™S NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No. 151 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1954 _Pei^Copy—15^
French Refuse
Approve German
Rearmament
PARIS, UPl — For the second
time in four months, the French
Assembly refused to approve Ger
man rearmament. But Premier
Mendes-France quickly announc
ed he would call a second vote
and stake his government’s life
on a final okay.
The deputies stunned Mendes
France by rejecting 280 - 259 a
treaty calling for West German
rearmament within a projected
seven-nation West European
Union. Most observers had pre
dicted the pact would get at least
a small majority.
The Premier had been so con
fident of ratification that he did
not make the vote a confidence
issue. The pact had been given a
preliminary vote of approval by
the Assembly last October.
Eisenhower Disturbed By
Second French Refusal
To Ratify Paris Accords
AUGUSTA, Ga., OH—1The White
House announced today that
President Eisenhower and the
government of the United States
are “disturbed” about develop
ments in France, where the
French Assembly has refused for
a second time to approve West
German rearmament.
James C. Hagerty, presidential
press secretary, disclosed that
Secretary of State Dulles has en
tered into telephone consultation
with the President about the
tense situation.
Failure Will Splinter
Unity of The West
LONDON, UP) — Prime Minister
Churchill’s government warned
the hesitant French Assembly to
day that it would splinter the
unity of the free world if it fails
to ratify the Paris agreements to
free and re-arm West Germany.
The British foreign office, ob
viously alarmed by the French
Assembly’s initial adverse vote on
the Paris accords early today,
issued an unusually strong state
ment which said:
“It is clear that what is at
tstake is the unity of the Western
allies.”
Texas Cattlemen Are
' Impressed By Alaska’s
Winter Range Possibilities
ANCHORAGE, I# — Three
Texas cattlemen, who came north
to size up the range possibilities,
are reported to have been im
pressed after a 10-day tour of
Kodiak Island and other islands
in the area.
Cline Koonz, the Fairbanks
businessman who is trying to in
terest cattlemen in Alaska’s po
tentialities, said they were im
pressed by the conditions for win
ter ranging.
Koonz said his hopes were
raised by the Texans’ announced
intention of returning in the
. spring to see how cattle fared
through the winter. Koonz said
he would like to have a processing
plant in Fairbanks for Alaska
raised cattle.
Benson Proposes Plan
For Rehabilitation Of
Alaska Rural Areas
FAIRBANKS, db—Labor Com
missioner Henry Benson told a
civic group here' that the 1955
legislature will be asked to pro
vide a five million dollar fund,
in the hope of federal matching,
for a long range development
program in Alaska’s village areas.
He said the rapid growth of the
Anchorage and Fairbanks areas
has drawn people from the vil
lages while the latter have suf
fered steady deterioration. He said
the rural' setbacks are caused
mainly by the failure of the fish
eries, curtailed mining activity
and a drop-off in the fur market.
Persons who have left the vil
lages and have been unable to
find employment in the cities are
a drain on welfare, health and
police funds, he said.
He suggested work projects in
these fields: water supply, sew
age and sanitation, road and trail
builcling, construction pf com
munity buildings.
Malenkov Continues Purge
Of L.P. Beria Associates
By Richard Kasischke
MOSCOW, I.4*1—A former min
ister of state security and three
other old associates of purged
police boss Lavrenti P. Beria have
died before Soviet firing squads.
Two lesser officials have been
sentenced to long prison terms.
A government communique an
nounced last night the fate of ex
minister Viktor Semenovich Aba
kumov and five of his one-time
aides in the state security minis
try. All were charged with trea-.
son and political sabotage.
The communique was printed
in the government newspaper Iz
vestia on the first anniversary of
the official disclosure of Beria’s
execution by a firing squad.
i In London, a source well in
formed on Soviet affairs said the
purge indicates a struggle still is
going on among powerful figures
within the Soviet Union and Pre
mier Malenkov himself may be
seriously involved. The inform
ant identified Abakumov as a
one - time private secretary to
Malenkov).
