THE
OIJ3EST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. Lxf No. 11 " NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1959 Per Codv—1-v*
Governor Egan
‘Gains Slightly* In
Fight For Recovery
SEATTLE, Iff) — Governor Wil- ;
liam A. Egan, who had dreamed
of leading Alaska’s first State
Legislature when it convened in
Juneau today, remained critically
ill in a Seattle hospital.
Egan was reported “still gaining
slightly” from an emergency ab
dominal operation six days ago.
Doctors said his spirits were
good and he was following with
interest reports which are being
given him on the start of the
Alaska legislative session.
Egan is now able to spend much
of the time out of his oxygen tent
and his temperature has returned
to normal. But his pulse rate re
mains high and his intestines have
not yet begun to function again.
Dr. Joel W. Baker, chief sur
geon at Virginia Mason Hospital,
said that until the Governor’s ab
dominal processes start to return
to normal he cannot get back on
the road to full recovery.
The doctors said there is not
too much concern, however, at
this time over Egan’s intestinal
condition. He said it may be sev
eral more days before organic
functions are restored.
Four Hours, 3 Minutes
Time Made By Airline’s
New Cross-Country Jet
LOS ANGELES, UP) — A new
jet airliner flew to New York in
four hours and three minutes Sun
day, then turned around and flew
back against 105 m.p.h. headwinds
in six hours and 22 minutes.
Westbound flights usually take
longer because of prevailing
winds. Scheduled flight time for
propeller-driven planes on the
New York-Los Angeles trip is
about nine hours.
An American Airlines spokes
man said the jet’s schedule called
for it to make the return hop in
five and one-half hours.
The round trip started Ameri
ican’s coast-to-coast jet service.
The company plans one flight
daily in each direction.
Swollen Rivers
Receding In Most
Eastern States
(By The Associated Press)
Floods still menaced some areas
in five eastern and central states
today, but waters from swollen
rivers and streams were receding
in most sections. The worst of the
mid-winter flooding appeared tem
porarily ended.
The chief problem for the thous
ands hit by last weed’s devastat
ing floods in Ohio, Pennsylvania,
New York, West Virginia and-In
diana was the huge cleanup job.
The Red Cross hay estimated more
than 22,000 families were affected
by the floods, with thousands
forced temporarily f rom their
homes.
Cold air, with snow or rain,
spread from the central plains
across the northern half of the
country, adding to the incon
venience of flood victims.
At Pittston, Pa., rescue workers
finally halted the flow of water
from the Susquehanna River into
a mine shaft where 12 men have
been trapped since Thursday.
Few believe the 12 men would
be found alive. The big job of
pumping cut the tons of water
which po' _d into the mine was
expected iQ continue for two
days.
Man Arrested In
Tulsa For Holdup
Of Fairbanks Bank
TULSA, Okla, UP)—Richard Al
vin Woodring, 36, was arrested
by FBI agents here last night on
a charge of robbing the 'Airport
Branch of the Alaska National
Bank of Fairbanks.
Special agent in 'charge of the
FBI in Oklahoma, Wesley G.
Orapp, said Woodring was appre
hended without resistance at the
home of relatives.
The bank was held up by a lone
gunman January 12, and $14,014
was taken. $3,716 has been re
covered.
The officer said Woodring left
Fairbanks the evening of January
12 by commercial airliner and
spent several days in Los Angeles,
where he bought a car. He drove
from Los Angeles to Tulsa.
He is married and the father of
two children who live with his
estranged wife in Fairbanks.
Woodring was convicted of em
bezzlement May, 1950, at Lub
bock, Texas, and sent to the Texas
State Penitentiary. He won a con
ditional pardon in October, 1951.
The arrested man was a sales
man and a construction worker,
Grapp said.
Texas Governor
Gains Support In
Fighting Gas lax
AUSTIN, Tex., UP) — The gov
ernors of 28 states have agreed
to join Governor Price Daniels in
opposing an increase in the fed
eral gasoline tax.
“The majority of the governors
of our sister states feel as strong
ly as I do against President Eis
enhower’s proposal for further
federal invasion of this tax which
should be reserved for the states,”
Daniels said Sunday.
He wired all state governors on
January 12, asking them to join
in opposing the tax hike and di
version of federal highway use
taxes into non-highway channels.
Daniels said that of 35 replies,
28 were favorable and others
wanted more time to study the
matter. None favored the federal
tax increase.
