as NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL, LVI No. 20 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1954 Per Copy—15f
Iia\ ing Edgar Eisenhower’s Old
r r
Phone Number Proves Headache
To Tacoma Restaurant Owner
TACOMA, Wash., UP) — Now
Harold Chavis wishes he hadn’t
had that blankety-blank telephone
put in.
Chavis, a restaurant owner in
nearby Lakewood, applied for the
telephone, a couple of weeks ago.
Much to his surprise, the phone
company put one in right away.
That’s when the fun began.
The phone started ringing and
it rang constantly. Chavis and his
wife always got the same request
from callers:
“May I speak to Ed Eisenhower,
please?”
Mrs. Chavis answered upwards
of a dozen calls before the light
dawned.
“Do you realize that we got
a telephone right away?” she ask
ed Chavis. “And yet the telephone
company said it would be six
months before we could get one
installed.”
“We got Ed Eisenhower’s phone
number,” Mrs. Chavis told her
husband. “We got the one he gave
up because it was too hot for him
to handle.”
And she was right.
Edgar N. Eisenhower, the Presi
dent’s brother, begged the phone
company to give him a new—and
unlisted — number to keep his
phone from ringing constantly.
"Apparently there is a rule
that you don’t call the President’s
brother before midnight. About 3
a.m. would be about the right
time-,” Chavis moans.
“They call for influence to get
them appointments. And they get
sore when I tell them they have
the wrong number. The crackpots
call when the bars are closing.
They insist that I get Ed right
now.”
Now and then Chavis turns the
tables on callers and has a little
fun for himself.
A man called a couple of days
ago and asked if Mr. Eisenhower
was there.
“They’re both here,” Chavis
■-'uipped into the phone, "which
\e do you want, Ed or Ike?”
The caller, taken aback by the
ick answer, did what Chavis
wishes they would all do.
He hung up.
250 U.S. Airmen Based
In Indochina Help French
TOKYO, W—At least 12 Am
erican B-26 medium bombers and
250 U.S. airmen are based at two
coastal airfields in Indochina,
Gen. O. P. Weyland, U.S. Far East
Air Forces commander, said Mon
day.
Weyland, who returned Thurs
day from an inspection tour of
the wartorn land, emphasized that
the Americans are “non-combat
ants and act solely as technical
advisers and expert mechanics”
for planes “applied as a part of
the regular military assistance
program to the French forces.”
The Americans in Indochina
are being supplied by two daily
transport flights from Clark Air
Force base in the Philipp|nes,
Weyland said.
Underground Pentagon
Costing $35 Million, Ready
65 Miles From Washington
WASHINGTON, UP) — The high
command’s atom - age “under
ground Pentagon,” built inside a
mountain 65 miles from the na
tional capital, is ready.
A Defense Department spokes
man said today in reply to a re
porter’s question that the project
which started three years ago to
provide an alternate command
post and communications center
if atomic attack should threaten
or destroy the Pentagon is “100
per cent completed.”
The cost of blasting out the cav
ern under Rock Raven mountain,
in Frederick County, Md., build
ing housing for personnel above
ground and installing communica
tions equipment presumably
reached at least the original esti
mate of 35 million dollars.
Jurisdiction of the facility,
which includes the formal Nation
al Guard training site of Ft.
Ritchie, as well as the man-made
cavern five miles from the fort,
is under the Defense Department.
Its use in wartime would be by
all three services — Army, Navy
and Air Force—for central direc
tion of defense and counterattack
even though headquarters at
Washington might be wiped out.
Conference Determines
U.S. Must Maintain Forces
In Europe For Long Time
BERLIN, (iP) — American of
ficials said today that Russia’s
rigid determination to keep her
forward military positions in Eu
rope means the United States
must maintain sizable forces on
the continent for a longtime.
Smoking out Soviet military in
tentions in Germany and Austria
—as evidenced by their refusal
to roll back power at any point—
is regarded by U. S. Secretary of
State Dulles as one of the most
important achievements of West
ern diplomacy at the Big Four
conference.