MANILA, UP>—Christmas trees
are being blackmarketed in the
Philippines this year. The govern
ment has restricted cutting of
trees to protect the forests.
Sailors' Union To Take
3-Day Chsistmas Holiday
SAN FRANCISCO, UP) — The
AFL Sailors’ Union of the Pacific
and Marine Firemen’s Union an
nounced last night they would
observe a three - day Christmas
holiday and would not work ships
belonging to members of the Pac
ific Maritime Assn, from 5 p.m.
Friday until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Under their contracts, the union
explained, Monday is an extra
holiday whenever Christmas falls
on Saturday or Sunday.
The unions have been refusing
overtime, night or holiday work
on PMA ships since the start of
a jurisdictional dispute with
longshoremen over cargo handl
ing rights, about two months ago.
Christmas Comes
But Once A Year
And Now Its Here
(By the Associated Press)
In song and story, and in the
warmth of the heart, Christmas
has come again.
The Pilgrims are converging on
Bethlehem . . . the ailing pope
of the Roman Catholic Church,
from the “loneliness of suffering,"
has sent a blessing across the
world . . . and in the slums,
U.S.A., the poorest of the poor is
getting a Christmas basket.
The Holy Land, rent asunder by
the conflict of recent years, ob
serves the Christmas season under
a truce. The state of Jordan per
mitted pilgrims to come out of
Israel and go into Bethlehem to
day. There, after a midnight mass,
a procession will proceed to a
grotto which according to tradi
tion, was the site of the stable
where Jesus Christ was born.
Francis Cardinal Spellman of
New York toured Korea’s west
ern front, grown silent since other
Christmases. He admonished the
U.S. sevicemen he visited to “be
faithful soldiers of God as well
as good soldiers of our country.”
Adlai Stevenson, Democratic
leader sent a message to Soviet
satellites through Radio Free Eu
rope:
“Let those who would betray
the promise of Christmas remem
ber that love of justice can never
be stamped out by a policeman’s
boot nor a censor’s pen, for it is
greater than love of life itself.”
1,239 Nomeites
Had X Rays
Here This Week
The TB X ray team which has
been making a survey of all peo
ple in this area for the past week
has announced that 1,239 people
took advantage of the privilege
and had their X rays.
Dr. Wenberg states that on
Tuesday retakes will be given to
those who receive cards on Mon
day through the post office, and
everyone who was X-rayed is
urged to pick up his mail on Mon
day without delay.
At this time those who failed
to get their X rays may also come
in. The time is 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Place: U.S. Courtroom in the Fed
eral Building.
It is important that those get
ting retakes come in as specified
as the ton of equipment necessary
for this service will be packed up
and shipped.
Liberace Takes Vacation
From Piano Till February
HOLLYWOOD, (PI—Liberace is
taking a vacation from his piano
until next Feb. 1 because of heart
strain.
The musician’s physician, Dr.
Joseph I. Marx, said after making
an exhausive checkup that Liber
ace’s condition is “neither critical
nor serious,” but has a mild and
temporary heart strain. He ad
vised him to continue his vacation
through January.
Ideal Weather For Santa
Reported By Weather
Bureau At North Pole
NORTH' POLE (Via Washing
ton, D.C.*, liT)—Santa will have
ideal take - off weather for his
world-girdling flight tonight.
It was snowing here at the
North Pole, and the thermometer
this morning registered a mild 6
degrees below zero—pretty chilly
down south, but warm for the
top of the world.
The U.S. Weather Bureau’s ice
floe reporting station advised
headquarters in Washington ev
erything looked fine for Santa.
There will be enough snow to
get his heavily-loaded sleigh into
the air and off on its trip south
ward. While the snow probably
will cut visibility at the take-off,
it will be clear over much of the
United States so that chimney-to
chimney navigation will present
no problem.
Santa will face headwinds much
of the way in the form of currents
of warm air flowing northward.
