2S NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No. 40 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1954 Per Copy—15<*
Violent Counterattack by French
Union Forces to Regain Outpost
Near Key Position at Dien Bien Phu
HANOI, Indochina, (/P>—Thou-'^
sands of fresh Vietminh troops,
smashed into a French outpost
about a mile northwest of the
center of besieged Dien Bien Phu
today and the French launched a
heavy counterattack, supported
by tanks, in an attempt to regain
the position.
Other rebel forces crashed at!
the French Union fortress from
the southeast in a gigantic pincers
movement aimed at the heart of
the bastion.
A brief French communique
said the defenders had “violently
counterattacked” the Communist
led rebels each time they rushed
at the two corners of the hill-en
circled plain 175 miles west of
Hanoi.
There was savage hand-to-hand
fighting as the French forces re
peatedly beat back the rebels
trying to break through into the
plain’s headquarters center.
Heavy Casualties
As the second major Vietmh.h
attempt to overwhelm Dien Bien
Phu raged on its third day, the
fighting was so furious the French
had no chance to estimate the
losses on either side. They had
said earlier that the rebels lost
some 2,000 of their estimated 40,
000 attackers in the first 48 hours
of the renewed assault.
The French admitted last night
they had lost three eastern out
posts but said the heart and main
arteries of the bastion were still
intact. Fighting raged in that sec
tor off and on throughout yester
day as the black-clad rebels,
armed with containers of high ex
plosive, rushed through withering
machinegun fire to the barbed
wire barricades.
Hand-io-Hand Fighting
The desperate French Union
forces—French, North Africans,
Vietnamese, Thai tribesmen and
Foreign Legionnaires—fought in
hand-to-hand combat with those
'who broke through the fire. The
French hit back also with six
tank-led counterattacks into en
emy hill positions around Dien
Bien Phu.
Despite the violent attacks, the
garrison commander, Col. Chris
tian de Castries, radioed army
headquarters in Hanoi last night
that his trocps’ morale was high
and he believed they could hold
on although outnumbered 4 to 1.
Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg -
Condition Growing Worse
WASHINGTON, UP—'The Air
Force announced yesterday that
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, former
chief of staff, “has taken a turn
for the worse and is failing rapid
ly.”
Vandenberg was admitted to
Walter Reed Army Hospital last
October 3. He had undergone an
abdominal operation in 1952.
Russia, Britain,
India React To
Hydrogen Blast
LONDON, UP>—Moscow Radio'
said Friday the hydrogen bomb
has increased the need for an
international ban on atomic war
fare.
The broadcast, quoting the Com
munist Party organ Pravda,
linked Russia’s surprise March 31
bid to join NATO to “the fact that
the destructive power of the at
omic weapon is incessantly in
creasing and in addition to this
the hydrogen weapon has ap
peared whose power surpasses
many times the power of the
atomic weapons.”
Russia has long clamored for an
immediate ban on atomic wea
pons but has refused to agree to
Western demands that it be pre
ceded by establishment of an ef
fective system of inspection to
ensure compliance.
In Asia, Indian Prime Minister
Nehru called on the United States
and Russia for an immediate
“standstill” on hydrogen bomb
explosions pending progress to
ward elimination of mass destruc
tion weapons. In a speech to the
lower house of the Indian Parlia
ment, he also demanded an im
mediate meeting of the long-dead
locked U.N. Disarmament Com
mission on the question.
In anxious Britain, Prime Min
ister Churchill called a cabinet
meeting for Monday at which the
government will decide its atti
tude toward a Labor Party motion
urging an immediate high-level
conference between Britain, the
United States and Russia.
Canadian, U.S. Scientists
To Study Western Arctic
Again This Summer
WASHINGTON, (UP)— Canadian
and U.S. scientists will make a
second joint expedition to the
western Arctic Ocean area this
summer.
The expedition to study the
waters and land masses at the top
of the American continent will
send in two ice-breakers, the Navy
ship Burton Island and the Coast
gharri vessel Ncrrthwind.
The ships will leave San Diego,
Calif., early in July. At Esquimalt
on the Canadian west coast, they
will pick up the Canadian contin
gent, including Dr. William Cam
eron, who will be in charge of the
overall scientific investigations.
This summer’s voyage will in
clude McClure Strait, the western
entrance to the Northwest Pass
age. The expedition will return
late in September.
Judge Walter H. Hodge
Of Second Division Court
Arrives From Cordova
Walter H. Hodge, Judge of the
District Court for the Second Div
ision arrived this morning from
his home in Cordova and was
accompanied by his wife.
Judge Hodge has sold his law
business in Cordova and his wife
was public health nurse there.
Both have been active in civic
affairs, especially the Cordova
Chamber of Commerce.
The Hodges are living tempor
arily in the residence of Ralph
Lomen.
No announcement has yet been
made as to when court activities
will commence.
Reaction to Passage of
Statehood Bill Jubilant
But Cautious in Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, April 2,UP)—This
center of Alaska statehood senti
ment reacted jubilantly, but cau
tiously, to yesterday’s passage of
the Hawaii-Alaska statehood bill
by the U.S. Senate.