The American group here is
also convinced that this finding
will clear away any confusion and
uncertainty in the Pentagon over
what America’s future military
policy should be and will result
in planning for maintenance of
strong U.S. forces in Europe.
American officials feels this is
one of the results of the diplo-'
matic and propaganda battles
with Soviet Foreign Minister
Molotov here on European issues,
which they believe the United
States, Britain and France have
clearly won.
Nobel Prize Winner Turned Down
For Being Suspected As A Red
NEW YORK, Lfl — A member
ship application from Nobel Prize
winning French chemist-physicist
Mme. Irene Joliot-Curie has been
rejected by the American Chemi
cal Society on the belief she is
a Communist.
Fire Destroys T-24
At Nome Field
Sunday Morning
The alertness of city night pat
rolman William Shepherd and Air
Policeman A/lc John W. Hedge
cock from Nome Field, who were
on duty Saturday night and early
Sunday morning, and their in
vestigation of a red glow at Nome
Field, seen from Belmont Point at
about 3:00 a.m. Sunday, led to the
rousing of the servicemen housed
in the structure called T-24 at
the base and the calling out of
both city and base fire depart
ments.
As all the men were asleep in
these quarters, the patrolmen
rushed through the building, rous
ing them and making sure that
I all got out safely. Most of the men
, are reported to have lost all their
personal belongings and well as
all their clothing, escaping the
flames with only the clothes they
were able to grab on the run from
the building. The thermometer
at Nome Field registered 21 be
low zero at the time. Some of the
men escaped with only their night
clothes.
Air National Guard
Converts To Jet Planes
WASHINGTON, UP — The chief
of the National Guard Bureau—
Maj. Gen. Edgar Erickson — has
announced that more than 50,000
Air National Guard members are
scheduled to take part in train
ing exercises this year.
Gen. Erickson said jet planes
"This was his second conviction
in substantial numbers. By the
time the training program gets
under way next June, some 40
of the Air National Guard’s 87
tactical squadrons are expected
to be flying jet aircraft.
The 144th Fighter - Bomber
Squadron of Elmendorf Air Force
[ base at Anchorage, is scheduled
for its training program from
Nov. 26 to Dec. 5.
JAMES MILLS OF KOTZEBUE
KILLED BY HIT-RUN DRIVER
IN OREGON SUNDAY
JUNCTION CITY, Ore., UP) — A
railroad section laborer from
Portland was injured fatally on
the Pacific Highway near here
early Sunday.
State police found the body of
James K. Mills, 53, after several
motorists told of seeing a body
by the roadside. Police speculated
that Mills was struck by a hit
run driver.
Mills, of Eskimo descent, was
believed to have relatives living
in Alaska.
Ed Note: James Mills was an
Eskimo who came from Kotzebue
and he lived in Nome for some
years before going to the States.
Four-Minuie Message From Pope
Pius Broadcast By Vatican Radio
VATICAN CITY, UP—The Vati
can radio rebroadcast Monday a
feebly spoken, four-minute mes
sage by convalescing Pope Pius
XII. The Pontiff’s voice, weak and
hesitant after his recent illness,
had been recorded at his bedside
over a .period of two days.
The Vatican announced that the
77-year-old pontiffs recovery is
I continuing “although slowly.”
Seventeen Alaska Businessmen
Will Ask Jap anese Cooperation
In Developing Mining Resources
-■'«
67-Year-Old Paroled Lifer
Will Leave Joliet For New
Life In Fairbanks, Alaska
JOLIET, 111., UP—Back in 1907
Herbert Spring, then a tall, black
haired young man of 20, heard a
judge sentence him to life impri
sonment for murder.
Monday, Herbert Spring, now a
faded, stooped, 67, steps out of
Stateville Penitentiary at Joliet.
He has been paroled after 47 years
of confinement.
Starting life all over again as
he is, Spring’s plans are those of
a young man.
“I’ve got a job with a flower
grower in Fairbanks, Alaska,” he
says. “I think I’ll like Alaska be
cause it’s not overgrown and
there’s room for a man to grow
with the country.”
