zs NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LXIII No. 6 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 1961Per Copy 15*
Civil Defense
Office Will Move
Its Headquarters
JUNEAU un — The State’s
Civil Defense organization will
move its headquarters to Fair
banks after Gordon Severson, its
new director, assumes his duties
Feb. 15, Gov. Egan said today.
Egan said there were no plans, j
at least at the present, to shift i
CD Headquarters eventually to j
Anchorage.
The governor told his Monday
morning news conference that
Severson’s office, whose home is
in Fairbanks, will be on the rail
belt, “where the major portion of
the state’s poulation is located.
Severson, now deputy director
of the Division of Veterans Af
fairs, was named to succeed Vern
on Metcalfe, Civil Defense direc
tor for the past 18 mnths, at the
same time Egan annunced Met- (
calfe’s resignation.
“The governor indicated on Jan.
3 that he wanted my resigna
tion,” Metcalfe said. “He implied
he planned to name a new Civil
Defense director by the first of
February.”
Egan announced Metcalfe’s res
ignation Saturday.
While Metcalfe declined to go
into reasons why Egan had asked
for his resignation, the CD direc
tor indicated that the resignation
of four CD attack warning con
trollers in Anchorage in Septem
ber was at least in part to blame.
The controllers quit because
they said Metcalfe had made no
effort to contact them since as
suming his state job.
Asked specifically if Metcalfe
was fired or if he resigned volun
tarily, Egan told his news con
ference only.
“We are going to have a new
Civil Defense Director.” ,
Severson has been deputy
director of the State Division of
Veterans Affairs since that Agen
cy was established within the
Department of Commerce.
He previously had served as
deputy commissioner for the Alas
ka Veterans Affairs Commission
and as battalion adjutant and ad
ministrative assistant with the
Alaska National Guard at Juneau
and Nome.
Severson is a veteran of both
World War II and the Korean
War. He holds the Bronze Star
Medal, the Purple Heart and the
Combat Infantry Badge.
On other subjects, Egan had this
to say:
Fiscal budget: Asked if reports
that the next budget would run
some 12 million dollars more than
the fiscal 1961 budget, or some
$58Vt million, were true, Egan re
plied:
“I can’t make any statement on
what the budget will be until I
get back (from the inauguration
of President-elect Kennedy).”
Unalakleet Hoopsters
Due Here Jan. 20-21
Basketball fans will be treated
to a pair of games between Nome
Hi and Covenant Hi of Unalakleet
on Jan. 20 and 21.
Not much is known about the
boys from the east end of Norton
Sound other than that they do
have a gym and Alfred Moses, a
former student of Nome Hi, is
one of their leading players. Al
fred was considered an excellent
prospect when he was in Nome
last year.
This will be the first clash be
tween the two institutions and
should gave the fans a real treat.
Boundary Commission
Will Hold Hearing in
Nome January 28
JUNEAU (jVt — Chairman Paul
Choquette of the Local Boundary
Commission said the state group
has scheduled additional hear
ings to gain public comment on
the preliminary report on Borough
Government issued last month.
Ohoquettee said new hearings
j have been scheduled at Kodiak,
j Palmer, Seward, Homer, Kenai,
Nome, Valdez, Cordova and Big
Delta, as well as Anchorage and
Fairbanks, where previous hear
ings have been held.
The additional hearings, Cho
quette said, were scheduled “in
recognition of the subject mat
ter and the demonstrated interest
in local government.”
The preliminary report on Bor
ough Government was prepared
by the Legislative Council and the
Local Affairs Agency. The two
state agencies will submit their
final report to the Legislature
shortly after it convenes Jan. 23.
Copies of the preliminary re
port, Choquettee said, are being
mailed to the mayors of the com
munities where the new hearings
have been scheduled, along with
a request that the mayors arrange
for and announce the meeting
place.
The scheduled hearing for
Nome is 1:30 p. m., Jan. 28.
Soviets Launch
Mystery Rocket
WASHINGTON (A — The So
viet Union’s mysterious missile
shot over the Pacific looked to
American experts today like a
prelude to an effort to stage a
spectacular space experiment on
the eve of John F. Kennedy’s
inauguration as President.
Such a space shot — perhaps
an effort to put a man in orbit—
would be intended as a grim re
minder to the new President and
the world of the Soviet military
might.
The Navy reported today that
three Soviet radar-equipped range
ships spotted early last week now
have reached the usual Soviet
missile target area, 1,000 miles
southwest of Hawaii.
In the past, such Soviet ships
have arrived two or three days
ahead of a shot to make ready
for their role of helping track a
missile and check its accuracy.
