m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
--■■■ - - . ■. - " i ——- — r . 1 1 •'■■-» - . ■ -i
VOL. LXI No. 149 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1959 ,_Per Copy— 15<f
First Army Firing
Of Eielson Missile
Is Self-Destroyed
FAIRBANKS, UP) — The Army
tried its first operational firing
of a Nike-iHercules missile last
night. The weapon exploded only
20 seconds after launching.
The Army said the 40-foot, five
ton missile’s mechanism failed to
function properly. It destroyed it
self more than 47 miles from its
target.
The target area was 50 miles
from the launching site near Eiel
son Air Force Base. If the firing
had gone according to plan, the
Nike-Hercules would have ex
ploded near enough to a theoret
ical target to destroy it.
; The temperature was 20 de
grees below zero as members of
the 2nd Missile aBttalion fired the
big weapon into the dusk. There
1 - was a shower of sparks and
flames after it dropped its booster
rocket and exploded.
jl Newsmen Barred
t From Canaveral
• fcIn Error’
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Iff)
—Major General Donald N. Yates,
« who ordered newsmen barred
from missile launchings because
of a news service story, lifted
the ban Tuesday.
The commander of the Missile
Test Center said his action — in
effect 25 hours — was based on
a misunderstanding.
Rescinding of the ban by Yates
came after a strongly worded tele
gram from Lyle Wilson, vice pres
ident of United Press Interna
tional in Washington, denying
Yates’ charge that a UPI story
Saturday violated an agreement
not to pinpoint the date of a fu
ture space probe.
Wilson said the story was based
' on * information from independent
sources in Washington, not on
briefings at the test center.
The story, carrying a Wash
ington dateline, told of plans to
send a rocket to the vicinity of
the planet Venus and into orbit
around the sun. It said the firing
would be Tuesday.
After the story appeared, the
launching was postponed for tech
nical reasons.
The Air Force general told re
porters Monday at his weekly
news briefing that the news serv
ice had violated an agreement not
to release the launching date.
As a result, Yates said, for the
time being he would not brief
reporters on future military
launchings nor allow them to
cover such launchings from the
press site here.
Wilson’s telegram to Yates said
the UPI would accept reasonable
regulations of news coverage at
the test center but “we will not for
a moment submit to nor permit
long to endure your interference
in news coverage here in Wash
ington.”
WANTS-TO BE GARBAGE MAN
MEMPHIS, Tenn., (ffl — Three
year-old Gary Davis is giving his
parents a difficult time as Christ
mas draws near.
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas R. Davis I
have been trying to get Gary
steamed up over wanting an elec
tric train for Christmas.
But Gary won’t steam. What he
vants is a garbage can.
Funds Are Available To
Provide Area with D.A.
Senator Lester Bronson an
nounced this morning that he had
conferred with Attorney General
John Rader in Juneau today con
cerning the lack of appointment
of a District Attorney here to
date. Bronson states he was in
formed by phone that Nome is to
have its own prosecuting attorney
as soon as one can be recruited.
In the meantime, and only tem
porarily, the assistant prosecuting
attorney from the Central Dis
trict (Fairbanks) will assist here.
Rader assured Bronson that funds
have been provided for the office,
and every effort will be made to
secure a man interested in this
part of Alaska, and of good moral
character.
ft
Senators Say A-F
^Buddy’ Plan May
Be Abridgement
WASHINGTON, UP) — Three
Senators say they’ll look into a
‘‘buddy system” at a Kansas Air
Force base, in which squad lead
ers are designated to keep tabs on
the off-duty life of their fellow
airmen.
“I think this is carrying the
spirit of togetherness a little bit
too far,” said Senator Mike Mans
field (D-Mont). “This would tend
to lower morale, which is not
too high as it is.”
The buddy system was dis
closed at Forbes Air Force Base,
Topeka, Kans. The Strategic Air
Command headquarters in Oma
ha said the system has improved
morale, reduced unfavorable inci
dents and boosted re-enlistment
rates.
At Forbes, Brigadier General
Ariel S. Nielsen had each squad
ron divided into small groups
headed by a non-commissioned
officer. These leaders, he said,
should learn details of each man’s
family history, his financial sta
tus, whether he owns a car and
his driving habits, what he does
with off duty time, and with
whom he associates.
Senatef Thomas Hennings Jr.