The statehood proponents have
been through this before—seeing
a statehood bill pass one house
and then seeing it die slowly on
the other side of “the hill.”
This is the first time, however,
that the Senate has passed such
a bill. In the past the Senate has
been the burial chamber for
House-approved bills.
City With Record Rainfall
Faces Water Shortage
KETCHIKAN, UP—This rainiest
North American city, which had
a mere 190 inches of rain last
year, is worrying about a water
shortage.
There may be other drinking
complications: the Bartenders’
Union announced Thursday it will
strike April 10 for higher pay.
The water problem was empha
sized by an announcement by
John Weir, Ketchikan public util
ities manager, that the city reser
voir is drying up after seven
weeks of warm, dry weather. He
appealed for drastic curtailment
in water and electricity use.
Senate Votes 57-28 for Alaska
Hawaii Statehood But Not Much
Hope Seen for House Passage
_4
Heintzleman Chats
With Eisenhower
At White House
WASHINGTON, (^--Governor
Frank Heintzleman of Alaska vis
ited with President Eisenhower
at the White House Thursday.
He told newsmen his visit was
a get-acquainted call. He said he
had met Eisenhower once before,
but never had an opportunity to
visit with him.
Eisenhower has taken the posi
tion that Congress ought to act
separately on the question of
bringing Alaska and Hawaii into
the Union, instead of dealing with
the matters in a single package
bill like the one passed by the
Senate yesterday.
Heintzleman said the President
gave him no indication whether
he would sign a bill calling for
simultaneous admission of the two
territories to the Union.
Eisenhower has endorsed state
hood for Hawai, but has said that
Alaska isn’t ready for it.
Vietminh Enter Cambodia
For First Time in History,
Battle Reports Vary
PARIS, UP—A French News
Agency dispatch said Friday reg
ular Vietminh troops crossed the
frontier from Laos into Cambodia
and that fighting was going on
between the Communist-led reb
els and Cambodian forces.
Results of the fighting were not
yet known, the dispatch from
Phnom Penh, capital of Cambo
dia, said. The report said this was
the first time Vietminh regulars
had penetrated Cambodian terri
tory. The dispatch said that the
rebels had swept across the fron
tier from the plateaus of southern
Lao's.
Earlier, the agency said the in
vading Vietminh had captured the
city of Voeun Sai in northeastern
Cambodia. But at the request of
their correspondent in Indochina,
the dispatch was “withdrawn.”
The second dispatch said nothing
about Voeun Sai.
Cambodia, which with Viet Nam
and Laos makes up ‘the Associated
French States of Indochina, lies
between southern Vietnam and
Thailand, south of Laos. It is the
smallest of the three Indochinese
states, both in area and in popu
lation.
Egypt Students Strike
CAIRO, Egypt, UP—Three thou
sand students locked themselves
inside Cairo University Thursday
on a sitdown strike protesting the
military government’s decision
not to call parliamentary elections
this summer.
WASHINGTON, UFi — House
Speaker Martin GR-Mass) said to
day he doesn’t see much hope for
the Alaska-Hawaii statehood bill
in its combined form.
The Senate passed the measure
57-28 late yesterday but there is
strong opposition in the House to
granting statehood to Alaska. The
House voted earlier in the session
for statehood for Hawaii, and the
Senate added Alaska to its bill.
In the present parliamentary
situation, the combined bill could
be sent to a Senate-House confer
ence committee for compromise
efforts—if no member of the
House objected. A single objection
could block that procedure.
Asked by newsmen if he knew
of any efforts to be made to send
the bill to conference, Martin re
plied:
“No, but I know of plenty who
will see that it doesn’t go'.”
He said also there was little
likelihood the House Rules Com
mittee would send to the floor the
separate Alaska statehood mea
sure it has had bottled up for the
past 10 months.
“We have a pretty busy pro
gram, and can’t waste time with
something that can’t pass,” Mar
tin commented.
He said he has heard nothing
from the White House concerning
statehood since the President’s
State of the Union message in
January, which endorsed state
hood only for Hawaii.
“I don’t think he (Eisenhower*
has changed his mind any,” Mar
tin added.
Asked whether the House might
approve the combined bill if Eis
enhower endorsed it, Martin said
he didn’t know.
Needs Ike's Approval
Some Alaska statehood advo
cates expressed hope President
Eisenhower could be persuaded to
lift his own and his party’s ob
jections, which have been based
on the expressed ground that Al
aska is not yet ready to become
a state. Sen. Anderson (D-NM),
said in an interview, “All he’s got
to do is take his foot off Alaska
and this bill will pass.”
House Republican leaders al
ready have announced they do
not favor inclusion of Alaska in
the legislation and the Republican
dominated House Rules Commit
tee has kept an Alaska statehood
proposal bottled up for 10 months.
In the past, Alaska has usually
voted Democratic, Hawaii Repub
lican.
The House last summer passed
a bill providing statehood for
Hawaii alone.
One Objection Can Block Bill
The measure the Senate passed
yesterday could go to conference
between the two houses—'but one
member’s objection from the
(Continued on Page Four)
8:00 p. m. Saturday Night Rev. Amundsen, Speaker
Assembly of God Church Special Music and Singing