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62nd Year No. IllNOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1961Per Copy 15^
iU.N. Secretary-General Hammarskjold
Dies in Tragic Plane Crash in Africa
NDOLA, Northern 'Rhodesia (A
—Dag Hammarskjold died today
in plane crash.
The death of the U. N. Seqre
tary-General was reported today
by Rhodesian officials and con
firmed by the United Nations it
self.
Hammarskjold was on a-peace
making mission in a DC-6B be
longing to a Swedish charter
company. He took off from Leo
poldville, in the Congo, enroute |
to Ndola, in Rhodesia just across
the Congolese border. The plane
was reported over Ndloa, then
turned away.
Hours later the wreckage was
found between Ndola and Mufu
lira, to the north.
Operators of the plane said at
Leopoldville that they were in
vestigating the possibility that the
plane was shot down by a jet of
the Katanga Air Force. Such jets
have been active in the fighting
between U. N. forces and the
Katanga army.
Hammarskjold at the time of
his death was trying to arrange
a cease-fire with Moise Tshombe,
head of the Katanga regime.
Hammarskjold, 56, was in the
eighth year of his job as Chief
Administrative officer of the U.N.
His term was due to expire in
1963. His death raised doubt as
to the future of the organization.
The Soviet Union has proposed a
three-man secretariat, a move the
Western powers oppose because
each of the three would have a
veto.
The U.N. Security Council was
called into session late today in
New York to consider the crisis
growing from Hammarskj old’s
death.
The United Nations office at
Leopoldville said 11 bodies had
been reoovered at the scene of the
plane crash, and one was posi
tively identified as Hammar
skjold’s.
There was one survivor, U.N.
officials said. They expressed be
lief that the plane carried 14 or
16 persons, including a crew of
5. Earlier the total complement
had been reported as 10.
The survivor was identified as
Harry Julian, an American travel
ing as a security guard.
The plane was the object of a
widespread search by U.N., Brit
ish, American and Rhodesian air
craft for more than 15 hours. At
Big-Boat Racer
Champion Muncey Has
A Date With the President
WASHINGTON (A — Bill Mun
date with President
day and Seattle still
ion’s big-boat racing
P.
a result of Muncey’s
Sunday in the Presi
competition for un
roplanes on the Po
e r. He won it by
>th elimination heats,
lg second in the final
is Roll-powered Miss
>rmane£v nailed down
ring championship for
and top seasonal honors
is Century 31, named in
otf Semite's 1963 exposi
icond place in the Presi
Diq> racing went to Miss
piloted by Don Wilson of
midnight it checked in over the
Ndola Airport for a landing and
then mysteriously vanished. It
had been given clearance to land,
then radio contact was lost.
This was the most tragic blow
of its kind to the U.N. executive
staff since Count Folke Berna
dottee, Palestine Truce Commis
sioner, was shot dead on a Jeru
salem street 13 years ago — Sept.
17, 1048.
Bemadotte, like Hammarskjold,
was Swedish.
The plane crashed 'between
Ndola and Mufulira, a copper
mining and smelting center near
the Katanga frontier of 40 miles
northwest of Ndola. This sugi
g e s t e d that Hammarskjold’s
Swedish pilot, Capt. Haalonquist,
had for some reason circled back.
Dag’s Death
Plunges U.N.
Into Deep Crisis
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y. <I>—
Dag Hammarskj old’s death plung
ed the United Nations today into
the deepest crisis of its history.
It could even spell the beginning
of tiie end for the U.N. as an ef
fective world peace organization.
The tragedy in the wilds of
Central Africa could hardly have
happened at a less opportune
moment. The U.N. is opening
Tuesday its regular 16th General
Assembly session—under ominous
storm clouds.
Hammarskjold may prove to
have been the indispensable man
so far as survival of the U.N. as
a world police force is concerned.
The depth of the crisis can
hardly be overestimated. Appar
ently there is no successor to
Hammarskjold as Secretary-Gen
eral who would be acceptable to
the Soviet Union and the United
States.
The crisis was coming in any
event, but Hammarskjold’s death
advanced it by at least a full
year.
Hammarskjold’s second five
year term of office was to expire
in April 1963. That meant that
the matter of his successor would
have arisen in the 17th General
Assembly next year.
To produce a successor the Se
curity Council would have to
agree on a candidate and rec
ommend him to the Assembly. A
crisis was more or less certain
since the five permanent council
members, including the USSR and
the United States, have veto
power.
