m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS - .
VOL. LX No. 114 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1958 Per Copy—15*
Alaska Air Traffic
Takes 1957 Decline
From Prev. Year
WASHINGTON, Wt — Alaska
generated few air passengers and
less air freight in 1957 than in
1956, despite an over-all increase
in aircraft departures reported to
the Civil Aeronautics Board.
This was indicated today with
a comparison 'of air commerce
traffic pattern reports for the
two years. The data was prepared
by the Civil Aeronautics Admin
istration from figures filed by
certificated airlines with the CAB.
Airlines reported 67,036 air
craft departures from 68 Alaskan
communities in 1956 generated
359,424 passengers, while 83,220
aircraft departures from 133 com
munities in 1957 resulted in only
341,055 passengers.
Even sharper was the decline
in cargo which fell off from 42,
491 tons in 1956 to but 12,519 tons
in calendar 1957. During the same
interval, airmail tonnage rose
slightly from 6,393 tons to 7,528
ions.
Largest traffic declines occurred
in Alaska’s major cities.
At Anchorage, a decline in air
craft departures from 8,988 to
7,684 was accompanied by a drop
of emplaning passengers from
104,520 to 89,718, and in cargo
from 15,227 to but 6,084 tons.
Plane departures at Fairbanks
fell off from 6,911 to 5,489 during
the year, reflecting a drop from
57,253 to 43,937 in passengers and
from 15,595 tons to but 1,646 tons
in cargo.
Juneau had a greater number
of plane departures during 1957,
a total of <^047 as compared with
5,262 in 1956, and responded by
increasing its passenger total
from 40,239 to 42,264. It still
showed a decline in cargo gen
eration, however, falling off from
752 tons in 1956 to 678 in 1957.
Plane departures at Nome
dropped from 2,945 to 2,303, but
the Seward Peninsula area vir
tually held its own in passenger
generation — 9,612 in 1957, against
the previous year’s 9,736. Cargo
tonnage declined heavily from
5,135 tons to only 397 tons in
1937.
Sitka was one of the few major
Alaskan cities to show an in
crease across the board. Plane
departures Went up from 1,153 to
1,517, accompanied by an increase
from 7,882 to 9,057 in passengers,
and from 27 to 33 tons of cargo.
Chinese Engage In
Biggest Jet Battle In
History, Over Formosa
By GENE KRAMER
ETAIPEI, Formosa, t<P—Nation
alist jets clashed with more than
100 Red Migs over Formosa Strait
today in one of the biggest jet
battles in history.
The Nationalist Defense Min
istry said 32 Nationalist Sabre
jets, flown by American-trained
pilots, shot down 11 Reds and
possibly 6 more.
Adm. Liu Hoh-Tu said the Na
tionalists ambushed the Commu
nists as the Reds att&npted to
draw the Chiang Kai-Shek air
men over the Red mainland.
“They want to claim we are at
tacking the mainland and turn
public opinion against us in the
United Nations,” Liu said.
Today’s clash began when
the Migs tried to get between the
Sabre jets and Formosa, and thus
force the Nationalist planes over
the Communist mainland.
MAJOR LEAGUE SCORES
iBv The Associated Preset
National League
Philadelphia 6, Milwaukee 5.
*St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 1.
Chicago 3, San Francisco 2.
American League
Boston 9, New York 8.
Cleveland 7, Kansas City 5.
Baltimore 3, Washington 2.
Detroit 3, Chicago 1.
ESC To Open
Part-Time Office
For Nome Claims
The fire, health and wiring in
spection now under way by the
City is progressing satisfactorily,
it was reported at the Monday
evening meeting of the City
Council.
Ninety homes east of Stedman
have been inspected, with 657
people reported living in the area.
Bids for water service for the
City were opened, with Pioneer
Water being the low bidder with
a bid of $8 per thousand gallons.
A heated discussion on metered
power for street lights followed,
and a committee was appointed
to contact the Power and Light
Utility Board for a study on the
situation.
Eric Kvevin appeared before
the city, complaining that the fee
of $5 is too high for an ambu
lance call.
Sara Avert, the Alaska Em
ployment Security Commission,
appeared before the council, ex
plaining that a part time agent
will be placed in the community
to assist those filling forms for
unemployment, if a suitable place
can be obtained for an office.
The City volunteered the use of
the City Hall on Monday and
Tuesday, on a temporary basis for
$50 per month, until permanent
quarters can be found.
The Council authorized the
City . Clerk, Bob Scott, to waive
all personal uncollectable taxes in
the publication of delinquent taxes
to be made soon.