Italian Cabinet Resigns
Over Party Opposition
ROME, iff) — Premier Amintore
Fanfani’s cabinet resigned today
because of a defection by a mi
nority Moderate Socialist.
The pro-Western Prime Minister
'yho heads the Christian Demo
crats handed his resignation and
those of his 20 ministers to Pres
ident Giovanni Gronchi.
In accordance with tradition,
Gronchi did not accept the resig
nations at once. But he made clear
he would, and asked the Fanfani
cabinet to continue in office only
as a caretaker regime.
Gronchi announced he would
start consulting political leaders
Wednesday on the formation of a
new government.
Part of Fanfani’s trouble has
been opposition from his party’s
right wing, led by former pre
miers Mario Scelba and Giuseppe
Pella, both potential candidates to
head the new government.
WEATHER FORECAST
Fair tonight, partly cloudy
Tuesday. Lowest temperature ex
pected tonight -5 to -10, the high
est expected tomorrow 5 to 10.
Sunrise 9:03 am, sunset 3:26 pm.
BELTZ ELECTED SENATE PRES.,
AS LAWMAKERS BEGIN SESSION
Boardman - Smith
Election Tie Still
To he Resolved
JUNEAU, UP* — The deadlocked
race for the disputed State Sen
ate post from the Ketchikan
Prince of Wales district remains
just that today — deadlocked.
A special recount ordered by
Acting Governor Hugh Wade was
completed a Juneau yesterday. It
reaffirmed findings of the can
vassing board that the two con
testants — Republican William
Boardman and Democrat W. O.
Smith — tied at 1,953 ballots
apiece in the November 25th
election.
Mrs. W. L. Grisham of Juneau,
supervisor of the recount, said it
revealed minor technical faults
in the manner some ballots were
marked.
These disputed ballots totaled
218 for Smith and 212 for Board
man. The disputed ballots could
form a basis for deciding the out
come of the contest.
It’s expected the Senate will do
that shortly after it convenes to
day. The expected procedure will
be for Smith supporters to issue
a challenge to Boardman’s right
to be seated. The question of who
should be seated will probably
then be handed to a special Senate
committee. The full Senate will
act on that committee’s findings.
Boardman was certified winner
of the deadlocked contest when
he won a draw recently. That
would have made him the third
Republican in the State Senate.
Smith requested a recount of
ballots in the Craig Precinct, how
ever, last week. Boardman sup
porters retaliated by asking for a
check of the other 22 precincts in
the district.
I JUNEAU, UP — The nation’s
newest state began its first law- |
making session with hour - long j
ceremonies in the Senate and j
House chambers of the old Terri
torial Capitol Building.,
With acting Governor Wade
presiding in his elected capacity
of Secretary of State, 39 repre
sentatives and 18 senators took
their oaths and were seated.
Both houses opened with the
banging of the ceremonial ivory |
gavel used to open 23 territorial
legislatures. Judge Raymond
Kelly read the oath of office as
small groups of legislators took
their turn in the ceremonies.
In the Senate, Republican Wil
liam Boardman, winner of a draw
in a tied race, asked to leave his
seat subject to a Senate commit
tee review of the contest with
Democrat W. O. Smith. The com
mittee is made up of four Demo
crats and one Republican.
Sen. - elect James Nolan (D
Wrangell) and Rep. - elect John
Longworth (R-Petersburg) were
absent at the start because of
! socked-in weather at Petersburg.
They were expected in Juneau
later in the day.
JUNEAU, UP — Three men with
a combined total of 122 years in
Alaska were dominant figures to
day as the new state’s first Legis
lature convened here.
The task of outlining the ad
ministrative program that will
shape the 49th State’s new gov
[ ernment rested with Acting Gov
| ernor Hugh J. Wade.
At the head of the 60-member
1 Legislature were an Eskimo car
; penter from a Bering Sea coast
i village and a lawyer from the gold
j field region of Fairbanks.
The Eskimo, William E. Beltz,
! 46, was chosen yesterday at a
! pre-Legislative caucus to become
President of the Senate and sec
21st Ecumenical Council to be Called
In Rome To Unify Catholic Church
By STAN CARTER
VATICAN CITY, M — Pope
John XXIII will convoke a great
assembly — the 21st Ecumenical
Council in the 2,000-year history
of the Roman Catholic Church —
to seek unity of the Christian
forces of the world.