For years Spring was labeled a
recalcitrant prisoner, and for
years his applications for parole
were rejected.
Then he became interested in
flower growing and mural paint
ing. As one of the corps of pri
soners who work outside, he help
ed to make Stateville flower beds
and displays things of great
beauty. His murals decorated the
walls of the prison chapel.
“It’s not too late to do things,”
Spring says. “There’s an awful
lot of life in me yet.”
He’s getting started right away.
On leaving the penitentiary he’s
going to Chicago and flying out
Monday afternoon for Fairbanks
and the start on the new job.
Maritime Advisory Group
Banquet To Eat Ice Cream
Sent By Matanuska Co-op
SEATTLE, Iff—Some 450 Seat
tle men wil share 50 gallons of
Alaska ice cream at a banquet at
the Olympic Hotel Monday night.
The banquet, sponsored by
Mayor Allan Pomeroy’s Maritime
Advisory Committee, is to cele
brate a year free of labor tie-ups
on the waterfront. The ice cream,
a gift from the Matanuska Valley
Farmers’ Cooperative Association,
is an expression of the Alaskans’
gratitude for a year without a
disruption of shipping between
Seattle and Alaska.
The ice cream is being brought
to Seattle by Pan American World
Airways and is to arrive just be
fore the dinner.
Alaska also will be represented
at the head table at the banquet,
by Jack Conway of Sitka, one of
the 11 Alaska members of the
committee. Other members repre
sent labor and management
groups on the waterfront.
Congressmen Thor Tollefson
and Jack Westland also will be
in Seattle for the dinner.
LOS ANGELES, (ff—City crews
and residents mopped up Monday
after heavy downpours flooded
streets and homes from Santa
Monica to San Pedro and hail and
snow fell in the foothills and
mountain areas over the weekend.
TOKYO, (ffi — Seventeen busi
nessmen from Alaska will, visit
Japan early next month to ask
Japanese industrialists for techni
cal and financial cooperation in
developing mining resources in
Alaska, the newspaper Jiji Shim
po reported today.
Economic cooperation between
Japan and Alaska has been dis
cussed widely since the Japan
U.S. Alaska Lumber and Pulp Co.
was established to develop Alas
ka’s forestry resources.
The paper said the mission will
also try to arrange shipments di
rectly from Japan for cement,
foodstuffs and other general mer
chandise.
The paper said the Japanese
government has been receiving in
quiries asking possibility of Japa
nese investment in developing Al
askan resources such as coal, pet
roleum, copper, nickel and iron
ore. The Japanese government is
reportedly expecting successful
results from the coming Alaska
mission.
The mission is coming in a pri
vate status, but the Japanese gov
ernment will treat the group as
an official delegation invited by
the government, the paper said.
Quoting Japanese industrial
sources, the paper speculated the
mission’s visit is aimed at obtain
ing materials directly from Japan,
avoiding the double handling via
the states.
Alaska wants to import cement
directly from Japan at a price ap
parently less than half that com
ing in via the States, the paper
said.
It also said Alaska’s industrial
circles want to import from Japan
agricultural products and general
merchandise such as china, cam
eras and sheet glass at cheaper
prices in exchange for Alaskan
products.
The group will remain in Japan
about a month for negotiations
with Japanese industrialists.
Narcotics Conviction In
Anchorage Last Year Was
Most Important of 1953
WASHINGTON, UR — Convic
tion of Edgar A. Lewis of Anchor
age on four counts of violating
federal narcotics law's is consid
ered one of “the more important
results achieved by federal nar
cotics agents” in the last year.
It was so characterized in a
statement by H. J. Anslinger, com
missioner of narcotics, before a
House appropriation subcommit
tee last month. His testimony was
released today.
Lewis was convicted at Anchor
age Jan. 27, 1953, and sentenced
to serve 17 years,
tie men will share 50 gallons of
on narcotics charges,” Anslinger’s
statement said. “He had long been
engaged in the illicit narcotic traf
fic in California and Illinois, and
had become an important distrib
utor of illicit heroin and mari
juana in the Territory of Alaska.”