The Soviets surprised Ameri
can watchers Friday night by
launching a mystery rocket.
The director of Moscow’s
Planetarium, Viktor B a z i k i n,
termed the Air Force anounce
ment “pure invention.” American
authorities are convinced the ra
dar station did not spot a missile
like object.
INDIAN HEALTH ACTIVITIES
BUDGETED FOR $52,292,000
WASHINGTON An appropria -
tion of $52,292,000 for Indian
Health activities in the year be
ginning July 1 was proposed to
day in President Eisenhower’s
budget.
The amount is $2,160,000 more
than was budgeted for these ac
tivities last year.
The Indian Health program pro
vides medical care and public
'-health* services for Indians under
federal care and for Alaska Na
tives.
New replacement hospitals are
expected to be opened during
1961-62 in Kearns Canyon, Ariz.,
Kotzebue, Alaska, and San Car
los, Ariz.
Mary Black Is
Selected Alaska’s
Junior Miss
Saturday evening in a packed
auditorium, Miss Mary Black of
Fairbanks was chosen Alaska’s
Junior Miss to represent the state
in the National Junior Miss Con
test which will be held March
18-24 in Mobile, Ala.
iMary was chosen from a group
of four lovely young ladies: Clar
ice Hardy, Nome; Teresa Hanson,
Anchorage and Martina Oyou
mick from Unalakleet.
The girls were judged on many
points, among them: talent, poise,
character, personality, and social
grace. To be viewed by the judges
and auoience, they came out into
the audience on a ramp in sports
attire, and formal wear. They
then presented their various tal
ents: Martina gave a speech on
“What Statehood Means to Me,”
Mary played a piano solo, “Arctic
Sunset,” her own composition;
Teresa gave a dramatic presenta
tion, and Clarice sang “Summer
time.” For the final appearance
on stage, the young hopefuls came
before the crowd in formal at
tire.
While the judges were compar
ing notes and making the mo
mentous decision, the “Oogruk”
dancers performed. Karl Wom
bacher was master of ceremonies.
Mrs. Warenberg of Nome furnish
ed piano music accompanied by
Don Grettie and Devon Alexander
on the saxaphone and drums.
Judges were: Mrs. Jeff Bayer,
chief stewardess of Alaska Air
lines; Miss Wanda Jarell, acting
chief stewardess of Wien Air
lines; Rev. Harold Diehl from An
chorage, and Maj. Kenneth Lillie,
Senior Army Advisor of Juneau.
After the judges’ decision, Mayor
Steffen Andersen placed the white
fur-trimmed green velveteen robe
and jade-studded ivory crown on
Mary and helped her to the throne
which was covered with a polar
bear skin.
A gala round of events planned
in the girls’ honor began Friday
morning on their arrival and con
tinued until forenoon today.
This has been the first major
pageant of this kind in Alaska.
The Nome Junior Chamber of
Commerce feels it has been a
very successful and worthwhile
project.
THIS HOW YOUR TAX
DOLLAR COMES AND GOES
WASHINGTON UR — This is
where your federal tax dollar will
go, under the fiscal 1962 budget:
National security, 57 cents.
Interest on debt, 11 cents.
Veterans, 6 cents.
Agriculture, 6 cents.
Paying off debt, 2 cents.
All other, 18 cents.
And this where the budget dol
lar comes from:
Individual income tax, 55 cents.
(Corporation taxes, 25 cents.
Excise taxes, 12 cents.
Other receipts, 8 cents.
Thompson Trophy In Order ! !
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE,
Calif. (j¥> — The crew of a record
breaking B58 Hustler Bomber will
receive the 1961 Thompson
Trophy, the Air Force says.
The supersonic, four-engine
Convair turbojet streaked over the
Califronia-Arizona desert Satur
day at an average speed of 1,284.
73, nearly 100 miles per hour
better than a record set two days
earlier in another B58.
Eisenhower’s Budget Proposal Would
Give Alaska Upwards of $50 Million
By Fritz Witti
Associated Press Special Service
WASHINGTON — The fed
eral government will continue to
play an important financial role
in Alaska Affairs, President Ei
senhower’s budget showed today.
Requests for upward of $50
million to be spent on federal ac
tivities in Alaska during the year
starting July 1 are included in
Eisenhower’s final budget sent to
Congress today.
Again the President asks the
maximum $6 million annual tran
sitional grant, which would bring
the total since Alaska Statehood
to $22.5 million. The Alaska Om
nbus Act authorizes $28 million in
these changeover grants through
1964.
