as NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVIII No. 27 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1956_* Per Copy—15*
Passage of Mental Health Bill Seen
Likely as Last Testimony Is Heard
By FRANK W. VAILLE
WASHINGTON, UP—Operators
of Momingside Hospital at Port
land,' Ore., present their case to
day as a Senate Territories sub
committee winds up hearings on
the Alaska Mental Health Bill.
For roughly 50 years the hospi
tal has had the government con
tract to treat mentally ill residents
of Alaska who are brought to
Portland from the territory.
In testimony given previously
before a House committee, the
Portland hospital officers, Wayne
and Henry Coe, supported provi
sions of the bill which would
modernize procedures for com
mitment of Alaska’s mentally ill.
The father-son combination op
posed, however, those sections of
the bill which would authorize
appropriations to permit Alaska
to build and operate hospitals to
conduct the treatment program
within the territory.
Sen. Jackson (D-Wash', chair
man of the Senate subcommittee,
said today’s session is expected to
conclude testimony. The bill has
previously passed the House and
carries the endorsement of Presi
dent Eisenhower.
Jackson said there is “very lit
tle question that the bill will be
approved . . .” despite objections
which have developed in some
quarters since its House adoption.
The provision of the bill auth
orizing gubernatorial agreements
is the standard reciprocity provi
sion designed to permit return of
a patient to his home state for
treatment and prevent one state
from having to carry the financial
burden of caring for non-resident
patients.
Women Set World's
Record for Dog Mushing
Twice in 24 Hours
FAIRBANKS, —A bout 24
hours after a world dog-mushing
record was set, Rosie Losonsky of
Fairbanks broke it again yester
day in the ladies’ North American
dog mushing championships.
Mrs. Losonsky’s time was 39
minutes, 4 seconds for a marked
10-mile course.
Kit Mclnnes of Anchorage set a
mark Saturday of 39 minutes, 8
seconds. The previous record had
been set in 1954 by Betty Mans
field of Fairbanks, at 39 minutes,
21 seconds.
Altho Mrs. Losonsky set the
new mark, Mrs. Mclnnes was
crowned the women’s dog racing
champion. She had identical times
in the two-heat race of 39 min. 8
sec. Mrs. Losonsky was 9 sec. be
hind Saturday and her time yes
terday still left her 5 sec. too slow
for the championship—which is
decided by total elapsed time for
the two days of racing.
Sixteen women mushers com
peted.
Next week the North American
championships will be held with
$5,500 in prize money being of
fered. Many of the dogs which
raced in the women’s events today
also will compete for the North
American crown.
Three Policemen Glad
They Were Bad Shots
SAN FRANCISCO, UP>—Three
policemen are mighty glad their
marksmanship was faulty. They
fired eight shots among them
selves in a case of mistaken iden
tity.
Patrolman Clayton Matthews,
firing yesterday from the protec
tion of a stairway, called for po
lice help.
Nathan P. Pedrini and Bernard
O. Becker, who had been return
ing his fire, called that they were
from the crime prevention bureau.
The shooting stopped . . . im
mediately.
Edward P. Kerr, the man they
were hunting, walked up shortly
afterward and surrendered meek
ly.
Byrnes Will Shun
Demo Convention
COLUMBIA, S. C., UP—Former
South Carolina Gov. James F.
Byrnes says he plans to shun the
National Democratic Convention.
The “platform pledges of the
(Democratic and GOP) candidates
may result in a third party!
pledged to preserve” the Consti
tution and states’ rights, he said.
He said in a statement Friday
that neither of the major parties
“could be expected to give sup
port or sympathy to our views as
to rights of the states” in the
South.
Byrnes, 77, was formerly a
member of the U. S. Supreme
Court and secretary of state un
der President Truman. At the
1952 Democratic convention, he
was a leading figure in the party
split over the party loyalty oath
issue and subsequently supported
Gen. Eisenhower against Steven
son in the November election.
