?Jl NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LV No. 39 1 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1953 Per Copy—150
Vail Fleet Testifies
Orders Stopped
Destroying Reds
WASHINGTON, Iff) — General
James A. Van Fleet testified Wed
nesday he was stopped by orders
from making an amphibious land
ing behind the Communist lines
in June, 1951, which he was con
vinced could destroy the Red
armies in Korea.
The former Eighth Army com
mander told senators he was
ready to go with the operation
when he received stop orders
from Gen. Matthew B. Ridgeway,
then the Far Eastern commander
with headquarters in Tokyo.
Van Fleet said the Eighth Army
had smashed two Red spring of
fensives and he recommended
“that we follow up with an am
phibious landing on the east
coast.”
Van Fleet’s testimony was given
to a Senate Armed Services sub
committee as it opened a tele
vised inquiry into ammunition
shortages in Korea.
At the start, Sen. Margaret
Chase Smith (R-Me) declared
“there is no doubt that there
were shortages” despite the Penta
gon’s denial that there were any
of consequence.
She said she was gratified by
recent reports that the ammuni
tion shortages in Korea had been
curbed. But she insisted that
would not slow down the inquiry
into why it ever existed.
Cabinet Department of
Health, Education, and
Welfare Is Created
WASHINGTON, UP)—President
Eisenhower Wednesday signed
legislation creating a new cabinet
rank department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare, effective
April 11.
The new department will be
headed by Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby
now chief of the Federal Security
Agency.
The new department will be
the 10th of cabinet rank.
There were 10 cabinet rank de
partments previously, from 1913
until 1947. In 1913 the old Com
merce and Labor department was
divided, with rank off secretary
for each. In 1947, the departments
of Army and Navy were com
bined with the Air Force into a
unified Defense Department.
/
Budget Reduction Goal
Raised to 12 V2 Billions
WASHINGTON, (4>) — Repre
sentative Tabor (R-NY) raised his
budget-cutting sights Tuesday and
said Eisenhower administration
agency heads were being a little
modest in their own estimates of
what they can save.
Taber, chairman of the key
House appropriations committee,
set a new budget reduction goal
of 12Vi> billion dollars,- a boost of
2Vz billions over his original tar
get.
Some administration officials,
leading off with President Eisen
hower, have been speaking of the
budget cutting problem as an ex
tremely tough one.
McKay Will Recommend
Closing 11 Area Offices
Bureau Indian Affairs
PORTLAND, (£) — Secretary of
the Interior Douglas McKay was
quoted by the Oregonian Wednes
day as saying he would recom
mend that area offices of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs be closed
down.
The 11 offices throughout the
U.S. are “bottlenecks” which re
sult in “unnecessary expense and
duplication,” the paper quoted
him as saying in a telephone in
terview.
McKay said he would make his
recommendation to the new In
dian Commissioner as soon as he
is appointed, the Oregonian re
ported. The post has been vacant
since March 20 when Col. Dillon
S. Mye'r resigned.
Young Marine Kills Five
Because He “Was In Love
In Needed Some Money”
DUBUQUE, Iowa, UP)—A hand
some young marine, held here in
the cross-country slayings of five
persons, calmly told authorities
“I was in love and needed money.”
Dubuque County Sheriff Leo J.
Martin said Fred E. McManus, 18,
son of a New York brewery offi
cial, quietly admitted five killings
in four days which netted him
“only $57.” An abduction yielded
$8 more, the sheriff added.
“His only worry seems to be to
shield the teen-age girl seized
with him,” commented John Mey
er, Martin’s deputy.
The girl, 16-year-old Diane
Marie Weggeland, also remained
in custody.
She seems more wrapped up in
her crush on McManus than any
thing else,” said Meyer.
Martin said McManus typed
and signed his own statement ad
mitting double killings in Illinois
and Minnesota and a fifth slaying
in New York State.
Rush On For Oif Lands
In Anchorage Land Office
ANCHORAGE, UP) — A bank
draft for $28,000 and a stack of
oil leases four inches high are
on file at the land office in An
chorage as a rush for oil land
leases continues.