(D-<Mo), chairman of the Senate
Constitutional Rights Committee,
demanded a full report from the
Secretary of the Air Force. An
aide said Hennings is concerned
that the system “might abridge
the constitutional safeguards of
airmen.”
SAC headquarters said some
forms of the buddy system have
been used since 1956. It said the
system had a two-fold aim — to
retain good men in the Air Force
through re-enlistment, and to eli
minate undesirables.
At Topeka, General Nielson
said today any idea that the sys
tem will mean policing an air
man’s activities around the clock
is completely wrong.
He said the new program only
means there will be careful coun
seling and guidance.
“It is only what any father
would be doing for his son.”
WEATHER FORECAST
Fair and continued cold. Low
est temperatur’e expected tonight
-30, the high tomorrow -15.
In the past 24 hours: highest
temperature -8, lowest -26. Max.
wind 23 mph from the north. Sun
rise at 9:58 a.m., sunset 1:56 p.m.
Extremes this date since 1907:
high 36 in 1945, low -28 in 1935.
Opinions Aired at
Boundary Hearing
The Boundary Commission
hearing on borough boundaries
for this part of Alaska was held
yesterday afternoon at the Fed
eral Building.
The .commission holding the
hearing had dwindled to two
members, Robert Scott and Bob
Fleener, due to inclement weath
er in other parts of the State,
which has caused delays and dis
rupted schedules.
Appearing before the Commis
sion with recommendations were
Russ Hermann for the Chamber
of Commerce, Mayor Steffen An
dersen for the city, and George
Bayer for the Nome School Board,
each of whom recommended that
the Northwestern District be held
in one unit as an organized bor
ough until such time as the State
Legislature defines rules and reg
ulations governing boroughs.
Recommendations were pre
sented by Judge Hubert Gilbert,
who suggested that these boun
dary lines might be extended to
include some of the area directly
south and east of the Northwest
ern District because of ethnic and
economical similarity. It is easier
to reduce the boundaries than to
try and extend them at a later
time, he advised.
Dick Gallaher voiced the opin
ion that Nome should be inter
ested only in the immediate area
around Nome, and not try to in
clude the Arctic or Unalakleet
areas at all.
Some of the responsibilities and
duties which might be placed on
the borough by the Legislature
were discussed by other persons
present.
Mrs. Blodgett of Teller, and Art
Johnson of Unalakleet, voiced
opinions that from what they had
heard at the meeting, their com
munities would probably be in
accord with the Nome Chamber’s
recommendation for an unorgan
ized borough
Russian Sailor
Dies At Kodiak
| KODIAK, UP — Aleksandr Pet
renko, 32, Russian seaman who
was the central figure in an in
ternational mercy mission last
week, died Monday, the victim of
toxic poisoning.
The Vladivostok sailor suffered
massive hemorrhages from a pep
tic ulcer and doctors at the Ko
diak Naval Hospital were unable
to save him.
Petrenko was stricken aboard
the refrigerator ship Jana operat
ing with the Russian fleet in the
Bering Sea. The ship put into
Dutch Harbor, 650 miles west of
here, last Wednesday and a Coast
Guard plane brought. him to
Kodiak. ,
ALASKA AIR FORCE RESERVE
OFFICERS TO BE ORGANIZED
WASHINGTON, UP—An active
Reserve program for Air Force
officers in Alaska is expected to
be set up in the near future, Sen
ator Bob Bartlett said yesterday.
The Reservist program was
first proposed In 1956, but at that
time there were not enough Air
Force reservists in Alaska to war
rant a program, Bartlett said.
The Air Force now feels a Re
servist program for officers in
Alaska “is not only feasible, but
desirable,” Bartlett said.
Eisenhower Relaxes Aboard Cruiser oul
3-Day Mediterranean Jaunt to Tunisia
By MARVIN L. ARROWSMITH
WITH EISENHOWER AT SEA
(#) — The British Mediterranean
fleet today saluted President Eis
enhower as he sailed over sunlit
waters to the Western summit
meting in Paris.
A message was flashed by Ad
miral Sir Alexander Bingley
aboard his flagship Tiger as she
passed within 600 yards of the
President.
“I am honored and delighted to
be able to salute you while you
pass on your mission of peace
through the sea you knew so well
in war,” Bingley said over the
flashing blinker on the Tiger.
Good weather returned to the
Mediterranean today as the Presi
dent sailed westward on the first
real rest of his three-continent
goodwill tour.