Architect Forrest States
Confidence In Refrigerated
Foundation For School
Linn Forrest, architect for the
new school addition, arrived Sat
urday and conferred with city of
ficials on the school construction.
He stated with assurance that the
refrigerated foundation for the
schould prove to be the answer to
the building of other large build
ings in the area.
While here he surveyed the
MMM Hospital, which is shifting
due to permafrost conditions and
many cracks are in evidence.
PENITENT FORGER
CHOPS OFF FINGER
SAN JOSE, Calif., (JV-Hullen
H. Watkins has a long record of
forgery convictions but he meant
it when he wrote Judge William
F. James he was going to cut off
his writing finger.
Judge James hurriedly checked
the jail Friday after receiving this
note: “I know you won’t believe a
thief like me but to show that I’m
sincere I’m going to cut off my
writing finger. P.S. When you re
ceive this, the finger will be off.”
Jailers said Watkins, 31, had
walked into the kitchen, got a
meat cleaver, and lopped off his
right index finger at the first
joint.
The judge postponed sentencing
Watkins until March 16 on a bad
check conviction. The sentencing
had been scheduled for Friday.
COLLEGE RECOMMENDS
DICTIONARY HOMEWORK
WINOOSKI PARK, Vt., tfft—St.
Michael’s College lists this, from
a Philadelphia youth, among its
most unusual requests:
“I am interested in your col
lege,” he wrote. “Please send me
some information, some stickers
and some penance.”
The lad got the information,
the stickers, but no pennants. In
stead he was sent a note ending:
“For your penance, some home
work with the dictionary.”
Bill to Divorce CAA From Commerce
Dept. Opposed by Scheduled Airlines
WASHINGTON, 'The Air
Transport Assn. (ATA), repre
senting the nation’s scheduled
airlines, today opposed legislation
which would divorce the Civil
Aeronautics Administration from
the Commerce Department.
Stuart G. Tipton, ATA presi
dent, told a House Aviation sub
committee that “at the present
time and under existing circum
stances, we doubt seriously that
making the CAA an independent
agency is the right answer.”
Sen. Monroney <D-Okla> sub
committee chairman, has intro
duced legislation to remove the
CAA from the Commerce Depart
ment, which he says is headed by
railroad-minded officials.
Tipton said problems related to
an adequate air traffic control
system require a great deal of co
ordination between military and
civil aviation.
“Military aviation is represent
ed in the Cabinet, where many
planning and budgetary problems
are decided, at least administra
tively,” Tipson said.
. “As long as the CAA remains
in Commerce, civil aviation in
terests also will have a spokes
man on the Cabinet.”
Also at the hearing, Milton W.
Arnold, ATA vice president for
operations and engineering, testi
fied technical improvements in
aircraft and the increase in avia
tion ictivity have outstripped the
ability to control air traffic ef
fectively.
Noting that the airline industry
has ordered a billion dollars
worth of jet transports, Arnold
said there is “an urgent, immedi
ate requirement” to improve air
traffic control.
“Actually, the present system
of air navigation, landing and
traffic control aids is not a system
at all, but a collection of devices
improvised as operational de
mands dictated,” Arnold said.
“Moreover, the individual gadg
ets in use are outmoded.”
U.S. Antarctic Expedition Discovers
Where World’s Worst Weather Starts
-«
Record California Budget
Of $1,736,112,983 Asked
SACRAMENTO, Calif., UP)—
Gov. Goodwin Knight pi'esented
a record-shattering state budget
of $1,736,112,983 to the California
legislature today but declared it
can be financed without new or i
increased taxes.
The proposed one-year outlay,
dipping heavily into both surplus
and reserves, calls for an increase
of $129,949,021, or 8.1 percent,
over estimated expenditures for
1955-56, the previous high.
—
Humphrey Bogart Rests
After Chest Operation
LOS ANGELES, IjP)—A dor
Humphrey Bogart is resting in j
Good Samaritan Hospital today
after major chest surgery.
The operation removed a small
swelling in Bogart’s esophagus.