Return to the fold of the East
ern Orthodox Church’s 129 million
members was seen as a prime ob
ject of the conclave. But there
are great obstacles to any formal
reunification, particularly the Ro
man Catholic dogma that the Pope
is supreme and infallible in mat
ters of faith and morals.
Reaffirmation of the church’s
stand against Communism may be
another major subject of the Ecu
menical Council, the first since
1870. Pope John already has ex
pressed grave concern with the
plight of Catholics in Communist
lands and particularly in Commu
nist China, where the Red regime
has been trying to foster a na
tional Catholic church that denies
allegiance to Rome.
The council will bring together
Roman Catholic cardinals, arch
bishops and bishops from all over
the world in what may well be
the most immense gathering of its
kind in Christian history. More
than 2,500 are eligible to attend.
Representatives of other Chris
tian communities, in addition to
Roman Catholic, are likely to be
invited to attend. »
The Pope did not announce a
date for the council. Because of
the gathering’s great size and pos
sibly long duration, the prepara
tion may take many months.
Ecumenical means worldwide,
representing the whole church.
The Vatican announcement
said:
“Regarding the celebration of
the Ecumenical Council, this, in
the thought of the Holy Father
looks not only to the edification
of the Christian peoples, but is
intended as an invitation to the
separate Christian communities to
seek unity which so many desire
in all parts of the world.”
This was seen as an invitation
for a return to the fold of the
churches which have broken away
from Rome, primarily the Eastern
Orthodox.
Unlike the Protestants, the East
ern church parted from Rome 906
years ago in a dispute over mat
ters of discipline. The Vatican
considers the Eastern Orthodox
schimatic but still Catholics, re
taining the apostolic tradition and
the regular administration of the
sacraments.
ond in the line of succession to
the Governor’s office.
Warren A. Taylor, who came to
Alaska 50 years ago and first
served in the old Territorial Leg:i;
lature in 1983, was named Speaker
of the House of Representatives.
All three are Democrats, their
party will hold an 18-2 edge ov^r
Republicans in the Senate, and a
34-6 margin in the House.
Wade Addresses Joint
Session on Thursday
Wade, a 57-year-old lawyer w'm
came to Alaska first as an FBI
agent 21 years ago, is expected to
address a joint session of the Le
gislature Thursday.
Wade, the elected Secretary of
State, will go before the Legisla
ture in the place of Governor Wil
liam A. Egan, a hospital patient
since Alaska was admitted to the
union on January 3.
It will be up to Wade, in mes
sages %to the Legislature, to add
meat to the bare bones of Alaska’s
streamlined Constitution — de
signed as a model document of a
strong executive type govern
ment.
Under provisions that the Con
stitution, the Governor and the
Secretary of State are the only
elected executive officials. Every
(Continued on Page Two)
Seaton Tells
Congress 4We
Need Hawaii’
WASHINGTON, UP) — Secretary
of the Interior Fred A. Seaton told
Congress today, “We need Hawaii
as an equal partner as much as
Hawaii needs statehood.”
Seaton was the first witness as
the House Insular Affairs Commit
tee opened hearings in a new Con
gressional drive to make Hawaii
the 50th state.
He said the Eisenhower Ad
ministration favors immediate
passage of statehood legislation,
but recognizes that Congress must
set its own schedule.
“The grant of statehood to Ha
waii will prove to the world —
and particularly to Asia—that we
practice what we preach,” Seaton
said in prepared testimony.
“I say we need the participa
tion of Hawaiians in our coun
sels, and their advice and exper
ience in dealing with the peoples
of the Orient.”
The Secretary pointed out that
Hawaii is the only incorporated
territory now, and its 59-year ap
prenticeship in territorial status
is longer than was required of any
of the present states.
Rejecting arguments that Ha
waii is susceptible to control by
Communists, Seaton said:
“The fact is that the people of
Hawaii, time after time, have ut
terly rejected the Communist phi
losophy and every attempt of
Communists to influence their
government.”
Seaton said Hawaii is econom
ically and politically qualified for
statehood, and has a population of
about 635,000, larger than that of
six of the present states.
To the argument that Hawaii
is not contiguous to the rest of the
United States, Seaton said:
“The admission of Alaska pro
vides an excellent rebuttal. Con
tiguity is not, in this day of jet
transportation, essential to pre
serve our union.”