Individuals and newly - formed
corporations were “getting in on
the ground floor” of the new
boom.
Anthony Zappa, an employe at
the District Engineers office, filed
on leases covering 99,022 acres
and preesnted the bank draft. An
additional check for $9,000 was
submitted Tuesday to cover 41,000
acres.
The lands range all the way
from Eureka at Mile 123 on the
Glenn Highway to Cold Bay on
the Aleutian Peninsula. Other
fiilngs were in the Big Lake area
near Palmer, Houston on the
Alaska Railroad and across Cook
Inlet on Kamishak Bay, Trading
Bay and Tuxedni Bay.
Zappa filed for several persons,
most with New York addresses
and Italian names. Two other
persons who filed for Cold Bay
lands were Lock Jacobs, Jr., and
Milton S. Draxton.
The Land Office now has the
job of plotting all locations to see
of any are overlapping.
Russia Pledges To
Cooperate Seeking
Truce In Korea *
<By the Associated Pbfssi
Soviet Russia gave its blessing
Wednesday to the Korean truce
bid by Red China’s Premier Chou
En-Lai and pledged to “cooperate
fully in its realization.”
•Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov
made the pledge in a statement
that appeared to bolster chances
foT some real understanding on
the prisoner of war issue that has
been the stumbling block at Pan
munjom.
It was the latest move by Pre
mier Malenkov’s young adminis
tration in a peace offensive still
viewed cautiously by western
capitals and the majority of the
United Nations.
The general assumption in
Washington was that Chou’s plan
has had Russian support before
if, in fact, it was not originated
in the Kremlin. U.S. officials re
garded the Russian endorsement
as making Chou’s bid more con
vincing, but noted that critical
points of a workable armistice
plan must still be nailed down.
The big point to be spelled out
in detail is the principle of no
forcible repatriation of war pri
soners.
Gen. Mark Clark, the U.N. com
mander, made it clear that the
first concrete step toward a truce
must be the exchange of sick and
wounded prisoners of war.
But “We’re making all prepar
ations and will be ready to' go,”
Clark told newsmen in Munsan,
Korea. “We don’t want to do any
thing to hold up negotiations.”
Molotov’s statement came on
the heels of a Security Council
agreement to offer the Secretary
Generalship of the U. N. to a
Swedish deputy foreign minister,
Dag Hammarskjold. That broke a
long deadlock between the Soviet
bloc and the western powers over
filling the job being vacated by
Trygve Lie.
Agreement on a successor for
Lie was the first concord between
the Soviets and the West on any
major issues before the U.N. in
many months.
Alaska GOP Central
Committee Meets Without
“Mr. Republican” White
JUNEAU, UP)—Alaska’s Republi
can Central Committee met here
the past weekend, with a con
spicuous absence.
The party’s general counsel,
Albert White of Juneau, who in
the past often has been called
Alaska’s “Mr. Republican,” did
not attend. He returned to Juneau
last week from the States.
His wife, Margaret, is national
committeewoman and entitled to
a vote in the committee. But her
vote went unused.
Committee members said their
discussions centered on party fin
ances. Those present were:
Chairman Elton E. Engstrom,
Juneau; vice chairman Mrs. Helen
Brosius, Seward; Secretary Ray
Beach, Juneau; Edith Bullock,
Kotzebue; Mike Stepovich, Fair
banks; William K. Boardman,
Ketchikan, and Howard D. Stab
ler, Juneau.
Legislative Council and
Investigating Committee
Meet and Get Organized
JUNEAU, UP—Sen. Paul Robi
son (R - Anch) has been named
chairman of the new legislative
council and Rep. Herald Stringer
(R-Anch) will head the legislative
investigating and examining com
mittee. Both groups organized at
preliminary meetings Monday.
Both are attorneys. Robison in
troduced the bill for the council
to study government problems
and needs, and Stringer sponsored
the bill for the committee to probe
into all phases of government act
ivities.
Other council members are Sen
ators Charles D. Jones CR-Nome)
and Doris Barnes (R-Wran); and
Reps. Fred Eastbaugh (R-Jun),
Richard Greuel (D-Fbnks), and
Charles Fagerstrom (D-Nome).
