m I OME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS _
VOL. LV1 No. 96 NOME. ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 1954_Per Copy—15^
Pioneers Gal her
For Big Re-Union
At Vancouver, B.G.
VANCOUVER, B.C., (IP) — Men
and women who trudged the grim
“trail of '98” and helped immor
talize an era on the early history
of the far north are here today
for the International Sourdough
Reunion, which ends Thursday.
Many of the people expected to
attend the reunion became world
famous for their exploits during
the storied “Klondike Gold Rush”
at a time when the Western
world was thinking of men who
“moiled for gold.”
Prominent among them will be
David Ballentine, the “strong man
of the north,” who teamed up
with “Klondike Mike” Mahoney
to carry a piano across the famed
trail, and the former Miss Kath
erine Rockwell, better known as
“Klondike Kate.”
Kate, who reportedly was the
nucleus of countless disputes be
tween competing suitors during
her reign as “Queen of the Yu
kon,” plans to do some of her
old song and dance routines at the
re-union.
Unfortunately, one of the best
known names of the North will
not be in attendance, but will
send instead a poem writen ex
pressly for the ’54 re-union.
The poem will be well-received,
for it is written by the man who
captured the spirit of the north
with the north’s simple words,
Robert W. Service. Service, > who
made the names of “Sam McGee”
and “Dan McGrew” household
topics, lives on the shores of
southern France today.
Also on deck for the four-day
gathering will be Leonard Sep
pala, a man said to have won
more dog-team races than any
other man in the world; Dick
Sundquist, past-president of the
International Sourdough Associa
tion; and Thomas Lamb, Inter
national president.
Anchorage Nine Loses
Opener In Junior Baseball
Tournament In Montana
BILLINGS, Mont., UP) — The
Albany, Ore., Junior Legion base
ball team defeated Anchorage,
8-0 yesterday afternoon to open
the 1954 Regional Junior Base
ball Tournament at Billings’ Cobb
Field.
Anchorage dropped into • the
losers bracket in the double loss
elimination tournament.
Later Albany met Yakima,
Wash., only to lose 8-4.
Anchorage meets Lewiston,
Idaho, tonight. Earlier Lewiston
was. defeated by Billings, 7-1.
MAN LIFTS 3,300-POUND
AUTO OFF SON'S LEG
HARMONY, R.I., UP) — William
R. Backman Sr., weighs only 130
pounds but he lifted a 3,300-lb.
auto off his young son’s leg yes
terday.
Backman said he was backing
his car out of a picnic area when
he felt a bump. He got out of
the car and saw one wheel rest
ing on his 4-year-old son’s leg.
' The son was pulled clear while
Backman lifted the car.
The leg was only bruised.
Goodrich Announces
$8,000 Remodeling
Project for N. C. Co.
Dewey Goodrich, manager of
the N. C. Co., has announced that
extensive renovation and mod
ernization starts this week on the
Nome branch, which bring to this
city the latest in equipment for
the meat department and an ex
pansion in the grocery depart
ment which will increase the effi
ciency of the constantly growing
business of this pioneer business
house of Alaska.
Goodrich states that an esti
mated §8,000 will be spent in the
remodoling project whioh will
be completed in about a month
to be ready for the last boat. Also'
on the last boat will be the most
modern deep-freeze “self service”
equipment.
“We believe in the future of
Nome,” said Goodrich, “and de
sire to make shopping pleasant
and easy for those customers who
also believe in Nome and shop at
home.”
Geological Survey Reports
Large Oil Seepages In
Malaspina Area of S.E.
WASHINGTON, l/PI—A report
of a 1953 discovery of large oil
seepages in two sectors of Alas
ka’s Malaspina district was re
leased today by the Geological
Survey.
Undersecretary of the Interior
Ralph A. Tudor described the
report as “containing information
that may aid in the search for oil
in the Malaspina district and ad
joining area.”
The Malaspina district includes
a coastal plain between Icy and
Yakutat Bays, below the rugged
foothills of the St. Elias range
about 200-300 miles northwest of
Juneau.
