THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY .Production Manager
Telephone: Main 125 P.O. Box 618
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Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the
postoJffice at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
"LET NOT THY LEFT HAND-”
SHAME ON US!
By ROBERT NELSON TAYLOR
President and Editor of U.S. Press Association
Washington, DC. — We have been hearing alarm
ing stories about Alaska. It seems that the chain of
Aleutian Islands that stretches westward from the
mainland for nearly 2,000 miles—and is all but a
bridge to Siberia—is not a military asset, as we once
thought, but a liability. The air strips that we consid
ered so important in World War II are all but aban
doned. Today, we are told, the only military value of
Alaska would be for basing atomic bombers, and there
are few bases in the peninsula large enough for this
purpose.
You might think from all this that we might as
well give it back to Russia, or maybe ask them to re
turn the orginal price of $7,200,000! But one aspect
seems to be slightly overlooked. Alaskans happen to
be Americans. They happen to be pioneering Ameri
cans. They, and their forebearers, had the courage to
penetrate this vast wilderness, to pit their strength and
determination against the collossal forces of terrain
and climate, to hack out farms, to build villages and
towns and cities, and to rear, in our own tender times
a race of young Americans as rugged and hardy and
self-reliant as ever our forefathers were.
No one knows the wealth of Alaska, merely be
cause its natural resources, which have already proved
fabulous, have scarcely been tapped. But that is some
what beside the point, for the greatest assest of any
land is its people. And if this prodigious territory, which
has been American since 1867, possessed no more
natural treasure than any of the states you wish to
mention, the Alaskans’ right to statehood would be
no less.
We should be ashamed that there is even yet no
star in our flag for this proud peninsula. And we should
be more ashamed if we let another session of Congress
ignore the matter . . . even though some of the
Pentagon brass hats who regarded it as a special gift
of Providence to their purposes just a few years ago,
may now have changed their minds.
Bernard M. Baruch, retired industrialist: “We must
step up our arming—even if it means increasing taxes.”
i
Lois Morey, Asst. Educ.
Commissioner, Confers
With School Supt. Angell
Miss Lois Morey, assistant
commissioner of education, is on
her annual visit to the territorial
schools of this area and has been
here for several days conferring
with Superintendent Angell on
the many problems of administer
ing a more than over-croweded
school.
She praised highly the present
plans for the addition to' the school
and said that eight classrooms is
a very conservative increase as
both the high school and the
grades need expansion and the
expansion all over the country
will continue for some time to
come, according to all surveys. It
is her observation that commu
nity progress and the evaluation
of property in a community grows
as the school grows.
She stated it is of major im
portance that schools have ade
quate space and ventilation, as
the health of the children must be
the first consideration. Over
crowded classrooms and inade
quate lighting are hazards that
must be overcome as soon as pos
sible.
Miss Morey was very pleased
with the increase in all territorial
schools and stated that for the
first time there are more of the
native population in territorial
schools than in the Alaska Native
Service schools.
She said that the Nome School
does not have enough teachers for
the number of students but there
is not enough space to accomodate
any more teachers unless the
school starts using the shift sys
tem as other schools in the terri
tory have had to do.
Two Returned Prisoners
Killed In Car Wreck
BOONVILLE, N.C., UR — Yad
kin County’s two returned pri
soners of war were killed last
night when the car in which they
were riding overturned.
M/Sgt. Kenneth Hemric, 23,
and Cpl. Locksley Hutchens, 22,
both of Yadkinville, were pinned
in the wreckage of the 1953 model
car just purchased by Hutchens.
Both had returned home this
.month after more than 2V£ years
in North Korean prison camps.
Alaska Steam To Qarry
600 Military Dependents
In October And November
SEATTLE, UR—A Navy official
said in. Seattle Monday he had
been notified that nearly 600 mili
tary dependents will be carried
on 10 voyages of Alaska Steam
ship Co. passenger liners in Oct
ober and November.
Capt. James R. Topper, com
mander of the Military Sea Trans
portation Service for the North
Pacific, said he had been told by
MSTS headquarters in Washing
ton, D.C., to arrange reservations
for the passengers.
Alaska Steam, which has had
no military passenger business
since World War II, has been
seeking a share of such travel to
offset a decline in private book
ings. The company has said it
might not be able to continue
passenger service to the Territory
otherwise.
The announcement could not be
confirmed in Washington, D.C. *
Pentagon officials would say
only that if military dependents
returning from Alaska exceed the
space available on Military Air
Transport Service planes, some
will travel on Alaska Steamship
Co. liners.
25 Passengers and Three
Crew Members Die In
Albany Plane Crash
ALBANY, N.Y., (JD—An Ameri
can Airlines plane carried its 25
passengers and three crew mem
bers to a fiery death today when
it struck two radio towers and
' crashed near Albany Airport.
The .two-engined Convair, en
route from Boston to Chicago, was
circling over the airport area,
waiting for runway ground fog to
clear, when the crash occurred.
The plane came down at a 45
degree angle. It struck and dam
aged slightly two 365-foot towers
of Albany Radio Station WPTR.
The plane landed in a small lot
surrounded by trees and exploded
immediately.
The airline said this was the
first fatal crash involving a com
mercial airline in the Albany area
in the 25-year history of the Al
bany Airport.
WASHINGTON, UP)—1The Civil
Aeronautics Board Tuesday dis
missed a complaint by Northwest
Airlines against Pacific Northern
Airlines proposed special low fair
for passengers on cargo airplanes
from Anchorage to Seattle.
Stevenson Calls For
Parley With Reds
• Continued from Page One)
table.”
Stevenson told the nation that
in an era where “things are bet
ter” for the free world in Eurtfpe
and “there is hope in the air,” the
United States cannot afford to be
“reluctant to enter” any peace
promising conference.
Stevenson’s proposals paralled
in some respects those made by
Eisenhower last April 16 when
the President demanded that Rus
sia show by deeds, and not words,
the good faith of its peace feelers.
Cbwth&Ji dhiAmfL&A &oo2d foJi ula&Jut!
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