Korean division Mon
day.
The Allied soldiers held their
ground, killed an estimated 213
of the attacking 800 Reds, and
forced the Communists into re
treat after three hours of savage
close-quarter fighting.
Battles flared with renewed
bitterness all along the frozen
Korean front. Altogether the Reds
hurled nearly 1,500 men into the
fighting in bloody but futile at
tempts to dent the U.N. lines in
pre-dawn darkness.
In the air war, Allied fighter
bombers roared north in followup
raids on the vital Sinanju supply
center deep in northwest Korea.
Ten U.S. B-29s dropped 100 tons
of high explosives on rail yards
there Sunday night. The trip
hammer blows are part of a con
certed effort to smash a main
Red supply line from Manchuria
to the front lines.
Two Controversial Alaska
Bills Re-Introduced In
Congress by Bartlett
WASHINGTON, (fft-Two Alas
ka bills which stirred up contro
versy last spring were re-intro
duced in Congress Saturday by
Alaska Delegate Bartlett.
One would increase the author
ization for the Eklutna hydro
electric project to not more than
. 35 million dollars; the other
would transfer control of Alaska’s
Fish and Wildlife Administration
from the federal government to
the territory.
Hearings on the Eklutna mea
sure bogged down last spring after
testimony developed that the Bu
reau of Reclamation already had
contracted for more than the
$20,365,000 Congress had author
ized to be spent on the project.
The Bureau later cut the figure
back below the authorized figure.
The Fish and Wildlife Admin
istration bill prompted protests of
a different sort. Prior to its intro
duction, Bartlett told newsmen he
had been assured by Interior Sec
retary Oscar Chapman that the
department would okay the bill.
But it later took no position on
the bill.
Germany Hunger Artist
Starves for Record 79 Days
FRANKFURT, Germany, UP —
A professional hunger artist,
Willy Schmitz, claimed a new
world record for fasting today
after 79 days and three hours in
a glass cage without food.
Police last night broke the seal
off his cage while hundreds of
spectators, who had paid one
mark (23.8 cents) admission,
watched. Doctors let Schmitz,
thin and pale but smiling, sip a
little champagne and fruit juice.
Solid food will not be given to
him for several days.
The faster will enter a hospital,
seeking to regain the 78 pounds
he lost. A doctor said Schmitz was
in surprisingly good health.
Predict $1 Billion
HeavyConstruction
In Alaska In 1953
SEATTLE, (ft)—A construction
industry publication predicted
Saturday that this year’s heavy
construction in six northwest
states and Alaska, based on the
total cost of projects likely to be
started, will be more than 50 per
cent above 1952.
The Pacific Builder & Engineer
said its survey shows the total
will be nearly 3V& billion dollars.
Of the total, projects listed as
definitely authorized total $1,444,
636,411 and “projects definitely
contemplated” $1,919,526,880.
The biggest in the contemplated
category is 700 million dollars for
a proposed Aluminum Company
of America development near
Skagway, Alaska. It still will re
quire congressional action on the
federal land site and an okay
from Canada fo'r water from Yu
kon Territory, which may involve
delays. ’
The Alaska total is listed at
$1,053,500,000 with 30 million
dollars estimated for public
works.
Passengers of Princess
Kathleen Plan Damage
Suits Against C.P. Line
SAN FRANCISCO, UP) — About
200 passengers of the cruise ship
Princess Kathleen, which struck
a reef and sank off Alaska Sept.
7, are planning a legal battle
'against the Canadian Pacific
Steamship Co.
Aroused by the company’s
move in Seattle federal court to
limit damage claims to $70,000,
they laid plans to sue for many
times that amount.
One passenger said he planned
to seek $65,000 damages for
“shock, loss of property, humilia
tion, vacation time lost and gen
eral damages.” He predicted the
total demanded in suits might
run to more than a million dollars.
The passengers raised $2,000 to
hire admiralty lawyers. They
formed the “Kathleen Survivors
Committee.”
On Dec. 9, the steamship com
pany filed a petition in Seattle
federal court for exoneration of
responsibility for the disaster and
to limit liability to $69,504.15.
The passengers said Sunday
that figure just about covers the
rebate on the cruise tickets—and
doesn’t take into consideration
loss of bagagge, clothing, money
and other effects.
George Bader, a San Francisco
steel company executive who was
elected survivors committee chair
man, received enthusiastic ap
plause when he said:
“We’re not going to pull any
punches — we’re going to give
them (Canadian Pacific) the
works.”
Truman Drops Proceedings
Against Five Oil Companies
WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Truman today ordered the drop
ping of criminal anti - monopoly
proceedings against five major oil
companies—provided the compan
ies produce records for a civil
suit.