About two-thirds of the unin
habited Malspina district is cov
ered by glaciers and snow and ice
fields.
Wild Muskox Herd On
Nunivak Shows Increase
WASHINGTON, UR — Wild
muskox on the Nunivak Island
National Wildlife Refuge are con
tinuing to increase under the Fish
and Wildlife Service’s project to
restore the Alaskan herd.
The service reported Saturday
that its aerial survey, made be
tween June 22 and July 4, indi
cated the herd ncrw contains be
tween 94 and 100 animals, com
pared with 93 last year. The
bodies of four dead animals, all
bulls, were recovered.
Thousands of muskox once oc
cupied the Arctic region’, but the
service said that the last one in
Alaska had been killed prior to
1865. The restoration effort was
started in 1930 with the importa
tion of 31 animals from Green
land.
OKINAWA, UR — A howling
Pacific typhoon which raked this
U.S(. island fortress with winds Of
150 miles an hour Sunday left
one person dead and 11 injured,
the U.S. Army announced today.
One Japanese drowned. All of
the injured were Americans, but
only three were hurt seriously
enough to require hospitalization,
the Army said.
Congress Leaders
To Outlaw The
Communist Party
WASHINGTON, UP) — Congres
sional leaders agreed at a White
House conference today to try to
push through Congress a new bill
to outlaw the Communist party as
such.
In a session with President
Eisenhower, the d&cision was to
get the House to pass a measure
declaring the Communist party is
unlawful and without any rights.
It would not make membership
in the party by individuals un
lawful. But Speaker Martin and
Sen. Ferguson said the govern
ment already can go after indi
vidual Communists, and is doing
so, under the Smith Act, which
makes it illegal to conspire to
overthrow the government.
The new approach is intended
to supplant a bill that whipped
through the Senate last week
which would make it a crime to
belong to the Communist party
provided a person committed an
overt act while a party member.
Gadgety Auto Passes Thru
San Diego On Owners
Birthday Enroute Mexico
SAN DIEGO, Calif., UP) — The
gadget - equipped automobile of
Elias (Louie) Mattar passed thru
his hometown of San Diego Sun
day on a 6,391-mile non-stop run
from Anchorage to' Mexico City.
Mattar, who operates a San
Diego garage, said he expects to
reach the Mexican capital Aug.
19 on schedule. He left Anchor
age Aug. 10.
One of Mattar’s two compan
ions, Verne Christensen, dropped
off here and his place was taken
by the owner’s son, LeRoy Mat
tar, 16. Joe Henderson continued
on as the other substitute driver.
This was Mattar’s 43rd birth
day. He had been adding gadgets
like a dashboard bar, electric re
frigerator, kitchen sink and tele
vision to the car since 1947. The
trip, at his own expense, is part
of the hobby.
Airliner’s Landing Gear
Fails To Function But
Good Landing Is Made
SEATTLE, UP) — Forty-five pas
sengers in a United Airlines
Mainliner spent 76 suspenseful
minutes last night as the big
plane circled over the area south
of Seattle while preparations were
made for an emergency landing
at the Seattle-Tacoma Interna
tional Airport.
However, the plane finally put
down safely at nearby McChord
Air Force Base.
Pilot H.F. Peterson had radioed
that his landing gear was not
functioning, because its hydrau
lic fluid had been lost.
Line officials said the landing
at McChord was made without a
hitch. They described it as nor
mal despite the precautions that
had been taken.
The airliner had flown west
from Chicago and Denver.
Tax Revision Program Hailed
As Benefit To All Americans
Fraser River Salmon
Overcrowd Spawning
Grounds In Rare Event
BELLINGHAM, Wash., (UP)—.In
a rare reversal o'f the trend for
most of the north Pacific region
in recent years, fish authorities
have expressed concern about too
many sockeve salmon running up
the Fraser River ^o their spawn
. ing grounds.
The International Pacific Sal
mon Fisheries Commission ex
pressed concern at a weekend ses
sion here about possible “over
crowding” of spawning grounds
of the so-called Stellako run.