However, no delay in his esti
mated arrival time is anticipated.
Hungary Announces
The Fields Are Given
Political Asylum ? ? ?
BUDAPEST, Hungary, UPl —
Hungary announced today Noel
and Herta Field have won politi
cal asylum in this Communist
country, which imprisoned them
for five years as spies.
The latest development in the
fate of the American couple —
central figures in one of the
cold war’s greatest international
mysteries — was disclosed in a
communique from the official
Hungarian news service.
“I really cannot comment —
what could I say?” said a spokes
man for the American legation.
Field, a former U.S. State De
partment official, and his Ger
man-born wife were released
Nov. 17 after serving five years
in Hungarian prisons on spy
charges.
American diplomats in Buda
pest have seen them only once—
24 hours after the Hungarian gov
ernment announced they were
freed and all charges against them
dropped.
The two Americans then enter
ed a Budapest hospital for treat
ment. They asked to remain in
complete privacy.
A Budapest broadcast heard in
Vienna provided the first word of
the new development in the Fields
case. It confirmed speculation by
Western diplomats in the Austrian
capital that the couple would
never return to the United States.
Suicides Rather Than Face Xmas
LONDON, (iP) — Postman Alfred
David Leslie Jones committed sui
cide- Ijy taking gas, the coroner
ruled yesterday after Jones’ land
lady told an inquest:
“He seemed to dread Christmas
with its overwork.”
CANTON, Ohio, UP)—The Steb
bins Business Machine Co., which
sold a check-wrfting machine to
a man 20 days ago, today re
ported the check he gave in pay
ment was returned marked: “No
such bank.”
CAB Decides
Alaska Traffic
Does Not Warrant
Service By 4 Lines
ANCHORAGE, lift — A major
ity of the five-man Civil Aero
nautics Board favors granting a
States - Alaska operating certifi
cate to a third carrier, but only if
it is one resulting from a merger
of Pacific Northern and Alaska
Airlines, the Anchorage Times
Washington, D. C. correspondent
reported Thursday.
This is at the heart of the CAB’s
recent tentative decision not to
renew the two lines’ present
routes between Anchorage, Fair
banks and Seattle and Portland,
the correspondent said he was in
formed on the highest CAB au
thority.
The Times’ account outlined the
situation in more detail as fol
lows:
The decision was reached by
the five commissioners after much
disagreement in which only one
point of view won unanimous sup
port — that States-Alaska traffic
does not warrant continued ser
vice by four airlines.
The board members, were in
sharp conflict over which carrier
should be eliminated. However,
they agreed that a new company
resulting from-a Pacific Northern
Alaska Airlines merger would be
acceptable.
Yet since the two lines failed
last fall in an attempt to find
grounds for a merger the CAB
could not grant a certificate to
such merged carrier and it was
decided tentatively to reject the
applications for both companies
acting independently.
There is also some evidence, the
Times said it learned, that Pacific
Northern is confident it can per
suade the White House to change
the CAB decision so that Presi
dent Eisenhower will add Pacific
Northern to the two carriers it
has approved.
99,849 Acres of Kenai
Peninsula Land Filed
On For Oil Leases
ANCHORAGE, UPt—Applications
for 45 leases on Kenai Peninsula
land covering 99,849 acres have
been filed on behalf of the Shell
Oil Co., here by Charles Barnes,
the company’s land officer.
The applications, accompanied
by checks totaling $25,410 to
cover rentals and filing fees, were
made at the Territorial Land Of
fice.
They were in the names of
seven Los Angeles and North
Hollywood residents, some of
whom already hold or have ap- j
plied for Alaska acreage, a Land j
Office spokesman said. Barnes
said he flew north from Los An- j
geles to file the applications.
All of the requested land lies
in the Moose reserve around Tus
tuema Lake. •«
It was also announced yesterday ;
that 30,000 acres along Turnagain
Arm have been blocked out in
the name of a San Francisco resi
dent, believed to be acting for
one of the major oil companies.