m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LX No. 42 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1958 Per Copy—15<*
Alaska Steamship
to Make 3 Trips to
Bering Sea Ports
The Alaska Steamship Com
pany has announced schedule
service to Bering Sea ports for
the 1958 season, with vessels to
depart from Seattle as follows:
SS Tonsina, June 11, for Nome,
St. Michael and Unalakleet.
MS Galena, July 9, for Nome,
Teller, Kotzebue, and St. Michael.
SS Tonsina, September 18, for
St. Michael and Nome.
Cargo for the June 11 sailing
will be received from May 26
through June 6 at Pier 44. It is
very . important that the maxi
mum amount of Nome required
tonnage move on this sailing as
priority of space on the July 9
sailing must necessarily be given
to Kotzebue.
For the July 9 sailing, cargo
will be received at Pier 44 from
June 16 to July 3 inclusive. Un
fortunately, space limitation will
not permit the acceptance of
sealed cribs for this particular
sailing. The utilization of cribs
reduces ship carrying capacity
up to forty per cent and it is
obvious that to use cribs on the
Kotzebue vessel would preclude
forwarding of all offerings on
this vessel.
Prop-Jet Airliner
Crash In Michigan
Kills 47 Persons
MIDLAND, Mich., UP> — A Cap
ital Airlines British-built Vis
count airliner slammed into the
muck of an old corn field during
a snowstorm last night, killing
all 47 persons aboard.
A chief Civil Aeronautics Bu
reau inspector said today it prob
ably would take at least the rest
of the week to find out why.
The big plane, powered by four
turbo-prop engines, plunged in
to the ground about 2,300 feet
short of the southwest-northeast
runway of the tri-city airport.
CAB investigator Fred G.
Powell said a preliminary inves
tigation indicated the craft ex
ploded after hitting the ground.
He added however that it was en
tirely too early to get even a pos
sible cause for the disaster,
worst in the history of commer
cial aviation in Michigan.
Powell assembled six CAB
specialists to study the crash.
The Civil Aeronautics Adminis
tration sent in six other experts.
Capital Airlines is conducting
still a third inquiry.
The impact scattered bodies
across a wide area. Charred
bodies were found in the shat
tered wreckage.
Nelson Girardin, who had
stopped at the airport admini
stration building with his family
to watch the plane land, said “one
minute the plane’s lights were
barely visible through the rain
snow—the next minute they
abruptly headed earthward. A
second later there was a blinding
flash of orange flame spurting
nearly 100 feet in the air, fol
lowed by a muffled explosion.”
Girardin said the plane appar
ently landed “almost squarely on
its nose,” then flipped over on its
back, a flaming mass of wreckage.
Airlines officials, said three
crew members and 44 passen
gers were aboard the plane, Cap
ital flight 67 from Newark, N. J.,
to Chicago via Detroit, Flint and
Saginaw, Mich.
Major Earthquake
Recorded Today
In The Aleutians
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Uf) — A
major earthquake, its center un
determined, was felt here today
starting at 5:31 a.m.
A University of Alaska seismol
ogist said the quake may have
centered in the Aleutian Islands.
He called it the largest quake
ever recorded On the university’s
seismograph, but did not give an
immediate comparative rating.
The quake swayed light fix
tures and tumbled equipment
from shelves in the Fairbanks
News-Miner newspaper office,
but no damage was reported in
the city.
At Columbia University in New
York City a seismologist also
placed the quake in Southwest
Alaska and said it might cause
a tidal wave.
The weather bureau at Anchor
age said the tremor was felt
slightly at several stations north
of Anchorage.
At the University of California
station in Berkeley, “very strong”
j earthquake was recorded, appar
ently centering in the Aleutian
region.
Seismologist Don Tocher said it
appeared to be centered 2,400
! miles from Berkeley, and had a
j Richter Rating in the range of
[ IV2. The quake that left San
j Francisco in ruins in 1906 had
J a magnitude of 8V4.
Easter Celebrated
Yesterday From
Holy Land-Cliina
(By The Associated Press)
Christian worshippers in chur
ches throughout the world yes
terday commemorated the resur
rection of Christ.
From Jerusalem, the cradle of
Christianity, to Communist China,
the devout heard retold the joy
ous story of the risen Christ.
In much of the United States,
rain, snow and chilly winds put
a damper on Easter parades and
other displays of holiday finery.
New York City’s Easter parade
was drowned in a gusty down
pour.
London reported the coldest
Easter Sunday of the century.