MacArthur Ascribes Desertions To
Lack Of Faith In Truman’s Policies
---<
McKay Noncommittal On
Choice Alaska Governor
NEW YORK, UP)—Gov. Douglas
McKay of Oregon, Secretary of
Interior-designate, said last night
he plans to discuss with Presi
dent-elect Eisenhower the selec
tion of a new governor for the
Territory of Alaska.
“I am going to discuss the
matter with him, hut I don’t
know that I am ready to come
up with any recommendations on
a man to fill the job,” McKay
told a reporter.
McKay and other members of
the incoming cabinet will meet
with Eisenhower today for a dis
cussion of domestic and foreign
problems which will face the new
administration when it takes
office Jan. 20.
Asked about reports that Frank
Heintzelman is a likely choice for
the job, McKay laughed and said:
“He is one of the several candi
dates promoted up there. I
haven’t made any decision on any
of them.”
Senate Committee Urges
Further Investigation Red
Influence In U.S. Schools
WASHINGTON, UP)—The Sen
ate Internal Security subcommit
tee today urged further investi
gation of Red influences in the
nation’s schools and colleges and
said there are “many hundreds of
teachers who are Communists.”
The subcommittee drew these
conclusions in its report:
"1. Despite the unquestioned
loyalty and self-sacrificing devo
tion to duty of the preponderant
bulk of America’s teachers, there
are yet many hundreds Who are
Communists.
"2. Communist teachers radiate
an influence much greater than
their proportionate number.
"3. Their influence has reached
out into the community, among
youth and parent-teacher organiz
ations and Communist - front
groups.
"4. The New York Teachers
Union is an organization that is
an instrument of the Communist
party and has been used to im
plement the Communist conspir
acy.
"5. Legislative committes either
of the Senate or of Congress have
aided local school authorities by
sketching a pattern of Communist
activities and by exposing Com
munist teachers.
'46. A Communist is not a fit
person to be placed or retained
in a position to influence the
minds of the youth of America.”
THREE AIRMEN PERISH IN
CRASH OF B-26 IN FOG
CHARLOTTESVIILE, Va., W—
An Air Force B-26 bomber, grop
ing its way through fog and rain,
plunged into a woorded area near
this central Virginia city yester
day.
Searchers found parts of bodies
in the crash, indicating all three
crewmen perished.' Witnesses who
saw the plane diving groundward
said no one bailed out.
NEW YORK, UP)—Gen. Douglas
MacArthur, in some of the bitter
est terms he has directed at Presi
dent Truman, says the adminis
tration’s policies are to blame if
American military desertions are
excessive.
The feud between the chief ex
ecutive and he man he fired as
U.S. and U.N. Far Eastern com
mander reached a new peak over
the weekend on the question of
desertions which lately have run
to 47,000 since the start of the
Korean war.
Columnist Doris Fleeson of the
Bell Syndicate said on Friday that
Truman blamed politically-inspir
ed attacks on his Korean war pol
icy for desertions. She said Tru
man called MacArthur “insubor
dinate” and asserted he had “set
a bad example.”
Saturday night MacArthur re
plied:
“If such desertions are . indeed
excessive, despite the recent de
nials of the Defense Department,
they may more realistically be
ascribed to a lack of faith in
President Tfuman’s policies of
appeasement . „ . ”
MacArthur in the 400 - word
statement termed some of the
President’s attacks on him as
“peurile” . . . “unjust and arbit
rary” . . . “obvious spleen” . . .
“completely untrue” . . . “un
founded and, indeed, venemous.”
The general concluded his state
ment in these words: “Perhaps,
too, he (Truman) is animated by
pique at the President-elect’s in
terest in ascertaining my views
on Korea.”
Army Court Finds
Mrs. Smith Guilty
Killing Husband
TOKYO, UH — An Army court
Saturday convicted Dorothy Krue
ger Smith, a famous general’s
daughter, of stabbing her colonel
husband to* death with a foot-long
hunting knife. It sentenced her
to life in prison at hard labor.
Mrs. Smith, 40, attractive mo
ther of two ’teen-age children,
was convicted of premeditated
murder in stabbing Col. Aubrey
D. Smith, 45 of Boonville, Mo., as
he slept in their Tokyo quarters
at midnight Oct. 3.
A nine - member court - martial
board reached its verdict in 64
minutes of deliberation. It took
slightly more than 30 minutes to
fix the sentence.
The head of the court, white
haired Maj. Gen. Joseph P. Sulli
van of San Francisco, wept as he
read the sentence in a choked,
barely audible voice.
Mrs. Smith, daughter of retired
Gen. Walter Krueger who com
manded the Sixth Army in the
Pacific war, showed only one sign
of emotion—a slight quiver of her
lower lip.
On previous days in the trial,
the attractive Mrs. Smith repeat
edly broke down and sobbed.
The case will be reviewed by
military authorities here and in
Washington.