Premier Khrushchev declared
war on Hammarskjold last year,
principally because of Moscow’s
anger at the way the U.N. Chief
handled the Congo crisis.
Just a year ago Khrushchev, on
hand in person ait the riotous 15th
session, launched a furious at
tack on Hammarskjold and de
manded his replacement by a
“Troika” — a three-man beard
made up of one Communist, one
Westerner and one neutral, each
with % veio, .., ;
The Soviets can be expected
now to push tills idea once again.
If adopted, it would effectively
destroy the Secretariat’s power to
act as a policeman in a dangerous
world crisis.
It would be forever paralyzed
by the veto power of one or an
other ot its members.
President Kennedy
To Address U.N.
General Assembly
WASHINGTON UP) — President
Kennedy will address the United
Nations General Assembly, prob
ably on Friday, the White House
announced today.
Press Secretary Pierre Salinger,
in making this announcement, de
clined to comment on reports that
Kennedy will offer an American
proposal for full disarmament.
The exact timing of Kennedy’s
address remains to fixed, Salinger
said, by the schedule of proceed
ings adopted by the Assembly,
which opens Tuesday.
The tragic death of U.N. Sec
retary-General Dag Hammarskjold
in a plane crash in Africa
strengthened the President’s de
sire to appear personally (before
the 99-nation assembly, Salinger
said.
This disaster had the effect, the
secretary explained, of making
Kennedy feel that “now, at a time
of crisis for the U.N. would be
a good time to go there and af
firm support of the U.N. and its
purposes.”
He refused to go into any dis
cussion of the substance of the
President’s address, but dis
closed that Kennedy has talked
by telephone with both Secretary
of State Dean Husk and Ambas
sador Adlai Stevenson, chief of
the U.S. delegation to the U.N.,
in the course of the day.
JFK Plans to
Relocate Surplus
Wheat in Alaska
JUNEAU UP) — President Ken
nedy’s plan to relocate the quan
tities of surplus wheat in or near
Anchorage and Fairbanks as an
emergency food source has been
endorsed by Gov. Egan.
Egan said today he had asked
Agriculture Secretary Orville L.
Freeman to make an additional
allocation for southeastern Alaska.
Egan said he had also pointed
out that Alaska had no milling
facilities and urged that Freeman
give consideration to the provision
of minimal milling facilities so
the grain could be used more ef
ficiently, should the need arise.
Freeman was also asked to con
sider supplementing the wheat
storage program with a similar re
location of surplus stores of beans
and rice, Egan said.
Under Kennedy's proposal, 75,
000 bushels of surplus wheat
would be stored in or near Fair
banks and 32,000 bushels would
be stored in or near Anchorage.
“Alaska’s reliance on imports
for day-to-day sustenance and the
likelihood that supply lines would
be cut in time of crisis, make the
continued availability of adequate
food stocks of major concern for
both the military and civilian
populations,” Egan said.
Anchorage Banker Becomes
Engaged to Director of WACs
ANCHORAGE m — A promi
nent Anchorage banker and long
time Alaskan plans to marry the
nation's highest-ranking lady sol
dier.
The engagement of Elmer E.
Rasmuson, president of the Na
tional Bank of Alaska, to Col.
Mary Louise Milligan was an
nounced today by U. S. Army
headquarters at Fort Richardson.
Col. Milligan is the director
of the Women’s Army Corps.
gggil
SEN. PEARSE WALSH
ON HAND FOR ARRIVAL
OF FIRST MAIL TRUCK
Sen. Pearse Walsh, who repre
sented Nome at the ceremonies
held in Fairbanks for the arrival
of the first overland truck mail,
reports that they were alerted
Friday that the mail was getting
in ahead of schedule and were
out to meet the truck at two
o’clock in the morning. The offi
cial ceremony, however, was held
in the afternoon at the rear of the
Federal Bldg., where many dig
nitaries were on hand for the
momentous occasion including
Sen. Bob Bartlett from Washing
ton, D. C., and even a band from
Fort Wainwright.
The mail service from Seattle
will take five days from Seattle
to Fairbanks and include second,
third and fourth class matter and
will be made four times a week,
on Monday, Wednesday Thurs
day and Friday. This is only the
start of the service Walsh was
advised, as it is also in the plan
ning for a more direct route from
Minneapolis as well as Seattle to
take care of the eastern mail both
of which should result in savings
to Alaska, not only in time but in
freight cost.
Walsh also reported that he had
an opportunity to talk with Sen.
