as NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVII No. 1 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1955 ' Per Copy-^B?
Unknown Assassins Mow Down
Panama President Jose Remon
panama, w—unknown assas-?
sins mowed down President Jose
Antonio Remon with machinegun
bullets last night. Police launched
an immediate search for the kill
ers and said they had arrested
more than 20 persons, including
former President Arnulfo Arias.
There was no immediate ex
planation for the slaying of the
popular 46-year-old President,
who had been the republic’s
strong man for 10 turbulent years.
He was shot as he chatted with a
group of friends early last night
at Juan Franco Race Track, after I
the conclusion of the afternoon i
races.
Two other persons died in the |
gun battle between the President’s ;
-bodyguard and his assassins, and |
three of Remon’s companions;
were wounded.
In a 3 a.m. session, the National
Assembly swore in Foreign Minis
ter Jose Ramon Guizado as Presi- j
dent. Guizado was elected first
vice president on the ticket with
Remon in 1952. Their terms had
until October, 1956, to run.
Panamanian officials were at a
loss to explain the motive behind
the unprecedented assassination.
They pointed out. that—whether
inspired by political reasons or a
personal grudge—the killers could
not have hoped to gain control of
the government by slaying Remon.
Adm. Radford in Japan
For High-Level Talks
TOKYO, (tfi—Adm. Arthur W.
Radford, chairman of the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived here
tonight for two days of high-level
conferences with U.S. and Japan
ese military and diplomatic offi
cials.
Scientists to Find
Effectiveness of
Salk Polio Vaccine
SUN VALLEY, Idaho, W—Sci
entists today will take a crucial
step that will soon tell them
whether the long-heralded vac
cine of Dr. Jonus Salk has con
quered infantile paralysis.
Basil O’Connor, chairman of the
National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis, said last night a re
search team in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
,will make its first use of a code
that will show which of 1,830,000
second grade youngsters were j
given the serum last summer and |
which received a harmless substi
tute.
The code will determine the
effectiveness of the serum, O’Con
nor said, by enabling scientists to
compare the list of those who re
ceived the viccine with those who
have since been struck down by
polio.
“The riddle of the polio crippler
may soon be unlocked,” O’Connor
said. He did not say when the re
sults of the evaluation would be
announced.
His address came at the kickoff
of the 1955 March of Dimes cam
. paign, in which the foundation
hopes to raise $64,000,000.
Nehru Refuses Request
For Indian Diplomat to
Go With Hammarskjold
NEW DELHI, —Authoritative
sources said today Indian Prime
Minister Nehru has refused a sug
gestion from U.N. Secretary Gen
eral Dag Hammarskjold a senior
Indian diplomat accompany him
to Peiping.
These sources said Nehru based
his refusal on the contention India
had abstained from the General
Assembly vote under which Ham
marskjold is making his trip and
therefore could not associate itself
fully with the mission.
The U.N. official and his party
left by Indian government plane
this afternoon on the next leg of
the trip to Peiping seeking the re
lease of 11 American airmen and
other U.N. personnel held by the
Reds.
Wien Pilot Spots
Japan Incendiary
Balloon on Tundra
WASHINGTON, ’The sharp
eyes of an Alaskan bush pilot re
cently spotted a wartime Japanese
incendiary balloon where it had
fallen on remote arctic tundra
a decade ago.
The Air Force reported Satur
day that the balloon, the latest of
a number found during war and
postwar years over an area rang
ing as far east at Iowa and as far
south as Mexico, was discovered
near Barter Island on the rim of
Alaska’s arctic coast.
Despite the decade of exposure
to weather, the thermite incendi
ary bomb in the bamboo basket
gondola was still highly explosive
and- dangerous. It had failed to
detonate on impact. The rice pa
per fabric of the balloon bag had
been preserved so perfectly in the
arctic cold that two men were un
able to tear it apart.
