m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LV No. 14 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 19 3 Per Copy—15^
Eisenhower Will Order U. S. Seventh
Fleet To Cease Neutralizing Formosa
WASHINGTON, (TP) — President 1
Eisenhower announced today he,
is ordering the U.S. Seventh Fleet1
to stop shielding Communist!
China, and, in a surprise move,
he invited Congress to disavow ;
any Roosevelt-Truman “secret un
derstandings” which permit en
slavement at people anywhere.
At home, the new Republican '■
president cautioned against tax ■
cuts until a balanced budget is
in sight and gave his blessing to
the end of all price and wage I
controls when present authority
for them expires on April 30.
Eisenhower said the present ef- |
feet of the Truman order neutral- i
izing the Chinese Nationalist is
land of Formosa is to protect the
very Chinese Reds who are kill
ing American soldiers in Korea.
“We certainly have no obliga- j
tion,” he said, “to protect a na
tion fighting us in Korea.”
' Eisenhower spoke out in a j
state of the union message which
brought him before a joint ses
sion of Congress for the first time
since he took office.
It was a far-ranging 8,500-word
address in which the chief execu
tive took “individual liberty” for
his theme.
Blunt Talk on Blockade
Eisenhower’s most important
announcement — freeing Chiang
Kai - Chek's Chinese Nationalists
on Formosa to strike at the Com
munist - held China mainland —
came as something of an anti
climax. Word of it had leaked in
advance, and Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur among others commended
it warmly.
With soldier-like bluntness, the
new President stated his views of
the fleet’s “neutralizing” mission:
“This has meant, in effect, that
the United States Navy has been
required to serve as a defensive
arm of Communist China.”
The chief executive outlined a
series of projects already started
by his administration:
A new federal loyalty and se
curity program, supervised by
(Continued on Page Two)
French Fear Withdrawal
U.S. Seventh Fleet Will
Spread Far East Fighting
PARIS, (#)<—Top French gov
ernment officials fired anxious
questions at U. S. Secretary of
State John Foster Dulles Monday
on President Eisenhower’s inten
tion of ending the U.S. Seventh
Fleet’s blockade around the Na
tionalist Chinese fortress of For
mosa.
Dulles met all morning with the
officials. He had many questions
to ask, himself, about why France
was dragging her feet in the plans
for European unity.
But the French turned the
meeting into one of questions on
their own part. French sources
said French officials were deeply
concerned over parts of the Am
erican President’s state of the
union message to Congress —
which they saw in advance of
delivery.
The French are particularly
worried that Eisenhower’s report
ed decision to withdrawn the Sev
enth Fleet may spread the fight
ing in the Far East.
Eisenhower Says Hawaii
Deserves Statehood Nowr
WASHINGTON, UP — President
Eisenhower said Monday in his
state of the union message to
Congress that statehood to Hawaii
should be “granted promptly,”
but he made no reference to
Alaska.
“The platforms of both politi
cal parties promised immediate
statehood to Hawaii,” he said.
“The people of that territory have
earned that status. Statehood
should be granted promptly with
the first election scheduled for
1954.”
Former President Truman re
peatedly in the past recommended
statehood for both Hawaii and
Alaska.
Sen. Hugh Butler (R-Neb),
chairman of the Senate Interior
Committee, who previously has
opposed statehood for both Ha
waii and Alaska, has predicted
•that Statehood for Hawaii will be
approved by this Congress but
similar legislation for Alaska will
be turned down.
Some senators, including But
ler, who have opposed statehood
for Alaska, have said it is their
belief Alaska is not yet econ
omically ready for it.
Britain Deeply Concerned
Over U.S. Change Of
Policy Toward Formosa
LONDON, (£) — Prime Minister
Churchill told. an uneasy British
parliament Monday he made “no
formal or informal commitments”
with President Eisenhower during
their meetings last month.
The British leader also announ
ced Foreign Secretary Anthony
Eden will make a statement about
the island of Formosa Tuesday—
a statement that is expected to
express Britain’s deep concern at
a reported change in American
policy toward the island on which
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s
Nationalist Chinese army is based.
