™s NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVIII No. 2_NOME. ALASKA, FRIDAY. JANUARY 6, 1956 Per Copy—15*
Citizens of Alaska
Stale Can Amend
Own Constitution
By FLORENCE DOUTHIT
FAIRBANKS, UP)—'The right of
citizens of the future state of Al
aska to amend their own constitu
tion was upheld yesterday by men
and women who are framing the
document.
Delegates to the Constitutional
Convention voted 34-17 against a
proposal to permit the first two
legislatures to revise or amend
the constitution, leaving it entirely
up to the people.
The article, as finally approved
after days of wearying debate,
stipulated that the legislature may
make revisions or amendments,
but the changes are subject to rat
ification by the people.
Changes must be approved by a
two-thirds vote of each house of
the legislature and then submitted
to the voters at the next general
election.
Delegates left it to the legisla
ture, however, to set up another
Constitutional Convention. They
decided if one is not called within
each 10-year period, voters at the
next general election will be
asked: “Shall there be a Constitu
tional Convention?”
LONG DISCUSSION ON
EQUALITY OF MEN
The convention later turned to
the constitution’s Bill of Rights
article and engaged in a lengthy
discussion of the equality of men,
and a section reading:
“No person is to be denied the
enjoyment of any civil or political
right because of race, color, creed
or national origin.”
The convention decided the ad
ministration of criminal justice
should be founded upon the prin
ciple of reformation, as well as on
the need to protect the public.
As originally phrased, the arti
cle used “reformation and not vin
dictiveness” as a-basic principle.
You can’t legislate against that
type of sin (vindictiveness),” said
Ralph Rivers of Fairbanks. “If a
district attorney is mean, he is
mean.”
DELEGATE WITHDRAWS
OBJECTION TO SEX
A move was made to include
“sex” along with “race, color,
creed or national origin” in spell
ing out nondiscrimination.
Helen Fischer of Anchorage not
ed there still are states where
women are not allowed to serve on
the grounds that Alaska ras al
ways been a haven for women’s
rights. She said the female sex
needs no protection.
At an early point in the discus
sion, Burke Riley of Haines had
raised an objection. Later he rose,
and told the convention:
“I withdraw my objection to
sex.”
Nome School Children
Get This Morning Off
School children enjoyed a half
holiday today due to the fact that
a transformer supplying the school
with power shc/rted last evening
shutting the furnace off and leav
ing the building without heat.
i WIEN SHOP BURNS
IN KOTZEBUE WITH
VALUABLE SUPPLIES
I FAIRBANKS, MV—Word was re
ceived last night that flames from
an exploding airplane engine heat
er destroyed the Wien Alaska Air
lines mechanical repair shop and
power plant Tuesday at Kotzebue.
The building was described as
an old frame structure with no
cash value, but caught in the fire
was a large amount of valuable
equipment.
Two men working on the heater
when it exploded were unhurt.
Emergency power facilities are
being used at the village. This was
the second fire in as many weeks
to destroy generating plants at re
mote arctic villages. A $200,000
lire destroyed the Alaska Commu
nication System’s plant Dec. 26
at Barrow.
Actor James Stewart
Nurses Wrenched Back
From Accident on Set
HOLLYWOOD —Actor James
Stewart was nursing a wrenched
back today, his studio said, after
being dragged 50 feet in a para
chute harness during the filming
of “The Spirit of St. Louis.”
Stewart was pulled over rough
ground when a battery of wind
machines, producing a blizzard,
caught his parachute. Stewart,
playing the role of Charles Lind
bergh, was supposed to have
bailed out and landed in a snow
storm.
The scene depicted an incident
in Lindbergh’s career during his
early days.
| B?ritain Suffering
Under Worst Fog
Since *.>2 Disaster
LONDON, (iPI—Slight northeast
winds today broke up Britain’s
worst fog in three years. But the
weatherman said relief was only
temporary.
The forecast was for another
choking n^ht of the smoke-laden
pall that has gripped southern
England for the past 48 hours,
halting all air service to and from
London.