The use of regulation polling
booths was discussed and consid
ered for future use.
Inasmuch as the CAA is sur
veying the present city dump site
north of the Airport for a housing
project, Dredge No. 1 is being
considered as a possible dumping
site, provided the CAA will con
sider keeping open the road dur
ing the winter.
Alaska’s Oil May
Be Answer to Mid
East Oil Crisis
SUMNER, Wash., OR — Sen.
Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash.) said
in a speech here yesterday that
Alaska’s oil may toe the ultimate
answer to the critical Mid-East
situation.
Jackson predicted that some day
Alaska oil would be shipped by
nuclear-powered submarine tank
ers to supply Western Europe
along subpolar routes charted
by the Atomic-powered submarine
Nautilus.
CROSBY, SHOWGIRL TO WED
TOMORROW AT LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS, Nev., Ub — Bing
Crosby’s son Phillip says he and
showgirl Sandra Drummond will
be married Thursday in St. Anne’s
Catholic Church here.
They obtained a marriage li
cense yesterday. Phillip, 24, said
they’ll live in Los Angeles.
Sandra, 20, dances in the Tropi
cana Hotel show here. Phillip’s
twin Dennis recently married Pat
Sheehan, another Tropicana Ho
tel showgirl.
German Scientist
Now Works With
Wartime Captor
By FRANK CORMIER
WASHINGTON, UPi — A Ger
man scientist who will do research
work near the North Pole today
met his new boss — a retired
Coast Guard admiral who cap
tured him at a German weather
station in Greenland 14 years ago.
Rear Adm. Charles W. Thomas
met Dr. Walter Sander at National
Airport. Together they went to
Coast Guard headquarters where
they told newsmen how the
changing fortunes of war and
peace brought them together un
der such different circumstances.
Sander was one of 12 Germans
who set up a weather station in
1944 on .North Little Koldewey Is
land off the northeast coast of
Greenland. It was the, closest
point to the United States at which
the Germans set up a wartime
base.
Thanks to Thomas, the base op
erated only five days. As com
mander of the Coast Guard Ice
breaker Eastwind, Thomas sent
bluejackets ashore on Oct. 4, and
captured the station without a
fight.
Sander, 47, will work as glacio
logist on an ice island drifting
in the Arctic basin about 300 miles
from the North Pole. He will work
for Thomas, who will become ad
ministrative director of the re
search project on Oct. I.
The work is part of the U. S.
participation in the International
Geophysical Year.
Thomas kept up correspondence
with his wartime prisoners, and
recommended Sander for his post
war research on glacial ice.
U.S. Squeaks Thru
Postponement Of
Seating Red China
By TOM HOGE
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., UPl
— Diplomats speculated today that
the United States may have suc
ceeded for the last time in sweep
ing aside a U.N. decision of the
Red China seating issue.
The U. S. proposal to sidetrack
the thorny question for another
year cleared the General Assem
bly 44-28, with 9 absentions. It
was the narrowest margin of vic
tory on record for opponents of
the move to seat the Chinese Com
munists in the United Nations.
The United States, which
battled almost singlehandedly for
its proposal, managed to hold the
support of slightly more than 54
per cent of the U.N. members.
In 1954, when the United States
first used the tactics of postpon
ing debate on China for that ses
sion, the Americans got 71.6 per
cent of the vote. In 1955 support
dropped to 70 per cent, and in
1956-57, to a little more than 59
per cent.
Word circulated that the United
States got only perfunctory sup
port from many of its friends who
felt an issue involving represen
tation of 600 million people should
at least be discussed before the
World Forum.
WEATHER FORECAST
Mostly cloudy with occasional
snow flurries tonight and Thurs
day. East to southeast winds, 25
35 miles per hour, swinging to the
west and diminishing tonight.
U. S. Courts Again Recommend
3rd Division be Given Second Judge
By FRANK W. VAILLE <
WASHINGTON, UFi — The ad
ministrative office of United
States courts renewed today an
often made recommendation —
that Alaska’s Third Judicial Divi
sion be given a second judge
The recommendation, made
without special comment in the
annual report of the office’s di
rec$>r, was accompanied by sta
tistics showing that the district
was the only one of Alaska’s four
divisions in which the backlog of
pending cases Increased during the
year ended last June 30.
The Third Division (Anchorage)
received 1,252 new civil actions
in the 12-month period, disposed
of 1,124 cases and wound up the
year with a backlog of 1,756 civil
cases as compared with 1,628 a
year earlier. The criminal back
log increased by one, to a total
of 83,-with 232 new cases filed.