A spokesman said the situation
arose in part from the Canadian
fishing shutdown because of a
strike.
Regulations specify that Can
adian and American fishermen
are entitled to the same catches
from the run. The commission set
up one new special fishing period
for the Canadians to allow an in
crease in their catch.
The total U.S. catch through
Aug. 11 was announced as about
a million sockeyes. It is several
times more than any comparable
catch in the cycle year since
■ 1914.
Air and Boat Patrols To
Be Maintained Over
“Closed” Salmon Areas
KETCHIKAN, IB —W. S. Ar
nold announced Saturday the
salmon industry will maintain an
air and boat patrol in the south
ern or “Ketchikan” district be
ginning Monday morning.
Arnold, managing director of
the Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc.,
said:
“This patrol will supplement
enforcement efforts of the Fish
and Wildlife Service and is being
established to insure that fish
entering the area reach the
spawning grounds unmolested.”
The southern district was
closed to all commercial fishing
except trolling last night, three
days earlier than scheduled, be
cause of a weak pink salmon run.
Arnold cited what he called in
stances in past years where some
seiners invaded closed areas,
cleaned them out, then claimed
they got the fish in areas which
had remaihed open.
Parachutist Lands In
Jail After Dropping In On
Swank Set Parking Lot
DETROIT, IB — Barber-poet
politician Don Taylor parachuted
from a plane into a parking lot
at the swank Detroit Yacht Club
on Belle Isle yesterday.
From there he landed in a po
lice station on a charge of dis
turbing the peace.
Taylotr, 56, who twice has run
for mayor of Detroit, explained
that he was trying to land in the
Detroit river, near a friend’s boat.
“Next time I try it, I’ll go
jump in Lake St. Clair,” he re
marked. “They don’t have park
ing lots, there.”
p WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Eisenhower, today signed into law
the biggest tax revision program
in history — what he called a
“monumental” overhaul that will
“benefit all Americans.”
The new law, Eisenhower said
in a statement, will “help millions
of Americans by giving them a
fairer tax treatment.” At the same
time, he added, it “will help our
economy expand and thus add
materially to the strength of our
nation.”
The new law brings about tax
reductions of $1,363,000,000 in the
first year, and more later on, for
millions of individuals and nearly
all corporations.
The measure calls for changes
along four general lines:
1. It eliminates what its spon
sors call harsh inequities on many
individuals with special needs or
problems. These provisions in
clude new or bigger tax reduc
tions for medical expenses, re
tired persons, sick-leave pay, de
pendent children who earn more
than $600, mothers or widowers
who pay child - care expenses
while they work, and others.
2. It includes a host of bene
fits for corporations and other
business firms, in effect providing
a whole new climate for the na
tional economy.
3. The entire tax code is
streamlined and clarified. Tough
er penalties for evasion are in
cluded.
4. It plugs some 50 loopholes
believed to have let some people
duck their fair share of taxes.
One change affects all indivi
dual taxpayers: April 15—instead
of the traditional March 15—is
set as the deadline for filing in
come tax returns.
Most of the new benefits go
into effect for the year which
bgean last Jan. 1 and will show
up in the tax returns due next
April 15.
Government Ends Its
Supervision Over The
Klamath Indian Tribe
WASHINGTON, UR—The Kla
math tribe of Indians in Oregon
are on their own—federal super
vision has ended.
President Eisenhower Saturday
signed legislation bringing this
about.
The new law ends federal trust
relationships with the tribe and
make the Indians subject to the
same laws and entitled to the
same privileges as other citizens
of the U.S.
Fairbanks Lad Enters
American Soapbox Derby
AKRON, Ohio, UR—A lad from
Fairbanks, Larry F. Buchner,
was one of the boys who travel
led the farthest to enter the All
American Soapbox Derby yester
day. Another entry came from
Germany. /
But young Buchner finished
third in his heat and was elimin
ated.
The derby winner was Richard
D. Kemp, Los Angeles. He and
the next five finishers get $15,000
college scholarships.