Earmarked for water project ac
tivities by the Army Engineers
are $845,800, including $100,000 to
survey the proposed Rampart
Canyon dam site and $150,000 for
planning a flood control project
at Fairbanks.
A total of more than $12 mil
lion is proposed for expenditure
by the Bureau of Indian Afairs,
including $2,343,000 for school
construction and planning at nine
sites.
In his message, the President
recommends sale of the govern
I
Radar Tower
Storm Battered
Topples Into Ocean
WASHINGTON (JPi — A Navy
admiral with a rescue fleet re
ported today “I am very pessi
mistic that anyone can be re
covered” from among the men
who went down with the Texas
radio tower off the North At
lantic Coast.
Rear Adm. Allan Shinn report
ed about 3:45 p. m. — nearly
eight hours after the storm-bat
tered tower sank — that noises
heard from the wreckage “are
weaker and more random.”
Some four hours earlier a Navy
destroyer captain had picked up
noises and “possibly a shout” via
listening devices. He said he felt
this showed some men survived
in an air pocket in the huge struc
ture.
Shinn, talking to a newsman by
radio-telephone from the carrier
Wasp, reported that skin divers
had been unable to reach the
wreckage.
Shinn estimated the tower sank
on its side and that the topmost
part is 100 feet below the surface.
The tower — of a type called
Texas Towers because they were
copied from offshore oil rigs in
the Gulf of Mexico — was part of
the Air Force warning system.
A sort of “Radar Island,” it
was triangular in shape, 67 feet
tall and 187 feet long on each of
the three sides. Three huge domes
laden with electronic equipment
rose from the top.
The tower, damaged in last
September’s hurricane, Donna, had
been under repair when hit by
Sunday night’s raging winds and
high seas. It was situated 66 miles
east of Barnegat Light, N. J.
WEATHER FORECAST
Mostly cloudy with occasional
light snow. Low tonight 5, high to
morrow 12. In the last 24 hours
high of 8, low of -6. Sunrise at
9:50 a. m., sunset at 2:53 p. m.
Year ago today high of -2, low
of -35.
ment-owned Alaska Communica
tions System “to private enter
prise for operation and develop
ment under appropriate regula
tory supervision.”
The budget asks $6.3 million for
operation and maintenance of the
system and contemplates “no sig
nificant expansion” pending the
recommended sale.
“Legislation should be enacted,”
the President said, “to incorpo
rate the Alaska Railroad and
place its operations on the same
basis as other federal activities
of this type.”
The President also called at
tention to subsidies to local-serv
ice airlines, including Intra-Alas
ka operations, and other air ac
tivities which, he said, “continue
to be excessive.” The Civil Aero
nautics Board expects to spend
$9.1 million on Alaska subsidy
operations.
Other amounts requested for
Alaska activities include: $529,
000 as the expected state share
from sale of Pribilof Island seal
pelts; $108,000 for the Arctic
Health Research Center; $133,200
for National Park Service pro
grams.
Appropriations in the budget*
included: Operation and main
tenance of Nome Harbor $53,000.
U. S. Bans Travel to
Cuba for Americans
WASHINGTON UFI — The U. S.
today banned travel by Ameri
cans to Cuba because this country
oan no longer provide protection
to Americans there.
The travel embargo takes effect
in about 48 hours.
An exception is provided for
persons whose travel to Cuba is
regarded by the State Depart
ment as “being in the best in
terests of the United States.”
This includes newsmen and
businessmen with previously es
tablished interests in Cuba.
A similar off-limits ban now
applies to four Communist coun
tries with whom the United
States has no diplomatic rela
tions.
Those countries are Red China,
Albania, North Korea and North
Viet Nam.
Rotary Foundation
Fellowship Awarded
To Anchorage Girl
EVANSTON, 111. UB — Rotary
International announced that a 21
year-old Anchorage girl, Janet M.
Mohr, has been awarded a Rotary
Foundation Fellowship for study
abroad during the 1961-1962 aca
demic year.
Miss Mohr, a 1956 graduate of
Anchorage High School, holds a
Bachelor of Arts Degree from the
University of Wisconsin and now
is working toward a Master’s De
gree there.
The Anchorage girl, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. George D. Mohr,
plans to use the Fellowship to
study French colonial history at
one of Europe’s major universities
in preparation for a career with
the U. S. Government.
ON FRIDAY. THE 13TH ! ! I
FARMINGTON, 111. UB — A car
driven by Joyce Bledsoe skidded
off a road Friday, snapped a utili
ty pole, ripped out 75 feet of
fence, and overturned a wagon
laden with corn before returning
to the highway. She was unin
jured.