After arduous visits to seven
nations with his message of
friendship in freedom, the Presi
dent sailed westward in the Med
iterranean aboard the U. S. heavy
cruiser Des Moines.
He resumes talks on world
problems tomorrow at a confer
ence with Tunisia’s President Ha
bib Bourguiba ashore in Tunisia.
Then Eisenhower will return to
the Des Moines, flagship of the
U. S. 6th Fleet, for a 24-hour
cruise to Toulon, France. There
he will board a special train for
Paris to attend the Western sum
mit conference opening Saturday.
Eisenhower sailed from Athens
Tuesday afternoon. At that point
he had traveled 13,000 miles and
visited seven nations on his
22,000-mile 11-nation tour.
Within an hour after a helicop
ter landed him on the Des Moines,
he was napping in his stateroom.
The President had dinner at
7 p.m., then watched a movie with
his party. The name of the movie
wasn’t announced, but newsmen
were told, “You can assume it
dealt with the United States
Navy.”
The President turned in about
10:15 p.m. and slept a bit more
than 10 hours. It was the longest
sleep he has had since leaving:
Washington.
Lounging about his quarters in.
sports clothes, Eisenhower read
in the ship’s newspaper a dis
patch reporting praise of his mis
ion by Vice President Nixon.
White House Press Secretary
Hagerty said Eisenhower — who
is apparently standing up ex
tremely well — looked forward
eagerly to the three-day voyage.
Communists Fail in
Attempt to Poison
Free Radio Crew
MUNICH, Germany, UP)—Radio
Free Europe said today agents of
a “foreign Communist power”
have attempted a mass poisoning
of its employes.
Most of the employes of this
privately financed, American sta
tion are refugees from Iron Cur
tain countries.
Erik Hazelhoff, of Mount Kisco,
N. Y., Radio Free Europe’s Euro
pean director, said a poison was
found November 21 in a number
of saltshakers at the station’s caf
eteria. The cafeteria is frequented
by 1,200 employes, who often
■bring their families.
The director said the substance
was analyzed by U. S. Army med
ican authorities and was found to
be a poisonous drug derived from
the deadly nightshade plant.
Hazelhoff said the poisoning
attempt was disclosed by a Radio
Free Europe employe “who ' al
though ostensibly used by a for
eign Communist power for sab
otage purposes” has been co-oper
ating with American authorities
from the time he was first con
tacted by the Reds.
“He also revealed the identity
of the person who planned the
act as being a Communist diplomat
stationed in Western Europe act
ing on the instructions of his
government,” Hazelhoff continued.
The cafeteria was closed. -
'CAUGHT IN THE BIGHT'
HOUSTON, Tex., UP) — A deck
hand who reached for a rope and
picked up a rattlesnake has sued
his former employers for $77,000
damages.
Troy Beeson, 38, said in his
court petitidn Tuesday that the
rope bit him September 18 when
in the darkness he was helping
land an empty barge.
Crewmen killed a four-foot
rattler before Beeson was taken
to a hospital, the lawsuit said.
Iowa District Special
Election Privides GOP
New Encouragement
OTTUMWA, Iowa, UP) — A Re
publican has recaptured an Iowa
Congressional seat in a victory
hailed by his party as foreshad
owing a GOP comeback from de
feats suffered last year.
John Kyi, pronounced “Kile,’*
a 40-year-old Bloomfield clothing
merchant, defeated Democrat C.
Edwin Gilmour for the 4th Dis
trict post. Gilmour is a professor
of political science at Grinnell
College.
It was Kyi’s second bid for the
seat. He was defeated last year
by Steven Carter, the first Demo
crat sent to Congress by the dis
trict in 20 years.
Carter died after little more
than a year in office and a special
election was called to fill the
vacancy.
Unofficial returns showed 28,
336 votes for Kyi and 25,804 for
Gilmour.
Just Routine . . .
NEW* YORK, UP)—A New Yorker
picked up her telephone Tuesday
and heard:
“Space ship one, space ship
one, come in space ship one.
This is flotilla leader. I am now
over Washington. Do you read
me, space ship one?”
“I read you, flotilla leader. We
are now approaching New York.
Five waves now in control of
Sheridan Square.”
The terrified woman called
police.
An investigation turned up that
a pair of telephone installers had
become bored with their routine
procedures.
The police reported the matter
to the telephone company, which,
issued this edict: “From now on,
stick to saying ‘one, two, three,
four, testing.’
“If that gets boring, try ‘four,
three, two, oae, testing’.”