The Air Force said the balloon
was sighted first by bush pilot
Don Holshizer, flying for Wien
Alaska Airlines. The Air Force
commented that “the eyes of the
bush pilots are invaluable to Air
Force intelligence in Alaska. Their
alertness and foresight has con
sistently proved invaluable to the
defense operations of the Alaskan
Air Command.” Holshizer saw the
dull white object on the tundra
and, believing it to be either a
parachute or a piece of a wrecked
plane, reported the sighting to
Air Force intelligence officers at
Ladd Air Force Base, Fairbanks.
A helicopter, carrying Lt. Har
old L. Hale of Pueblo, Colo., went
to the spot. Muddy and rough
tundra prevented the ’copter from
touching ground, but Hale jumped
to the ground and studied the bal
loon. With the thermite bomb and
a portion of the gondola, Hale re
boarded the helicopter as it hov
ered just off the ground, and
brought the material back for
study.
L.N. Command Accuses
iieds ot Air violations
FANMUNjOM, —The United
Nations Command today accused
the Communists of four air viola
tions—penetrating as far south as
Seoul in two cases—between Dec.
22 and 30.
Andy McCafferty
Killed In Crash
At Silver Bow
Andrew McCafferty, mechanic
for CAA stationed at Moses
Point was killed Friday in his
Taylorcraft plane while attempt
ing a landing four miles west of
Bluff near Silver Bow Creek.
The accident is reported to have
been caused by the plane catch
ing fire while ir; flight and Billy
Nelson at Silver Bow states that
he watched the plane crash. Ac
cording to Nelson, the plane ap
peared to catch fire in the air,
then when McCafferty made a
tight turn, the plane went into a
spin and crashed.>
When McCafferty was reported
overdue Saturday morning by the
CAA, search was instituted and
a- 74th Air Rescue Sqdn. plane
from Fairbanks spotted the wreck
age. The rescue plane was not
able to land near the wreckage
so they dropped walkie talkie
equipment to talk to Billy Nelson
but he was unable to operate the
set. Later, a landing was made by
Rev. R. Amundsen and Martin
Olson about a mile from the scene
and they found McCafferty’s body
in the plane badly burned.
CAA investigators were taken
to the crash scene today to make
a thorough examination of the
accident.
McCafferty is survived by his
widow and several children by a
former marriage.
The body will be flown to Elim
for burial.
“Ten Best Dressed
Women" Are 13 In ’54
NEW YORK, — The annual
list of “10 best dressed women”
has been announced by the cou
ture group of the New York Dress
Institute.
This year, however, the list in
cludes 13 names because of tie
votes in three cases.
Newcomers among the names
are Queen Frederica of Greece
and actress Grace Kelly. Both
tied for 10th place.
First place in the vote of some
1,500 fashion designers, society
writers and socialites went to Mrs.
William Paley, wife of the head
of the Columbia Broadcasting
System. Others in order, are:
The Duchess of Windsor; Mrs.
Byron Foy, wife of a motor exec
utive; Princess Margaret Rose of
Great Britain; Mrs. Henri Bonnet,
wife of the former French am
bassador to the United States;
Mrs. Louis Arpels, wife of the
jeweler; Mrs. Alfred G. Van
derbilt; Ambassador Clare Boothe
Luce; Mrs. Arturo Lopez-Will
shaw, Paris socialite; Mrs. Wm.
Randolph Hearst Jr., wife of the
newspaper publisher, and Mrs.
Harold E. Talbott, wife of the
Air Force Secretary.
Senators. Renresentatives Head For
: i hl _ - _=1_"TTrrr-.vr- ^
Capital and Congress Opening Jan. 5
Clerk Spots Taxi Number,
Armed Robber Jailed
ANCHORAGE, 0!*)—An unem
ployed mechanic was jailed New
Year’s Day on a charge of armed
robbery after an alert woman
clerk in a liquof store noted the
number of a taxicab in which he
tried to escape.
Police identified the man they
arrested in the taxi as Robert C.
Welsh, and said he later confessed
robbing two liquor stores here
Saturday at knife-point.
Welsh had $75 in his pocket.
Police said he told them it came
from the Fultz Liquor Store, the
second one robbed.
