SSI NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_ _
'~VOL, LVI No. 10 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1954 ' Per Copy—15<4
22,000 Anti-Reds
Get Freedom,
Pro-Reds Refuse
Bv BILL SHINN
PANMUNJOM, UPt—'The Korean
war prisoners who stirred world
wide controversy by their refusal
to go home were turned lbose
Saturday.
Twenty-one Americans, 1 Bri
ton, and 327 South Koreans who
chose Communism were aban
doned by Indian guards in a flim
sy neutral zone compound at 12:01
a.m.
The pro-Red POWs said they
would stay until their food runs
out, echoing the demand of the
Communist command that Indian
troops stay on.
The U.N. Command liberated as
civilians the nearly 22,000 anti
Red captives returned to it Wed
nesday by the Indian Command
—a course the Allies assert was
required by the armistice.
In abandoning the pro - Com
munist prisoners, the Indian
troops simply pulled back to their
headquarters, with the last soldier
opening the compound's inner
gate.
About 20 Indian guards re
mained in the area to see that
none of the prisoners was “kid
naped,” an Indian spokesman said.
When official freedom came,
more than 14,000 Chinese anti
Red POWs already were aboard
American ships enroute to Chi
nese Nationalist Formosa. More
than 7,500 anti-Communist North
Koreans were in South Korean
army reception centers.
Some of the freed prisoners had
been in stockades almost from the
start of the Korean war 3V2 years
ago.
The pro-Red American, British
and South Korean POWs staged a
sitdowrr strike in their cornpbund.
The purpose was to back the Com
munist position that they should
be held until their fate is decided
by a Korean peace conference.
But it was considered likely that
when their food runs out they
will march north—and vanish be
hind the viron curtain.
The Indian Command made a
final appeal Friday for the Reds
to accept the pro-Communist pri
soners, but it was rejected.
800 Doses Polio Globulin
To Be Flown Here For
Mass Innoculation
ANCHORAGE, UFl—A new case
of polio at Nome led Thursday to
a decision by the Alaska Dept, of
Health to have a mass innocula
tion of all children under 16 and
all pregnant women. A total of
four cases have been reported
thus far in Nome. No new cases
have been reported in other areas
in Alaska.
Approximately 800 doses of
gamma globulin were flown to
Nome- Thursday directly from lab
oratories in the states, C. Earl Al
brecht, commissioner of health at
Juneau, was advised. Needles and
syringes also are being flown from
the states.
Dr. Fred Langsam, in charge of
the hospital at Nome, will direct
the inoculation assisted by the
Public Health Nurse stationed
there.
Nome Children Registering
At Hospital In Preparation
For Globulin Injections
Dr. Fred Langsam announced
today that pre-school children are
being registered at the hospital
in preparation for their injection
of the polio immune globulin
when it arrives here.
All children will be weighed, as
| the amount of globulin each re
ceives is determined by his weight.
Another requirement is that per
ents give their consent to the
injection.
According to today’s press suf
ficient globulin for 800 doses is
enroute- to Nome direct from the
laboratories in the States.
Dr. Langsam said also all preg
nant mothers will be given the
globulin but that they will be
notified when to go to the hospital.
Democrats Plan
Opposition To
Ike*’s Tax Program
WASHINGTON, UP — President
Eisenhower’s plea to Congress to
hold the line against any further
cuts in major tax rates smacked
into strong opposition today.
Several key Democrats planned
a floor fight in the almost evenly
divided House for a plan to slice
2Vz billion dollars a year off per
sonal income taxes, relieving 7
million taxpayers from any pay
ment at all.
Eisenhower, in his annual bud
get message yesterday, strongly
endorsed a project for rewriting
almost all the nation’s tax laws.
His proposals would reduce rev
enue two billion dollars annually
when they reach full effect, but
this would be done through many
changes in various deductions, al
lowances and other technical
points — not through major rate
changes.
Republicans generally applaud
ed this program, but Rep. Mc
Cormack of Massachusetts, the
assistant Democratic leader, ac
cused the President of “political
insincerity.”