PLANE WITH 39 ABOARD
BELIEVED DOWN AT SEA
HALIFAX, Nova ScotiaH^—A
four-engine British commercial
transport plane with 39 persons
aboard radioed on SOS from the
stormy North Atlantic today and
rescue plane and ships sped to
the scene.
The Royal Canadian Air Force
reported that the aircraft, a four
engine York operated by Sky
ways, Ltd., of London, was be
lieved down 262 miles east south
east of Gander, Newfoundland.
The plane was being used to
ferry British troops between Lon
don and the West Indies.
ACTOR ALAN CURTIS DIES
NEW YORK, U")—Movie actor
Alan Curtis died Sunday, a week
after a kidney operation, follow
ed by a four-minute failure of
his heart. He was 43.
Curtis, a native of Chicago, ap
peared in many movies. Among
them were “Between Two Wom
en,” '‘Bad Guy,” “Mannequin,”
“Yellow Jack,” and “Shopworn
Angel.” *
Death Toll From
Storms In Europe
Nears Thousand
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands,
(/Pi—Mountainous new tides rolled
in upon Europe's battered coasts
today, bringing fresh peril to
lands which already have counted
more than 850 dead in a weekend
of hurricane and flood. The toll
may pass the 1,000 mark when
all bodies are recovered.
Towering waves' poured thru
ancient dikes at 70 places and
covered a sixth of Holland with
salt water, bringing the country’s
worst disaster since the 15th cen
tury. The death toll according to
the latest available count mount
ed to 464.
Britain counted 395 dead, 248
in floods, 132 in the sinking of
the ferry Princess Victoria and
15 in the disappearance of a Brit
ish trawler.
Belgium had 17 drownings.
The Thames River burst its
bunks at four new places today
under the pile-driving force of the
afternoon high tides, spreading
more desolation.
Scores of bodies floated among
vast seas of debris on Britain’s
beaten coasts. There were corpses
on rooftops of abandoned homes.
The holes in the dikes in Hol
land were so big ferry boats
could be driven through them—
and one was. Up to 1,500 square
miles of land were flooded
Sunday’s 90 - mile winds were
reduced to 22 miles an hour to
day, but temperatures around
zero added to the sum of human
misery. Many crops of winter
wheat were damaged, along with
thousands of acres of rich soil.
U.S. AND COMMUNIST JETS
IN 15th DAY OF DOG FIGHTS
SEOUL, UFI — U.S. Sabre jets
tangled with Russian-built MIGs
all along MIG Alley Monday. Pi
lots reported shooting down two
Red jets, probably destroying an
other and damaging two more.
It was the 15th straight day of
dog fights in far northwest Ko
rea. The Air Force said the bat
tles ranged from an altitude Of
8 Vi miles down to 500 feet.
The Eighth Army said the
sharpest ground fighting broke
out on the western front near
shell-battered Old Baldy Hill.
Elsewhere mainly sporadic pat
rol clashes were reported.
33,977 Persons Enter
Territory in 1952
Over Alaska Highway
FAIRBANKS, UP) — Approxi
mately 34,000 people entered the
territory via the Alaska Highway
during the past year the United
States customs service reported
here Friday.
Records kept at the Tok Junc
tion customs station on the Alaska
Highway showed a total of 13,952
vehicles entering Alaska during
1952. These vehicles carried a
total of 33,977 people. They in
cluded buses, cars, trucks and
trailers.
Records show that the Alaska
Highway has recorded a 566 per
cent increase in traffic above 1947
—the first year unrestricted civ
ilian traffic was permitted on the
road.
Three Members Central Committee
Denounce Recommendation Of
Rob Reeves for Alaska Governor
-<s
Measure Would Raise'
Penalty For Advertising
Along Alaska Highways
JUNEAU, UR —A bill to put
teeth in the law against adver
tising along Alaska’s highways
was introduced Saturday by Sen.
John Gorsuch, Anchorage Repub
lican.
It proposes adding political ad
vertising to the existing law on
commercial displays, and would
raise the penalty from the present
$50 to a $250 minimum.
His bill provides for the High
way Patrol to destroy existing
signs at the advertiser’s expense.