Bartlett on the defense problem
of the coastal area of Alaska
facing Siberia and was assured I
by him that he personally would
take the matter up directly with
the Secretary of Defense, Robert
McNamara and Gen. Taylor, the
military advisor to the President.
Free X-Ray to be Given
At City Hail Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday
Public Health Nurse Margaret
Swanlberg announced today that
the annual X-ray survey by the
Alaska Dept, of Health will start
tomorrow at the City Hall.
Rex Morrow and Jim Sullivan,
x-ray technicians, - are here to
operate the X-ray machine.
Hours for the public to get
their chest X-ray will be from 1
p.m. to 5 pm. and 7:00 to 8:30
on Tuesday and Wednesday, and
on Thursday from 1 pm. to 5 p.m.
only.
Everyone is urged to take ad
vantage of this opportunity to get
their free chest X-ray during
these hours.
Wien Pilot Sees Atomic
Cloud Over Siberia
Sen. Lester Bronson spoke be
fore tile Chamber of Commerce
at noon today on the importance
of an active Civil Defense pro
gram.
He Mated that it may already
be too late as Tony Schultz, a
pilot for Wien Airlines has re
ported that he actually saw the
mushroom cloud of an atomic
blast in Siberia recently while on
a flight between Kotzebue and
Cape Thompson.
Bronson stated that he will call
a meeting of Civil Defense on a
week from Wednesday and urges
cooperation at that time to for
mulate a worthwhile program
here.
Whooping-Cough Epidemic Takes
125 Lives in Dutch New Guinea
HCXLLANDIA, Dutch New Gui
nea OW — A whooping-cough epi
demic on Kepi, Southern Dutch
New Guinea, has taken 125 lives
reports reaching here said Sat
urday. Another 34 children have
died from stomach and intestinal
troubles.
. i
7 V
U.S. Fires Second
Blast . . . Soviets
Let Go With No. 12
WASHINGTON UF> — The Unit
ed States has fired the second
nuclear blast of its renewed
underground tests, while the So
viets pushed the total in their cur
rent series to 12 with two more
blasts in the atmosphere.
U. S. space scientists also had
a busy weekend:
The Air Force shot another
Discoverer satellite — the 31st in
the series — into orbit from the
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
It will attempt within four days
to recover it in midair over the
Pacific. A key experiment is the
placing of human cells in die
capsule for testing after orbit
for the effect of exposure to
outer space radiation.
The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration lighted up
the sky along the middle Atlantic
coast Saturday night and early
Sunday with fiery clouds of chem
ical vapor in a study of upper at
mosphere wind conditions. Nike
Asp rockets carried the test ma
terials aloft from Wallops Island,
Va.
The U. S. blast Saturday took
place underground at the Atomic
Energy Commission’s test site in
Nevada. It was described as a
low-yield device — equivalent to
the force of 20,000 tons of TNT
or less — that produced no fall
out.
The Soviet test Saturday was
in the atmosphere and the AEG
said it was in the order of a
megaton, equivalent to a million
tons of TNT.
The Soviet blast Sunday, also
in the atmosphere, the AEC said
was of intermediate strength.
Soviet explosions have come
almost daily since the the Soviet
Union on Sept. 1 ended the three
year moratorium on nuclear tests.
The United -States now has
tested 155 nuclear devices and the
Soviets 77. Britain has conducted
21 tests and France 4.
As the great powers banged
away with nuclear tests, thou
sands of Britons demonstrated
their opposition to use of nu
clear weapons.
Nearly 900 persons, including
notables of the entertainment
world, were arrested by London
police, who threw in mounted
patrols Sunday to beat back a
march on the houses of Parlia
ment. The demonstrations con
tinued through the night.
Soviet nuclear testing produced
a sharp jump Sunday in the level
of radioactivity in three states.
Officials said a chance in high
altitude wind direction probably
caused the increase.
In each case, the high-level still
was far below any danger point.
Alaska Native Brotherhood
Convention Set for Nov. 13-18
JUNEAU UFt — The 1961 con
ventions of the Alaska Native
Brotherhood and the Alaska Na
tive Sisiterhood have been sched
uled for Nov. 13-18 at Klukwan,
ANB Grand Secretary C. E Peck
said today.
Peck said among the speakers
who will address the conventions
were Asst. Secretary of the In
terior John A. Garver Jr.; Gov.
William A. Egan; Dr. Theo J.
Norby, State Commissioner of
Education; and James E Hawk
ins, Area Direotor of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs.