™s NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS __
VOL. LX No. 49 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1958 _Per Copy— 15c
Homer Family Enroute Home
After European Lecture Tour
WASHINGTON, UP> — After 20
months on the European lecture
circuit, the Kilchers—Yule, his
wife and their eight children—
are on their way back to the “end
of the road” in Alaska.
“I’ll just go as far north as I
can, then turn west as far as I
can go and I’ll be in my front
yard,” said Kilcher, speaking of
his Homer, Alaska, homestead.
Although he’s been gone more
than a year and a half, Kilcher
actually didn’t leave Alaska be
hind. It’s been his lecture sub
ject throughout France Switzer
land,, Germany and Italy.
His present plans call for the
family to stay at Homer for the
next several years. But he has
invitations to make lecture ap
pearances in both Belgium and
England over the next couple of
winters.
Kilcher, who served as a dele
gate to Alaska’s Constitutional
Convention in 1955, said he found
considerable interest in Alaska—
particularly in Switzerland, which
he said he believed was the “best
informed country in the world.”
He has wasted no time in re
turning to the fight for Alaskan
statehood. One of his visits
during a couple of days in the
nation’s capitol was with Chair
man Howard Smith (D-Va) of
the House Rules Committee.
Kilcher later opined he hasn’t j
budged the anti-statehood leader
“one-sixteenth of an inch.”
The Kilchers—the eight child
ren range from 16 years to 3
months—plan to leave here today
for Denver and Salt Lake City
prior to heading for Seattle. !
There may be a good many |
bug-eyed roadside attendants be- j
fore they reach their destination.
The 10-member family is making I
the trip in a diminutive foreign- j
made bus.
-I
2nd Division
Gets $480,000
In Road Funds
Second Division has been al
located $480,000 of the supple
mental funds for the Federal Aid
Act signed into law by President
Eisenhower. Alaska’s share is
$6,200,000.
The directors of the NWA
Chamber of Commerce met in
special session yesterday and
' made the following recommen
dations for the use of these funds;
1. They recommend that $300.00
be used to construct the bridge
across the Kuzatrin River.
2. Grading and road work in
the Kotzebue area to the amount
of $6,000.00.
3. Grading and black-topping
Front Street this summer. This
is imperative as the equipment
will be available while in use at
the airport this summer. After
the job is finished there, Nome
may not have another oppor
tunity for some time to come.
4. The balance of the fund to
be used on the Nome Teller Road.
Bulgarian Family
Crash Border
To Freedom
ATHENS, Greece, UP) — Riding
a 1927 model Chrysler fitted with
a periscope and armor of con
crete slabs, five members of a
Bulgarian family raced across the
Jugoslav border today to seek
political asylum in Greece.
The car was driven by Traiko
Tamiano Ivanoff, 50, of Sofia.
With him were his wife, 36, and
three sons, aged 19, 15 .md 14.
The Ivanoffs said they , mn-'d
their escape for a year, i hey
got permission from the Bulgar
ian authorities to visit relatives
at Monastir, Yugoslavia, close to
the Greek border. There they
secretly fitted the concrete to the
auto and installed the periscope
so it could be driven lying down
as a ‘further* protection from bul
lets.
When the preparations were
complete. Ivanoff packed his
family aboard and headed for
the frontier. Ignoring guards’
signals, he smashed through a
road barrier at full speed.
j Food Prices
Continue To Rise
WASHINGTON, UP) — Soar
ing food prices sent the govern
ment living cost index up seven- ]
tenths of one per cent in March |
to a new record high.
It was the largest monthly ad-1
vance since July 1956 and was at- j
tributed principally to higher j
j food costs, which also reached
j a new peak level.
The Bureau of Labor statistics
said its index rose to 123.3 per J
j cent of the 1947-49 average. This
is 3.7 per cent higher than the
figure in March of last year. \
The new living cost hike means
a pay raise of two to four cents
an hour for more than a million
workers, some 800,000, are in the
railroad industry and will receive
a four-cent hourly raise.
Ewan Clague, labor statistics
commissioner, told reporters he!
expects food costs to begin to
level off in A^ril and decline
later on in the summer as more
fresh food supplies reach market.
However, he declined to pre
dict any drop in living costs for
April, but said the government
index would likely not move
very much either up or down.
This was Clague’s explanation
why living costs have continued
climbing despite the business re
cession: “People have got to eat.”
President Warns
Against Hysteria
Over “The Slump”
WASHINGTON, Iff) — Presi
dent Eisenhower said today he
believes the business recession
has been flattening out for some
time and that Americans should
guard against becoming hyster
ical about the slump.
Eisenhower told a news con
ference he is not attempting to
be pollyannish about the recession
and contend everything is lovely.
There still is a lot of agoniz
ing reappraisal going on in the
administration about how to
deal with the slump, Eisenhower
continued.
But, the President said, he
wants to speak out once more
against any hasty action on a
tax cut, and he made it clear no 1
request to Congress for a re-1
duction is imminent.
Reds Now Accuse
U. S. Navy Of
Warlike Action
MOSCOW, UP) — Russia today
extended its accusations of Amer
ican preparations for nuclear war
across the Arctic frpm the U. S.
Air Force to the U. S. Navy.
Quoting reports from the Uni
ted States, the Russian Navy
newspaper Soviet Fleet said
America is building two special
icebreakers, the Atlanta and the
Chattanooga, to deliver supplies
to U. S. military bases in polar
areas.
The paper also said the Uni
ted States is building an aggres
sive fleet of 'atomic submarines
armed with guided missiles. It
noted recent Washington an
nouncements of operations under
the Arctic icecap by the nuclear
powered submarine Nautilus.
The newspaper concluded this
activity is “yet another link in
a chain of aggresbive measures of
the United States in the Arctic.”
Soviet Foreign Minister An- j
drei Gromyko charged last Fri
day that U. S. bombers carrying
nuclear weapons threaten to
touch off world war III by flying
over the Arctic toward Russia.
A Soviet resolution asking a
halt to such flights was with
drawn from the U. N. Security
Council Monday after it failed
to win support.
Ike Confident
GOP Will Win
Senate Control
WASHINGTON, U& — Presi
dent Eisenhower said today he
is not going to admit defeat in
Republican efforts to regain con
trol of the Senate this year.
Eisenhower told his news con
ference he did not know GOP
national chairman Meade Alcorn
had said it “isn’t in the cards”
for Republicans to win Senate
control in the November elections.
In fact, the President said,
Alcorn gave him yesterday a
most enthusiastic and encourag
ing report of Republican pros
pects in the battle for control of
Congress.
Alcorn himself said he had not
informed the President that it
would be difficult for the Repub
licans to win the Senate.
Alcorn’s statement—a most un
usual one for a party chief—drew
a quick endorsement, and ex
pansion, from Democratic na
tional chairman Paul Butler.
Butler predicted Democrats
will gain at least 40 House seats
and 8 to 12 Senate seats in
November.
Alcorn contended, however, the
Republicans will tdke a bare
majority control of the House,
which like the Senate is now
controlled by Democrats.
Alcorn’s Senate forecast brought
quick disagreement from Senate
Republican leader Knowland, but
substantial support from Sen.
Goldwater (R-Ariz).
“I think it’s too early in the
ball game to call the score yet.”
Knowland said.
But Goldwater, noting that
“the arithmetic’s against us,”
said that as a practical matter he
has to agree with Alcorn.
He commented also that “we
have lost too many local elections
in the last couple of years—those
for county and local offices—to
expect to win the big one.”
j Bartlett Calls On Washington
State For Statehood Support
I-<
U. S. Returns
Heikkila After
Deporting Him
WASHINGTON, WV-U. S. of
| ficials cleared the way today for
William Heikkila to return home
after conceding they acted too
hastily in abruptly deporting
him to his native Finland.
However, the government vowed
it will continue its 11 -year fight
to deport the 52-year-old San
Francisco draftsman on charges
he was once a member of the
Communist Party.
Immigration commissioner Jo
seph M. Swing authorized Heik
kila’s return at U. S. expense
yesterday on grounds of a tech
nical error.
Swing acted a few hours after
Heikkila, clad only in a light
suit with no overcoat, arrived in
Helsinki in the midst of a sleet
storm. He contended he had
been kidnapped by U. S. immi
gration agents.