His physician, Dr. Maynard
Brandsma, said the swelling was
due to inflamation, and was not
cancerous. He added Bogart is “a
little miserable, but doing com
paratively fine.”
Senator Claims
Campaign Fund
Donation Is Okay
WASHINGTON, (JV-Sen. Gold
water (R-Ariz) says he accepted a
campaign contribution from a
member of the family that con
trols the Superior Oil Co. of Cali
fornia. Goldwater added, in an
ABC-TV interview Sunday that
he doesn’t think this should affect
his membership on a special Sen
ate committee planning a broad
investigation of lobbying and
campaign contributions.
He said he could name “four or
five Democrats who received con
tributions” from the same source.
The special investigating com
mittee and another, smaller Sen
ate group were set up after Sen.
Francis Case (R-SD) disclosed he
rejected a $2,500 campaign fund
offer during the recent Senate de
bate on the controversial natural
gas bill.
Goldwater was among those
voting for the bill to exempt na
tural gas producers from direct
federal regulation when the Sen
ate passed it 53-38.
The money offered Case was
traced by the smaller special com
mittee to personal funds of How
ard B. Keck, president of Super
ior Oil. John M. Neff, an oil com
pany lawyer-lobbyist who made
the offer, testified there were “no
strings attached.”
In his TV appearance, Gold
water was asked about a report
that he had received a contribu
tion from Keck.
“That is correct,” Goldwater
said. He added:
“If Mr. Keck likes the way I
vote he has a perfect right to give
money to me.”
> NEW YORK UP>—'The New York
Times said today the current U.S.
Antarctic expedition has discov
ered a vast trough of ice, thou
sands of miles in extent, “in
which the vilest weather in the
world is spawned.”
A Washington dispatch to the
newspaper said hurricane gusts
up to 200 miles an hour have been,
clocked in the chute between Vic
toria Land and Wilkes Land. It
added the everlasting glacial ice
also slides thru the trough into
the Indian Ocean.
The Times, calling the expedi
tion’s geographic discovery one of
the most important this season,
said word of it has been brought
to Washington by Dr. Paul A. Si
ple, geographer and deputy to
Read Adm. Richard E. Byrd.
The dispatch also reported:
Siple, a veteran of all the Byrd
Antarctic expeditions, said recent
observations supported his belief
the Antarctic continental icecap
is divided into two gigantic domes
of ice, with perhaps some smaller
satellite domes scattered around
in the still unexplored regions.
The smaller of the two domes
covers Marie Byrd Land, the east
ern Pacific sector of Antarctica,
and has an altitude of about 10,000
feet. The larger dome lies in the
vast region between Wilkes Land
and Queen Maude Land, the Aus
tralian-Indian Ocean sector, where
the altitude is estimated at 12,000
feet.
The domes might be described
as separate icecaps. And one ob
jective of future seismological
tests is to determine whether they
are merely gargantuan plateaus
of ice or primeval mountains bur
ied under the glacial blanket.
The trough noted by Siple—
apart from its importance as a
geopraphic feature—is significant
for a number of reasons.
It will provide data on the ori
gin of winds that may effect the
weather in other parts of the
world. The trough has a violent
effect on weather of Antarctica.
And new expeditions for the
International Geophysical Year
will now know enough to stay out
of the place and avoid hardships
suffered by the Australian Maw
son expedition of 1911-14 and the
French expedition of 1950-53.
Operation Moosehorn
Was Tactical Success
DAWSON CREEK, B.C., UP)—
Operation Moosehorn was de
scribed as a “tactical success” by
its commander Lt. Col. D. M. Cal
lahan.
The U.S. Army maneuver, de
signed to test the ability of troops
to support forces in Alaska, is on
its last leg of the operation. After
weeks of rugged traveling in the
cold northland, troops are return
ing to Fort Lewis, Wash.
PLAYWRIGHT BECOMES
CITIZEN OF THE U.S.
RIVERHEAD, N. Y., UP—Guy
Bolton, 73-year-old British-born
author of “Anastasia” and other
plays, became a U.S. citizen Fri
day.