THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday bv the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone Main 125 $1.50 PER MONTH
P. O. Box 610 $16.00 A YEAR
E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY . Production Manager
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the
post office at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3, 1879.
PRETTY ROUGH GAME OF TOUCH
I
1
■ • ^ > .v,
-X: X.^ -
Military Experts Foresee no Easy
Victory for Anti-Communist Forces in
Rugged Landlocked Kingdom of Laos
By Roy Essoyan
HONG KONG UP — If Ameri
can troops go into Laos, they will
bog down there for years to come.
It’s that kind of country.
Most military experts agree
there is no quick or easy victory
for anti-Communist forces in that
rugged landlocked kingdom.
Treacherous swamps and jungle
in the south and soaring peaks
and precipitous mountain trails
in the north provide ideal ter
rain for hit-and-run guerrilla
warfare such as the pro-Com
munist rebels have been waging
here for the last 10 years.
American military men be
lieve U. S. Marines or American
troops specially trained in jungle
warfare could drive the main
pro-Communist forces back, or
maybe even out of the country.
But U. S. forces would have to
garrison Laos from then on if they
wanted to keep it outside the
Communist orbit.
They would have to shoulder
the burden of fighting before and
after victory, in the opinion of
most responsible western ob
servers.
They would have to fight on
Laotian terms, packing weapons
and rations on their backs be
cause the terrain in most places
is too rugged to haul anything
bigger.
There are few roads in Laos,
and most of these turn to mud
under the driving monsoon rains
just ahead.
Retreating Communist forces
would leave isolated guerrilla
bands and mountain-dwelling
tribesmen in the hills to harass
the American rear.
The royal capital of Luang Pra
bang, the northern Communist
base of Sam Noua and most vil
lages and strongpoints in north
ern Laos are cupped by moun
tains. They’re at the mercy of j
any guerrilla force that holds the j
commanding hillsides. The hill-1
sides are practically impossible to
flush.
Additionally, Laos’ 600-mile |
border with Red China and Com- I
| munist North Viet Sam in the
north would pose a constant
threat of Communist invasion or.
at the very least, raids across
the border.
Most European observers be
lieve the United States could not
rely on the easy-going fun-lov
ing Laotian people to fight any
determined anti-Communist war
for them. It is not, they say, a
matter of military equipment but
of basic human attitudes.
Laotians, from farmers to cabi
net ministers to generals, have
never been a warlike race. They
have had 10 years of war and,
though most of them treat it as
a sport rather than a life-and
death struggle, they want no more
of it.
* At the height of the current
crisis last week the Laotians
showed they are more interested
in fun and games than war.
The rebel-threatened adminis
trative capital of Vientiane was
a fairyland of fireworks, colored
lights, parades, and elaborate
neon-lit floats happily poking fun
at weapons of war.
This was the Laotian way of
celebrating Army Day.
The pro-Communist Pathet Lao
are a different breed, brainwash
ed, trained and directed by dedi
cated Communist cadres.
All of which disregards the
over-all political considerations
involved. For if American troops
move into Laos en masse they
j could well trigger a counter
invasion by Chinese Communists
and Communist Viet Nam troops.
And if that happens, bo4h sides
' would have a hard time prevent
ing a civil war from spilling over
into a general Southeast Asia war.
'4-on” DuDlicate Receipt Roolr*
available at The Nome Nugget
I CALL MAIN 65 for |
Arctic Sanitary I
i Service I
4 • ^
I Brakes Applied
To Kennedy’s
Wage Legislation
WASHINGTON W — A con
servative coalition in the House
has applied the brakes to Presi
gram by rejecting the minimum
wage legislation he requested.
A compromise measure en
dorsed by the President lost by
an eyelash, 186-185, Friday and
I the House then passed a Repub
lican-backed bill drawn on a
much narrower scale.
The bill, raises the minimum
wage from $1 an hour to $1.15
for the 24 million employes now
covered and brings in 1.4 million
who were formerly uncovered.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
The administration-backed bill
would have increased the wage
to $1.25 in two steps and brought
in 3.8 million more workers.
The defeat of the compromise
bill was also a bitter blow to the
House leadership. It threw its full
weight behind the bill but was
unable to crack the better dis
ciplined ranks of the Republican
Southern Democratic coalition.
Fewer than a half dozen Re
publicans deserted the coalition
on the key 186-185 vote, while at
least 50 Southern Democrats join
ed with the Republican majority.