Gorusch said a Matanuska Val
ley Chamber of Commerce reso
lution protested signs on the
Palmer Highway and asked more
strict enforcement.
Gorsuch also said t here had
been excessive political advertis
ing displays—including his own.
Congressman Requests
Commerce Dept. Aid In
Seattle Shipping Problem
WASHINGTON, UPi—Rep. Pelly
(R-Wash) called on the Commerce
Department Friday for aid in
solving economic problems on the
Seattle waterfront resulting from
work stoppages.
After conferences with Secre
tary of Commerce Weeks and un
dersecretary W. Walter Williams,
Pelly said he had assurances the
department would cooperate fully
in seeking solutions.
Pelly said he was satisfied
Weeks would immediately ask the
department office in Seattle for
data on the effect of the stop
pages.
Pelly told Weeks that since
1934 the Seattle waterfont had
been closed for various reasons
an average of 74 days a year. Last
year, he said, the waterfront was
down more than 100 days with
resulting individual hardships
and economic loss.
The Washington congressman
has introduced a bill for a study
of the situation by the House In
terstate Commerce Committee.
Dulles Tells Europe U.S.
Help Forthcoming Only
If They Try Help Selves
ROME, UPf — President Eisen
hower’s new Secretary of State
arrived in Europe today and made
clear within 10 minutes that the
United States wants to know what
Europe is doing about unification
for defense. x
Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles hinted broadly again along
the lines of the warning in his
first U. S. radio speech a week
ago. He said then that the United
States might re-shape its aid pol
icy toward western Europe if the
nations refuse to unite. Saturday
he put it this way:
“I am not here to preach or
talk but to listen and learn, so
that our government may make
its decisions wisely with regard
to the direction in which you,
yourselves, are going.”
By JIM HUTCHESON
JUNEAU, rn—Foes 'of the Re
publican Central Committee ma
jority’s endorsement of Robert C.
Reeve for Alaska governor blew
the lid late Sunday off the politi
cal kettle that has been boiling
since the nod was given Reeve
last Thursday night.
Three persons who cast votes
for other candidates issued a
stinging blast Sunday against the
recommendation of Reeve. They
described his defeat for Delegate
to Congress in the otherwise Re
publican landslide last fall as a
rejection by the voters.
The statement was issued as a
“report to the public” by the Cen
tral Committee minority.
It charged that Albert White, ,
Juneau, who was labeled the “so
called general counsel of the Cen
tral Committee, pulled the strings
by long distance telephone from
California.
It charged further that the en
dorsement represented a disre
gard of the -popular wishes of
Alaskans which might jeopardize
the future of the Republican party
in the territory.
White has been a long-time con
troversial political figure, and is
often described by opponents as
“Boss White.”
The three over whose names
the statement was issued were
Jack Sherman, Ketchikan; Rep.
Edith Bullock, Kotzebue; and E.
Wells Ervin, Anchorage.
The Reeve controversy has led
many legislators to predict that
Secretary of the Interior McKay
may solve the factional dispute
by appointment of a non-Alaskan
as governor.
The minority of three said it
tried unsuccessfully to have the
committee meeting thrown open
to the public.
“During the course of the meet
ing, several recesses were taken
and it became obvious the main
purpose was to permit some mem
bers of the majority group to get
in touch with White by telephone
so they co,uld be instructed on
what actions to take.”
The statement charged that no
evidence was presented to show
any popular precinct level sup
port for Reeve. Despite Reeve’s
presence at the committee ses
(Continued an. Page Two)
\ _
GOP Central Committee
Recommends Judges
For Three Divisions
ANCHORAGE, UP)—'The Repub
lican Central Committe convened
Friday and agreed on recommen
dations for district judgeships in
the three divisions when vacan
cies occur or incumbent’s terms
expire.
Chairman Elton Engstrom, Ju
neau, announced agreement had
been reached on John Manders,
Anchorage, Third Division; Julien
Hurley, Fairbanks, a Republican
member of the House, in the
Fourth Division, and Howard
Stabler, Juneau, in the First Di
vision.
No recommendation was made
for the Second Division in which
a vacancy presently exists.