■ In his Easter message, Pope
Pius XII called on world leaders
to let the light of Christ bring
peace to a darkened world. A
cosmopolitan throng estimated at
250,000 jammed St. Peter’s square
in Rome to hear the 82-year-old
Pope say there is no better work
for Christians than to lab&r for a
just peace.
In Jerusalem, Holy Land pil
grims commemorated the resur
rection at two sites where Christ
might have been buried—the holy
sepulchre and the garden tomb,
an empty grave in a garden just
outside the city walls.
About 20,000 pilgrims jammed
the giant underground Basilica
of St. Pius X in Lourdes, France,
for Easter ceremonies. Included
were 500 paralyzed men and wo
men from all parts of France.
Radio Peiping reported several
thousands Protestants and Cath
olics at high masses and holy
communion services in Peiping,
Shanghai and Canton.
At Gettysburg, Pa., President
and Mrs. Eisenhower and their
! family attended services at the
j local Presbyterian Church des
I pite a heavy rahastorm.
Isaac Okleasik
Of Teller Wins
Easter Dog Race
The official starter at the
Easter Day Dog race was Will
Rogers Jr. Plaryiing to stay
only for the start of the race
Rogers got so interested in the
event that he remained until the
winner Isaac Okleasik of Teller
returned.
Rogers arrived here late Sat
urday from Barrow where he
visited the monument erected in
the memory of his famous father.
While here he met with Stan Mor
gan who was the radio operator
for ACS at Barrow at the time of
his father’s death.
Due to the fact that the day was
warm and the 20 mile trail very
soft no time records were broken.
Isaac Okleasik, Teller who was
second last year, won the $500.00
purse with a total time of 1:39:11.
His time last year was 1:34:27.
Winning time last year over the
same course was 1:27:58.
Chester Topkok, Teller, who
was last year’s winner, placed
second winning $275.00 with a
total time of 1:45:21.
Robert Tocktoo of Nome placed
third with a time of 1:47:46 to
win $100.00.
Fourth was Dave Walluk, of
Nome winning $75.00 time 1:49:12.
Fifth place, Edward Keelick of
Teller, time 1:50:49, winning
$50.00.
' 'Sixth place John Komok; 1:51
j :02, Nome; seventh Edwin Pun
| guk 1:51:22 White Mountain;
eighth Jim Weyanna, Teller
1:52:33; ninth David Amuktolik,
Golovin 1:55:30; tenth Herbert
James, Nome 1:55:31; eleventh
Walter David, Elim 1:57:15;
I twelfth Ernest Koonuk 1:57:18;
thirteenth Tom Brown White
Mountain 2:04:52; fourteenth
George Auliye, Elim 2:07:20; six
teenth Alfred Sereadlook, Wales
2:10:04; seventeenth Pete Rock
Nome 2:10:25.
In the children’s race Gregory
Bayer and his springer spaniel
won first place with Ron Kunnuk
placing second and Lloyd Hardy
third.
Bert James Jr. was presented
with a shot gun by the sponsors
of the dog race, the Arctic Club.
| Million Dollars Asked
j For Prevention Of
Alaska Forest Fires
WASHINGTON, (£>*— Congress
should provide at least one mil
lion dollars for a pre-suppression
program to control Alaska’s for
est fires, a wildlife management
institution official said today.
C. R. Guthermuth, institute
vice president, told a Senate ap
propriation subcommittee such a
program would enable the Bu
reau of Land Management to
suppress fires before they reach
unmanageable proportions..
He said conservationists are
concerned about the fire problem
in Alaska where the average year
ly loss is from one million to two
million acres. Fires last year
claimed five million acres in the
territory.
While the bureau has “what
amounts to nearly a blank check
for funds to fight Alaskan forest
fires after they start,” Guter
muth said there is an acute need
for a pre-suppression program.
He proposed also that Congress
appropriate $170,000 for admin
istration of wildlife resources in
the territory.
Greatest Non-Atomic Explosion At
Ripple Rock Goes off Without Hitch
CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. Wi
lt's plain sailing now on the
sheltered Inside Passage between
Vancouver and the fast-develop
ing coastal communities of Nor
thern British Columbia and
Alaska.
The rumbling eruption of 1,375
tons of high explosive which put
and end Saturday to the twin
peaks of Ripple Rock in Sey
mour Narrows opened a new era
for coastal shipping by clearing
the channel between the B. C.
mainland and Vancouver Island
of its worst hazard.