It was a non-record vote, the
members merely standing to be
counted.
With the administration bill
disposed of, 48 members who had
failed to appear for the standing
vote showed up for a formal roll
call on the coalition substitute,
which was approved 216-203. On
that vote, 26 Republicans voted
against the coalition.
Final passage of the bill, a mere
formality after all alternatives
had been disposed of, was by a
340-78 roll call vote.
The administration still hopes
to recover some of its lost ground
in the Senate, which is due to
take up the bill next month.
better-size and legal file folder
available at The Nome Nugget
NOME SANITARY
SERVICE
Phone Main 1
P. O. Box 460
15 Legislators
Initiated as Honorary
Members of ANB
JUNEAU IP) — Fifteen mem
bers of the State Senate and the
State House of Representatives
were initiated as honorary mem
bers o fthe Alaska Native
Brotherhood Friday night.
Those initiated in ceremonies
conducted by ANB Grand Presi
dent Alfred E. Widmark, a state
representative from Klawock, in
cluded:
Senators John Coghill, Paul
Greimann Sr., George McNabb,
Howard Pollock, B. J. Logan, Jack
Weise, Lester Bronson.
Representatives Jim Binkley
Henry Pratt, Leo Rhode, John Nu
sunginya, Robert Blodgett, R. W.
Stratton Jr., Arthur Johnson and
Jalmar Kerttula.
"Fellow Thai Elephant" . . .
NEW DELHI, India UP) — Men
on two elephants kidnaped a
young widow Friday 'on her way
to a fair in Nastauli village, near
New Delhi.
The police station six miles
away sent motorcycle cops in pur
suit with instructions to “follow
the elephant.” They freed the
widow and took two men into
custody.
The elephants were also held.
AS TIME GOES BY . . .
MARTINSVILLE, Va. UP) —
Relatives of a prisoner ip the
Henry County jail brought him
some personal items to help the
time go by more quickly.
One item, however, was held
back by jailer Morton Hundley
for fear it may make his time
go by a little too fast.
It was only a reamer to clean
out his pipe — but it was filed
down from one end of a hack
saw blade. The other end still
had about a four-inch cutting
edge.
NOTICE
Declaration of Candidacy forms
for the City Election may be ob
tained at the City Clerk's Office.
A candidate must be at least 19
years of age, a resident of Alas
ka for at least 2 years and of the
City of Nome for at least 1 year
next preceding the date of decla
ration — EXCEPT that a candi
date for the Utility Board must
have been a resident of the City
of Nome for at least 2 years and
must have attained the age of 25
years at the time of his election.
Deadline for filing is 5 o'clock
p. m. March 27, 1961. Filing fee
is $10.00.
Robert F. Scott,
City Clerk
Publish March 17, 20, 22, 24,
27, 1961.
Guaranteed ZIEGLER
Dependable and
Fuel Service i Quaker
!_ STOVE PARTS
Li Gas AND REPAIRS
and Appliance* OIL HEATERS
Office: Ma. 152 Res: Main 80
DEAL WITH CON FIDENCE AT
Green’s Cily Fuel and Transfer
HEATING IS OUR BUSINESS
MONOGRAM WALL FURNACES
Low Cost Automtic Heat ^ Free Estimates
★ Guaranteed Installation ^
★ One Year Free Service Guarantee ^
Northern Metal Works
Black 115 after 5 p.m. —phones— Shop: Main 115
VToN'T the asphalt lake of
TWN1DAD BE EMPTIED EVENTUALLY
SINCE THE PITCH IS BEINdr EXTRACTED
' - v'-' rl
. _ w
JYO.... BECAUSE NO MATTER HOVJ
! MUCH RSPH&LT IS REMOVED. THE
1 PFER.TURE QUICKLY FILLS UR DUE TO
TRIE SETTLING Or THE ENTIRE MSSS f
it
rr is m austpbuam bird../:.
NOTED FOS ITS'LOUD LAUGHTER.,
N/EPV MUCN LIKE R HUMAN »
w
f
l
m
/
/^CCORDINC* TO MISTORICPL RECORDS
THE CHINESE WERE FIRST TO INSURE
lpzj PEOPLE... MORE THAN 3QOOVE6RS 660?
TOE WORD IS DERIVES FROM
toe lrtikj "umio" woich
SIGNIFIES "P iPRCrf PEARL"!