The Fourth Division (Fairbanks)
court received 479 hew civil cases
- ■'
but disposed of 480 to cut its civil
backlog by one to 751. I.t disposed
of 113 criminal actions, the same
number as filed, to hold its back
log in this category unchanged at
112. *
At Juneau, the First Division
cut its backlog-of civil cases dur
ing the year from 140 to 120 by
disposing of 344 as against 324
new cases filed. It lost ground in
criminal actions, however, dispos
ing of 79 while getting 87 new
cases. The criminal backlog in
creased to 22 from 14 on June 30,
1957.
The Second Division Court at
Nome held its own for the year.
It pared its civil case backlog to
21 cases, a drop of one, by com
pleting 42 cases. But this was off
set by the filing of 32 new crim
inal cases against disposition of
31. The criminal backlog thus rose
to 2. /
July 9 Quake -
Disrupts Yakutat *
Channel In S. E. .
SEATTLE, UP> — The U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey said
today the July 9 earthquake which
struck Alaska crumpled sections
of the ocean floor off the Terri
tory into massive ridges and
gorges.
The sharp quake took the lives
of five persons. Three were killed
when the entire end of an island
in southeastern Alaska was
sheared off. Two others died when
huge waves resulting from the
tremor smashed their fishing
boat.
The USCGS said its ship the
Pathfinder found variations of
almost 60 to 75 feet off charted
depths, the survey said, adding
that Yakutat Channel, charted at
162-168 feet, is now actually only
96 feet deep at some points.
The Survey said the Pathfinder
was sent to the area to gather
evidence on which to base a de
cision whether new charts will
be needed for the Alaska coast
line fault area where the quake
is believed to have originated.
Frosh Haze Hazer
By Sending Him.
To Fairbanks
SEATTLE, UPi — It’s a far piece
from Claremont, Calif., to Fair
banks, but that’s where a hazing
prank sent the sophomore class
president at Claremont Men’s Col
lege last night.
Daryl Butcher, 19, of Pomona,
Calif., passed through here en
route to the Far North on a one
way ticket. He appeared to be
enjoying the gag.
Butcher, as head of the sopho
more class, was in charge of haz
ing freshmen at the college. In
stead, the frosh turned the tables
and kidnaped him yesterday,
bundled him aboard a Western
Airlines plane and stuck a one
way ticket to Fairbanks in his
hand.
In Seattle, he switched to a Pan
American World Airways flight.
He carried a flag with 49 stars
and a letter of congratulation on
Alaska Statehood addressed to
“Gov. Mike Stepovich.”
Only trouble was the plane
wasn’t supposed to stop at Ju
neau, the Alaskan capital, and
Stepovich hasn’t been governor
since his resignation last month.
Specialists May
Soon Diagnose
Illness By Phone
By FRANK CAREY
Associated Press Science Writer
BETHESDA, Md, UP> — Navy
researchers today envisioned a
time when country' doctors can
have big city specialists diagnose
their patients’ ailments by link
ing the patient’s body to a long
distance telephone line.
The first demonstration of such
a technique was made yesterday
in a telephone transmission from
the Naval Hospital at Bethesda
to Kansas City, Mo., 1,000 miles
away.
Doctors attending a Kansas City
convention successfully diagnosed
sight unseen two heart cases, and
another involving bad kidneys.
The far-away doctors got their
information from electronic sig
nals transmitted over the tele
phone line, after being picked up
by special apparatus attached to
the patient. A brief history of the
patients’ symptoms was also trans
mitted vocally by Navy Lt. John
D. Kern, a member of the cardiol
ogy section at Bethesda.
Each remote-control diagnosis
took only about 10 minutes.
The special equipment is de
signed to pick up for telemetered
transmission on a patient’s electro
cardiogram, pulse, respiratory
rate, respiratory volume, and
breath sounds.
Canada Shifts Defense
Emphasis From Planes
To Guided Missiles
OTTAWA, UFi — A shift in air
defense emphasis from,jet inter
ceptions to ground-to-air missiles
was announced yesterday by the
Canadian government.
Prime Minister John Diefen
baker sad two Bomarc antiair
craft missile bases will be estab
lished and that final decision has
been postponed until next March
of whether to order limited pro
duction of Canada’s supersonic
Arrow fighter.
The Bomarc, a U. S. weapon
guided from the ground by the
same radar system used to control
interceptor operations, is capable
of carrying a nuclear warhead.
The two bases, to be built in
northern Ontario and Quebec as
part of the Norad defense sys
tem, will be completed by 1961 at
a total cost of 164 million dollars.