“Instead of appealing to the
people to make sacrifices for
greater national defense,” McCor
mack said, “the President is ap
pealing to their hopes for tax re
ductions.”
“Instead of appealing to the
people to make sacrifices for
greater national defense,” Mc
Cormack said, “the President is
appealing to their hopes for tax
reductions.”
Hugh J. Wade Files For
Territorial Treasurer
JUNEAU, (J5'—Hugh J. Wade,
former head of the Alaska Native
Service, filed Wednesday as a
Democratic candidate for territor
ial treasurer and two candidates
filed for First Division seats in
the legislature.
Filings here are the slowest on
record. The deadline is Jan. 31.
Sen. Elton‘Engstrom of Juneau,
Republican Territorial Central
Committee chairman, filed for re
election to the Senate. Peter Wood,
Juneau real estate man, filed on
the Democratic ticket for the
House. He has run unsuccessfully
twice.
Atom - Powered
Sub, Nautilus,
Launched
GROTON, Conn.. UP—The world’s
first atom powered vessel—the
submarine Nautilus—was launched
Thursday, opening a new era in
sea power.
Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
wife of the President, swung a
bottle of champagne across the
bow to send the sleek craft sliding
down the ways into the Thames
River.
For a ship unprecedented in de
sign, the Nautilus was built with
amazing speed. Her keel was laid
June 14, 1952.
At about the same time the
Westinghouse Corp., working un
der contract of the Atomic Energy
Commission, began construction
out on an Idaho desert of a land
based model atomic power plant.
That power plant—d e s i g n e d
around an atomic furnace using
the uranium element U-235 as
a fuel—develops steam for opera
tion of a turbine. A copy of the
power plant was constructed for
the Nautilus herself.
When the launching time ar
rived yesterday, much of the nu
clear power plant was aboard or
at hand for installation during the
next five or six months as final
work is completed on the sub
marine.
The Nautilus, besides being the
biggest and most intricate sub
marine ever built, also is the cost
liest. The Navy and the AEC v/ill
have spent an estimated 50 million
dollars on the boat and her mach
inery by the time her commis
sioning date rolls around.
Senate Committee Hastens
Work On Proposed
Statehood Bill
WASHINGTON, UP — The Sen
ate Territories Committee Thurs
day began twice-a-week sessions
in its efforts to hasten its work
on proposed Alaskan statehood
legislation.
The committee was charged by
the full Senate Interior Commit
tee earlier this week with the re
sponsibijity of perfecting the Al
aska statehood legislation which
the committee tacked onto the
Hawaiian statehood bill.
After Thursday morning and
afternoon meetings with repre
sentatives of the National Park
Service and the Fish and Wildlife
Service, chairman Cordon (R-Ore)
said the committee will meet
again today.
To appear are representatives
of the Geological Survey and Bu
reau of Mines relative to Alaska’s
mineral resources, and of the Bu
reau of Indian Affairs concerning
the territory’s native population.
Purpose of the meetings, Cor
don said, is to learn the situation
in Alaska as it exists in the var
ious fields, as a basis for its con
sideration of the legislation.
HATFIELD, England, UP—Brit
ain’s latest version of its ground
ed comet jet airlines—the series
II—took off for the African Sudan
Friday in a bid to cut in half
the record time for the 3,064-mile
flight to Khartoum.
Bartlett Critical of Eisenhower’s
“Austerity” Budget For Alaska
j o
Snow On Field At Seattle
Holds Up Landing of DC-6
After Record Trip South
SEATTLE, (A*) — A Pan Ameri
can DC-6B set a new record of
five hours, 13 minutes on a flight
from Fairbanks to Seattle Thurs
day, then spent the- next hour and
"20 minutes circling the Seattle
Tacoma Internatoinal Airport
while crews cleared the field of
snow.
The new record was set in a
pre-inauguration flight staged by
Pan American before the start of
regular DC-6B service to Alaska.
It was the first use of pressur
ized planes on the run.
The ship carried 52 passengers.