He was grabbed by agents as he
emerged from his San Fran
cisco office Friday and whisked
off to Finland< by way of Van
couver, B. C., and the Nether
lands.
Informed of Swing’s decision,
Heikkila said he would return
home at once. “I have only one
desire in my heart—to return to
my home and wife.”
Heikkila was born in Finland
while his parents, naturalized
Americans of Finnish birth, were
visiting their homeland. He was
brought to this country as an
infant but never was naturalized
himself.
i
Ike Defends
Bomber Flights
Toward Russia
WASHINGTON, UP> — Presi
dent Eisenhower strongly defend
ed during his news conference to
day this country’s right to con
duct practice bomber flights in
the polar region. Russia last
week contended such flights in
the direction of its frontier were
provocative and later took the
matter to the United Nations
Security Council. The Soviet
Union representative withdrew
a censure resolution before a
U. N. vote was reached.
Eisenhower said there had been
a lot of overstatement regarding
the matter, apparently alluding
to the Soviet* charges. He said
if the United States is going to
exist in these days of possible
surprise attack, then all our
bomber planes have to get off the
ground and be ready for any
attack.
Once in the air, Eisenhower
said, the plane crew must have
specific orders before proceeding
to any attack. And such orders
in the case of nuclear armed
planes can come only from the
President, he added.
As for the possible effect of
the Russian charges on pros
pects for a summit conference,
Eisenhower said the Soviet at*
titude really is puzzling to him.
He said he had been discussing
this matter with some of his
aides and puzzlement was the
general feeling.
> WASHINGTON, Wl — Delegate
Bartlett yesterday urged Wash
ington state interests, including
fishermen, to get behind Alaska’s
fight for statehood.
“Any other position,” he said
in a speech for House delivery, “
“would be an economic and legal
paradox. For they stand to gain
directly from new markets and
new investments, and new popu
lar interest in the Pacific North
west—all of which will follow
statehood.”
Bartlett’s speech was in answer
to contentions by Rep. Pelly (R
Wash) and others that under
statehood Alaska could discrimi
nate against non-Alaskans in the
management of its fisheries.
Referring to dwindling salmon
stocks under federal manage
ment in Alaska, Bartlett said
the hope of Washington fisher
men “is that a vigorous state
program can preserve for the
nation a great resource.”
He said the alarrr| of the group
opposing statehood on grounds of
possible discrimination is “whol
ly inappropriate . . . (and) pro
proceeds from six false assump
tions.”
Included among these assump
tions, he said, is a belief the state
government would be unrespon
sive to the will of the people and
would be the servant of a small
group; Alaskans are not conser
vation-conscious; statehood would
be detrimental to the economy of
the Northwest; and Alaskans
would wish to discriminate
against non-residents.
Commenting on this latter
point, Bartlett said “this particu
lar erroneous assumption may
be based upon familiarity with
revised code of Washington”
which he said contains approxi
(Continued On Page 2)
Early Senate Action
Foreseen For Military
Incentive Pay Bill
WASHINGTON, (jB — Sen.
Barrett (R-Wyo) said today a
Senate Armed Services Subcom
mittee is near final agreement on
a military incentive pay bill
scheduled for early Senate action.
The chief objective of the new
pay proposal is to discourage the
costly turnover in trained pilots,
electronics experts and other
technicians—both commissioned
officers and enlisted—through
boosts in monthly base pay.
Special proficiency pay would go
also to key enlisted men.
An estimated 1,750,000 of the
2Vz million persons now in uni
form would be in line for higher
pav under the proposal.
Pentagon spokesmen said the
House bill would add some 683
million dollars to present annual
pay costs.
TUESDAY BASEBALL SCORES
American League
New York 12, Boston 7
Detroit 8, Chicago 2
Baltimore. 4, Washington 2
Kansas City 8, Cleveland 6
National League
Milwaukee 5, Pittsburgh 2
Los Angeles 4, Chicago 2
St. Louis 7, San Francisco 5
Pacific Coast League
Salt Lake City 1, Seattle 0
Phoenix 9, Sacramento 8
Portland 3, San Diego 2
Spokane 8, Vancouver 2