After meeting with Alaska’s
Governor designate B. Frank
Heintzleman, the council adopted
the following tentative program
of study:
Government reorganization, re
vision of the juvenile code, rev
enue and taxes, problems of local
political subdivisions, reorganiza
tion of legislative procedure, in
dustrial incentives and a review
of department - sponsored legisla
tion.
The legislative investigating
committee are: Sens. Mike Stepo
vich (R-Fbnks), James Nolan (D
Wran), Howard Lyng (D-Nome);
Reps. William K. Boardmah (R
Ketch) and Alden Wilbur (R
Fbnks).
The group also conferred with
Heintzleman and set a tentative
future meeting for May in Ju
neau.
AMMO SITUATION OKAY,
'NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS/
SAYS ARMY SECRETARY
SEOUL, UP) — Army Secretary
Robert Stevens said Wednesday
the Eighth Army has sufficient
ammunition “no matter what hap
pens.”
“I am not worried about the
ammunition situation” he told
correspondents after a tour of the
combat zone.
Stevens, who is expected to tell
senators of his. findings upon his
return to Washington, said he
found no sign of an ammunition
shortage.
Candidates in City Election
Petitions for candidates for city
offices now being circulated, must
be in the hands of the City Clerk
by this evening, at has t?een an
nounced.
At press time, the following had
filed their petitions:
For Mayor—Steve Anderson.
For Councilmen — Dan Jones,
Ernie Gustafson, D. W. Eberle,
and Fred Cavota.
For School Board—Ben Young.
City Treasurer—A1 Daue.
City Clerk—Carrie McLain.
Still later, three petitions were
filed for the Council: “Hap” Lan
caster, Will M. Gillis and Carl
Glavinovich.
Two other petitions are report
ed to be still circulating.
Bartlett Protests
Cuts In Alaska
Construction
WASHINGTON, OP) — Delegate
Bartlett said Tuesday Budget Bu
reau revision of the budget sub
mitted by former President Tru
man has cut more than 22 million
dollars from construction activi
ties of the Office of Territories.
Describing the revision as a cut
of approximately 48 per cent in
the Truman budget, Bartlett de
clared:
“I intend to seek restoration of
these items. If these cuts go thru,
it means that the orderly im
provement of our transportation
facilities and the building of our
communities through the Public
Works Program will suffer a se
vere setback.
“I cannot understand why Al
aska should be called upon to tal^e
appropriation reductions of this
magnitude. This is a distinct step
backward.”
Bartlett said the new recom
mendations reduce the request for
the Alaska Public Works program
from 15 to 10 million dollars, pare
$3,800,000 from the Alaska Road
Commission, and make no provi
sion at all for rehabilitation of
the Alaska Railroad between Sew
ard and Portage.
President Strips
Civil Service From
Policy Makers
WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Eisenhower Wednesday stripped
Civil Service job protection from
“more than several hundred”
policy - making government offi
cials appointed by Democratic ad
ministrations.
The President signed an execu
tive order opening the way for
naming men of his own choosing
to such key positions in various
federal agencies.
When the Republicans went
into office after two decades of
Democratic rule under Presidents
Roosevelt and Truman, new de
partment heads protested they
had power to choose only a hand
ful of their top assistants. Other
positions had been placed under
civil service.
Eisenhower announced March 5
that he was going to issue an or
der “to provide the heads of agen
cies with greater freedom in de
termining” who should occupy
the jobs in question.
Press secretary James C. Hag
erty said today’s order removes
“more than several hundred” pre
sent policy-making officials from
Civil Service status.
DONALD DUCK JOINS ARMY
FORT MEADE, Md., UP) — On
this April’s Fool’s Day—and pro
bably for the rest of his army
service — sergeants will probably
be barking at a new recruit here:
“All right, don’t try to be funny,
soldier. What’s your real name?”
It’s Pvt. Donald R. Duck, who
arrived at the 2053rd Reception
Center this week. He was born in
1931, a few years before a cer
tain cartoon character became
famous.