Into the swirling mists, millions
of chimneys tunneled soot, sul
phur dioxide and other coal-fire
by-products. Scientific teams an
alyzing the dense black vapor dur
ing the night said it was even
more poisonous than the Great
Smog of 1952 which claimed 4,000
lives.
A spokesman for the British
Oxygen Co. said more emergency
calls for oxygen were received
yesterday than ever before.
"The number of patients with
chest diseases has greatly in
creased in the hospitals since the
smog descended and numerous
hospitals have asked for oxygen
tanks to meet the emergency,” he
explained.
Police said the last 24 hours had
been the hospitals’ busiest of the
winter, and scores of people col
lapsed on the streets.
There were no official reports of
smog fatalities. One hospital said
it would take weeks to determine
what deaths were attributed to the
fog.
Scientist Hopes
Trip North W ill Be
Colder Than -30
SEATTLE, (/PS—Sir Hubert Wil
kins was heading north Friday
with the hope that it will be cold
er than it was last year, when “it
only got down to 30 below.”
The British explorer stopped
off here enroute to Anchorage to
take part in Operation Moosehorn,
the winter’s cold-weather exercise.
He is a consultant with the Army’s
Quartermaster Research and De
velopment Command.
Sir Hubert deplaned Thursday
wearing experimental white boots.
His neatly clipped Van Dyke
beard was almost hidden in the
folds of an experimental parka.
He said the boots have an air
chamber to keep feet warm at 70
below zero and are completely
waterproof. Seattle offered a test
of the waterproof feature with its
rain but couldn’t oblige Sir Hu
bert’s desire for cold.
Another feature of the boots is
a “safety valve.” Last year, said
Sir Hubert, some of the boots blew
up in airplane tests as the air ex
panded at increasing altitudes.
“Scared a lot of people,” he said.
Features of the experimental
parka include an extended sleeve
to cover the hand. A man can free
his fingers to adjust scientific in
| struments, then tuck them back
inside the warm sleeve.
I
NOTICE TO ALL CAR OWNERS
All car owners parking vehicles
on streets and hampering snow
removal are hereby notified that
if such are not removed within
24 hours, same shall be im
pounded and the owners will have
to pay towing costs. Ordinance
287, Sec. 2. is in force and will
be enforced for the safely of the
community.
Your cooperation is needed to
keep fire lanes open and to widen
streets. Carl C. Webb,
Chief, Fire & Police Depts.
Family of Five
Dies With Dogteam
On Tundra Trek
ANCHORAGE, —A Civil Air
Patrol plane pilot searching- for
the five members of the Simeon
Wassela family spotted their bod
ies Thursday on the frozen tundra
near Lake Iliamna, 250 miles
southwest of here.
The pilot reported the bodies of
Simeon, 40, his wife, 35, and their
three children, ranging in age
from 1 to 14, were beside their
dogsled. Seven of their nine dogs
also were dead.
Searchers said all apparently
were the victims of exposure.
The Wasselas left Newhalen on
Dec. 27 behind their dog team for
Iguigig, some 50 miles distant on
the tip of the lake. Three other
families were in the party. They
arrived at Iguigig Saturday and
said they lost track of the Was
sellas when they dropped behind
after leaving Newhalen.
A search party was started on
Wednesday when they were five
days overdue at Iguigig.
A party was sent in Friday to
recover the bodies.
Democratic Commit
Ike Give Flat Yes
President Eisenhower
Getting ‘World of Good'
From Visit in Florida
KEY WEST, Fla., UP)—President
Eisenhower was pictured by his
doctor today as getting a world of
good from his visit here in the
Florida sun.
The word from the White House
physician, JVIaj. Gen. Howard M.
Snyder, wras relayed to newsmen
as the President and Secretary of
Agriculture Benson virtually com
pleted work on the special farm
message Eisenhower will send to
Congress Monday.
The message will be a fresh ap
peal to the lawmakers for “imme
diate and drastic attention” to the
problem of slumping farm prices.
The President came to Key West
Dec. 28 in line with his doctors’
recommendation that he get more
sun and exercise.