First skipper to sail over the
stump that used to be Ripple
Rock was Capt. Henry Hall of
the freighter Squamish Queen,
Southbound from Kitimat Satur
day afternoon.
Capt. Hall said later he took
the Queen directly over the site
of “Old Rip,” which claimed 120
vessels and 114 lives in the past
80 years. He said it was slack
tide and his echo sounder showed
52 feet of water beneath him.
Hydrographic survey ships later
proved the eplosion, decribed as
the free world’s largest non-atom
ic blast, had done more than its
designers expected. It blasted
seven feet more from the under
sea peaks than had been forecast,
yet caused no apparent damage
to nearby communities.
In this town eight miles from
the scene, elaborate' preparations
were made for possible damage
from the blast. When it went
off, most residents were unable
even to hear a rumble.
But sensitive seismographic in
struments set up as much as 500
miles way were able to measure
the effects of the explosion. The
results will be evaluated at the
Dominion observatory for use in
studies of the earth’s crust in
connection with International
Geophysical Year.
At Edmonton. masurements
showed the blast raised the level
of the earth 1-100,000 of an inch,
Dr. G. D. Garland of the Univer
sity of Alberta physics depart
ment said.
Anchorage Boy
Not Liable For*
Triple Slaying
ANCHORAGE, UP) — Robert L.
Courtney, 13, wearing the same
clothes he wore Wednsday night
when his mother, sister and
brother were shot to death, ap
peared briefly before U. S. Com
missioner David R. Daines Friday.
The hearing lasted just 20 min
utes. The boy said nothing, dur
ing that time. His face revealed
no emotion throughout the hear
ing.
The boy has been held in Fed
eral jail since his capture about
two hours after the triple slay
ing. Police said he has orally
confessed to the three murders.
The hearing was called to de
termine whether or not the boy
should continue to be held in
custody.
Daines said he thought there
was substantial evidence to war
rant his detention. He said the
boy is undergoing mental exam
ination by a psychiarist and a
psychologist.
The commissioner said a final
hearing in the case would be
held when the mental examina
tion had been completed.
Daines cited a section of . the
Territorial juvenile code which
says a youth can be charged with
a crime only if he has reached
his 16th birthday. He said he
did not know at this time of any
federal law which would over
ride the territorial statute.
Two U. S. Assistant Atorneys
also expressed doubt the boy
cduld be prosecuted.
RUSSIAN TRAWLER
FOUNDERS IN BLIZZARD
OFF COAST OF NORWAY
OSLO, Norway, UP) — A Russian
herring trawler with two women
in her crew foundered in a bliz
zard off the Northeastern coast
of Norway today. Two crewmen
were washed overboard but the
others were rescued.
The trawler Granata was en
route to Murmansk after fishing
off the Lofoten Islands when she
ran into trouble. Those rescued,
including the women, were taken
to Vardoe by the Norwegian ves
sel which picked them up.
Minor Damage To
Fish As Result Of
Ripple Rock Blast
CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. I®—
Only “minor damage” to fish
stocks in the area of Seymour
Narrows resulted from Saturday’s
gigantic blast of Ripple Rock with
1,375 tons of fyigh explosive.
The kill, fishery officials said,
was much smaller than expected.
They found less than 100
floating fisji carcasses and they
were comprised of only four
species of rock cod.
No dead salmon or herring were
found and no dead fish were ob
served more than three miles
from the center of the blast of •
the underwater shipping hazard.
Only other evidence of mor
tality were two dead diving birds.
Officials reported seeing a
school of five killer whales mov
ing southward into the danger
area immediately prior to the ex
plosion. But they said that af
terwards the whales were seen
heading north apparently un
harmed, but presumably some
what disturbed.”
Fisheries men placed fish in
cafes on the bottom at various
distances from the blast center
to gauge its effect on them. Data
on their survival will not be
known until the cages are re
trieved.
Russia To Open
World’s Foremost Science
Center In Siberia
MOSCOW, UP) — The Russians
expect to have their big new
science city in Siberia open for
business by the end of 1959.
Pravda today quoted academi
cian M. Lavrentiev as saying the
first buildings in the big center
outside the West Siberian metrop
olis of Novosibirsk will be com
pleted by the end of this year.
Most of the center’s scientific
establishments and research in
stitutes should be operating by
late 1959, he added.
• Eight acaremicians and 27 cor
responding members of the So
viet academy of sciences will head
the operation which ha9- been
billed as one of the world’s fore
most science centers.