The new record cuts 57 minutes
off the old mark set in 1949 by
a Pan American DC-4. Thursday’s
flight was aided by a tailwind
averaging 30 miles an hour. The
previous record was set with the
assistance of a 67 mile an hour
average tailwind.
The plane left Fairbanks at 4:53
p.m. PST and arrived over the
Seattle airport at 10:06 p.m. It
flew at around 20,000 feet.
Yesterday the Nugget received
a message from editor Emily
Boucher that she and Dewey
Goodrich were to be aboard the
flight along with newsmen, photo
graphers, broadcasters and a Time
magazine representative.
GOPs Happy With
uNew Concept*^
For Defense
WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Eisenhower’s “new concept” for
defense, emphasizing air power
and new weapons while making a
four billion dollar spending cut,
got enthusiastic Republican sup
port in Congress today.
Many Democrats withheld fire,
saying they wanted to study the
complex multi-billion dollar bud
get. But Sen. Maybank (D-SC) in
an interview asked “expansion of
our air power as fast as we can.”
He suggested unspent foreign aid
funds be used to speed the Air
Force program.
And Sen. Douglas (R-Ill) ques
tioned plans to cut back ground
forces of the Army and Marines.
The budget indicated the Army
would drop three of its present 20
divisions and some 335,000 men
and the Marine Corps would lose
about 35,000 of its present 250,000
£orce.
Chairman Short (R-Mo> of the
House Armed Services Commit
tee said he does not expect any
sharp fight in the House, but dis
closed the committee has arranged
for defense chiefs to expound the
new policy to its members.
One Democratic member of the
committee, Rep. Price of Illinois,
said House Democrats probably
would support the budget.
“As long as they (the adminis
tration) have awakened to the
need of airpowtu* and atomic
aims,” he said in an interview,
“we can go along with the risk in
other fields, hoping they know
more than they’re telling us.”
, WASHINGTON, UP) — Delegate
Bartlett today described Presi
dent Eisenhower’s budget recom
mendations for Alaska as “auster
ity with a capital A.”
“It represents an almost com
plete reversal from the federal
cooperation which Alaska has en
joyed in previous years, especial
ly from 1948 until 1952,” he com
mented.
The President’s budget for the
year starting July 1 includes
$45,788,600 specifically earmark
ed for the territory as compared
with estimated appropriations of
57V2 million dollars for the same
programs in the current year.
Bartlett said he was “appalled”
at the cut of five million dollars
for Alaska public works.
“This means the complete elim
ination of a number of worthwhile
projects which have been pro
grammed and for which local
communities have already spent
planning money,” he declared.
“There should have been a mini
mum of 15 million dollars for this
program to provide effective con
tinuity.”
He was critical also of the
‘drastic reduction” in funds for
Alaska road construction which
he said would cause a “radical
slowdown” in that program.
The $100,000 proposed for Bu
reau of Reclamation investigations
in Alaska, Bartlett said, “will not
permit the aggressive research es
sential now in looking forward to
the building of big hydro-electric
projects.”
Air Force Charges
Nurse with Murder
Of New-Born Baby
ANCHORAGE, UP) — A charge
of murder under military law was
filed yesterday against an Elmen
dorf Air Force Base nurse for
the death of a new-born baby.
Air Force authorities said the
charge was brought against Lt.
Elizabeth J. Gibson, 25. She was
charged with responsibility for
the death of the infant after she
gave birth to it without aid in
the nurses’ quarters at the base
•hospital Jan. 8.
The infant girl’s body was dis
covered after Miss Gibson sought
medical aid, the military officials
reported.
An autopsy report attributed
death to strangulation.
Lt. Gibson came to Alaska
about six months ago after serv
ing at Lackland Air Base at San
Antonio, Teocas.
The Alaska Air Command re
fused to release the nurse’s home
town, explaining that its policy
was dictated by consideration for
her family and illness in the fam
ily.
Capt. Carlton F. Messinger, a
member of the New York State
bar, from Buffalo, will act as
counsel for the nurse. He has been
mentioned as a possible appointee
as U.S. Attorney at Fairbanks in
the event of his release from
active duty. He is stationed at
Eielson A.F. Base.