The purpose is to condition the
Chief Executive for resumption of
a full work load when he returns
to Washington, now planned for
Sunday afternoon.
Society’s Great Affliction
Is Present Generation
Doesn't Think Enough
LOS ANGELES, UP)—Modern
society’s greatest afflication, says
a University of Michigan psychol
ogist, is that the present genera
tion doesn’t have to do enough
thinking. *•
Dr. Wilma Donahue told 5,000
members of the Los Angeles
County Medical Assn, that one of
the best ways to keep young is to
continue to use the brain, “for
without using it constantly, brain
cells atrophy just as muscle cells
do when there is lack of exercise.”
She said yesterday that she is
convinced children today to less
thinking than their grandparents.
“Everything is done for us,” she
said. “We are told what to think
and seldom have to meet new situ
ations. The farmer of the past had
to meet some new crisis every
day. Less thinking means that
only 10 percent of this generation
really are creative people.
Two Women Get $300
Per Month for Life for
Abstinence Program
LOS ANGELES, UP)—Two wom
en will receive $300 a month for
life if they can do without three
things: alcohol, tobacco, and men.
This condition was part of a will
left by Percy T. Martin, a wealthy
real estate developer. He died in
-952 leaving an estate of $448,946.
Mrs. H. Dill, 53, Gardena, Calif.,
widow, and Miss Francis Miller,
51, friends of Martin, were each
left $300 a month if they do not
indulge in alcohol, tobacco, or be
come engaged or married.
The will was approved yester
day in superior court. Each wom
an was awarded a retroactive pay
ment of $8,700. Both had filed affi
davits attesting that they were
meeting conditions of the bequest.
teemen Demand
or No on Statehood
i WASHINGTON LH—Democratic
committee chairmen who hold the
reins on statehood legislation
called on President Eisenhower to
day to say yes or no on Alaska.
“If the President comes out flat
footed for Alaska we’ll report both
it and Hawaii out,” declared Sen.
Jackson <D-Wash>, chairman of
the Senate Territories subcommit
tee.
“I’m willing to give the state
hood bills another try if I get def
inite word what the White House
wants in an Alaska statehood bill
and assurance that the President
will sign it,” said Rep. Engle <D
Calif), chairman of the House In
sular Affairs Committee.
The President’s remarks on Al
aska yesterday brought this retort
from Engle: “The lack of progress
during last year’s session can be
attributed directly to the inability
of the White House to make up its
mind what kind of Alaska bill it
wanted. We offered to write any
thing the President desired as to
authority for military reservations
in Alaska.”
The President referred in his
message to “provisions I last year
communicated to the Senate and
House Committees on Interior and
Insular Affairs.” His only known
communication was a letter ad
dressed to Sen. Jackson and Rep.
Miller, ranking GC)£ members of
the House committee.
In that letter he expressed his
doubt that any form of legislation
would completely remove his ap
prehension about giving Alaska
immediate statehood. But he said
he would give “earnest considera
tion” to a bill embodying a pro
posal made by Secretary of Inter
ior McKay.
McKay had requested giving the
President authority to make land
withdrawals for defense purposes
in an area totaling about 283,000
square miles in northern and
western Alaska.
The Hawaii-Alaska statehood
bill defeated in the House last year
embodies an amendment by Dele
gate Bartlett designating an area
of 87,000 square miles for poten
tial defense withdrawal.
Bartlett said yesterday that he
would yield to the McKay propos
al if it were the only way to get
administration support for Alaska
statehood.
Delegate Farrington (R-Hawaii)
said Eisenhower considers the
problems of Hawaii and Alaska
totally different and has “separat
ed the subjects.”
Jackson told a reporter, how
ever, rfchat he considers the prob
lems of each territory as similar.
“The only way that statehood
can be resolved effectively and
taken out of politics is for the
President to make the same state
ment for Alaska and Hawaii,” he
said.
RETAIL FOOD PRICES
AT SAME LEVEL THIS YEAR
NEW YORK, Retail food
prices will remain at about pres
ent levels during 1956 and sup
plies should be adequate to meet
demand, it was predicted today by
Ralph W. Burger, president of the
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.
/