West Europe Shivers
LONDON, i#>—Big freeze set in i
today across west Europe.
The winter’s first cold wave
spread from Britain over the con
tinent with snow, rain and sleet
in some places. Easterly gales
whipped up the North Sea.
8,008 Federal
Security Risks
Have Left Payrolls
WASHINGTON, UB—'The Eisen
hower Administration reported to
day the number of persons it has
dropped from the federal payroll
and classed as security risks has
reached 8,008, of whom 2,096 had
“subversive data” in their files.
Of the total, 3,002 were listed as
fired outright and 5,006 as having
resigned before final determina
tion of their cases. The total rep
resented about one-third of one
per cent of the approximately
2,317,000 federal workers.
This new report on operations;
of its controversial security pro
gram was issued by the adminis
tration just two days before the
convening of the new Democratic
controlled Congress, which prom
ises to give the operation close
scrutiny.
Many Democrats have chal
lenged the figures, calling them
a “hoax,” and a “numbers game.”
Sen. Johnston (D-SC), in line to
head the Senate Post Office and
Civil Service Committee in the
new Congress, has said that group
will conduct a full inquiry.
He already has asked for a full
report on the program from the
Civil Service Commission, which
keeps an eye on the operation for
the White House and submits per
iodic reports such as the one it
issued today.
The program is aimed at weed
ing out drunks, gossips and people
with records as law violators as
well as Communists, fellow trav
eleres and persons of questionable
loyalty. Unlike the program of the
Truman Administration, it makes
no distinction between the dis
loyal and the security risk.
WASHINGTON, (AV—The comp
troller of the currency today is
sued a call for a statement of the
condition of all national banks at
the close of business Dec. 31, 1954.
WASHINGTON, tfy—Filled with
hope and mindful of the elections
two years away, senators and rep
resentatives headed for the capital
today for the opening of the 84th
Congress at noon Wednesday.
Technically, they should be con
vening at noon today, since the
Constitution sets Jan. 3 as the
opening date. However, it permits
a change for the convenience of
the legislators, and the outgoing
83rd Congress decided it would
be more convenient to meet on
Jan. 5.
The following day, Thursday,
President Eisenhower will go to
the capitol to deliver before a
joint session in the House chamber
his annual message on the state of
the Union.
The President, who returned to
Washington last night from Au
gusta, Ga., where he had spent
the holidays, arranged to confer
this afternoon with members of
his cabinet and Republican con
gressional leaders.
The first order of business when
Congress meets will be formal
transfer of control of the Senate
and the House from Republican to
Democratic control, a transfer or
dered by the voters in November.
It will be the fifth time this
century and the 21st time in the
nation’s history that Capitol Hill
was controlled by one political
party and the White House by
another.
The last President to experience
that frequently unhappy situation
was Harry S. Truman, who bat
tled the Republican 80th Congress
during 1947-48.
Eisenhower is not expected to
fare as badly as did his predeces
sor. His legislative program in the
main is expected to be acceptable
to a majority of the legislators. A
coalition drawn from Democratic
and Republican ranks seems like
ly to approve the main portions of
what Eisenhower calls a “progres
sive moderate” program.
Weekend Traffic Deaths
Exceed Estimate of
National Safety Council
At least 290 persons were killed
in traffic during the nation’s New
Year weekend holiday.
The heavy toll was termed a
“national disaster” by Nixi H.
Dearborn, president of the Nation
al Safety Council which had esti
mated the two-day holiday would
see 240 persons killed in motor
vehicle accidents.
Deaths from all types of acci
dents during the 54-hour period
from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight
Sunday totaled 353, with fires ac
counting for 7 deaths and 36 fatal
ities resulting from ail other mis
haps.
The only other two-day New
Year’s observance since World
War II—that of 1948-49—killed
207 in traffic and 309 in all types
of accidents.
The United States traffic toll
for the weekend compared with
only 9 deaths reported in Canada.
Canada’s population is approxi
mately 15 million compared with
160 millions in the U.S.