15 Diners Killed When Gas Explosion
Demolishes Cafe During Dinner Hour
* MONTECELLO, Utah, l* — An
explosion in a cafe newly hooked
to a natural gas line tore the
brick and cinderblock building
apart like a cardboard house and
killed 15 of its 50-odd customers
at the height of the dinner hour
Monday night.
At least 25 persons were in
jured as the blast demolished the
Lariat Cafe in this southeastern
Utah cattle ranching and uranium
town.
The cafe was jammed with
tourists, construction workers
from nearby jobs, truckers and
townspeople.
The cafe was on U.S. Highway
160 on the edge of town. Only
its sign was left standing. The
•wreckage did not burn.
Some of the bodies were blown
through the wall. Rescue workers
found two cases of eggs in the
rubble. They were not broken.
Two utility company employes,
Jerry Fitch, 28, and Frank Urry,
18, both of Salt Lake City, sur
vived. They had just begun to
eat when the cafe flew apart.
Said Fitch:
“The first thing I noticed, I
was up in the air. . . I just re
member going straight up and
coming down and seeing what I
was coming down on.” Fitch and
Urry were blown out of the cafe
and landed on the ground unhurt.
It was believed the explosion
was caused by leaking natural
gas. Some said the cafe had just
been hooked up to a gas line.
Nearly the entire town of about
2,300 went to the scene to help.
Private homes and churches were
turned into first aid units, or
morgues.
July Was Turning Point
From Good Weather
To Rainy Season
Compiled by the
U.S. Dept, of Commerce Weather Bureau
July marked the turning point
from the pleasant weather of May
and June to the cloudiness and
drizzle prevalent in Nome during
the summers.
While the average wind last
month was slightly below normal,
a pronounced southerly wind com
ponent, coupled with the shallow
nature of Norton Sound, produced
swells that occasionally hampered
lightering operations from the
Nome anchorage to the dock.
From July 1 to 22, only two
days were entirely without sun
shine. From the 23rd on, the sun
shone briefly on only two days.
From the 1st to the 22nd, pre
cipitation was slight, except on
the 6th, when .41 in. fell. From
the 23rd on there was precipita
tion every day, varying from a
trace to 1.34 inches.
The average monthly tempera
ture of 49.5 degrees was -0.1
cooler than normal. Highest tem
perature was 63 oh the 21st; low
est was 38 on the 2nd.
There were almost eight hours
of sunshine on the Fourth of July.
Nome Laundry
& Cleaners
CALL MAIN 29
FOR PICKUP
I
JOE AMAROK, Proprietor
Mrs. Doris Barnes
And Mrs. Sparks
Confident for Ike
SEATTLE, UPi—Alaskans will
vote overwhelmingly for Eisen
hower no matter whom the Dem
ocrats put up for President, two
of Alaska’s staunchest Republican
women said here yesterday.
They are Mrs. Doris M. Barnes
of Wrangell and Mrs. Mildred
Sparks of Haines.
They are on their way to San
Francisco and the Republican Na
tional Convention. Mrs. Barnes
is Republican national committee
woman for Alaska. Mrs. Sparks
will act as a page at the conven
tion.
First Trip to the States
It is the first time out of Alaska
for Mrs. Sparks, who is an Alas
kan Indian.
She gets out the vote in Kluk
wam, her village 20 miles upriver
from Haines. Klukwam has 100
residents and 90 are Republicans,
Mrs. Sparks said.
Mrs. Sparks is the mother of
six children, whose ages range
from 27 to 15. She has served the
Alaska Native Sisterhood for two
years as grand president, three
years as vice president, and for
the past seven years as grand
treasurer.
Senator Since 1952
Mrs. Barnes is a senator in the
territorial legislature. In 1940,
four years after her husband,
Frank, met his death in a hunting
accident, she ran for the town
council. She was elected mayor in
1946 and 1947 and to the territor
ial House in 1943 and 1950. She
has served as a senator since 1952.
Mrs. Barnes has also operated
her husband’s insurance agency
since his death. She has traveled
widely over Alaska this summer.
3,600 Miles for Ike
“I covered about 3,600 miles in
the past month and nearly every
one was for Ike,” she said.
She was met in Seattle by ner
daughter, Dorianne Barnes, who
lives in that city.
GREATER in WIDE SCREEN!
judYgarland
All M-G-M MASTERPIECE REPRINT
COMING SOON—
TO THE THEATER
30% Requesting
Liquor Licenses
Are Ex-Felons
J U N E A U—Investigations of I
rural liquor license applications
by the Department of Territorial
Police have disclosed that 30 per
cent of the applicants are convict
ed felons, a department spokes
man disclosed this week.
Investigations have been made
only since May 15 of this year,
when tlte reactivated Territorial
Board of Liquor Control assigned
that responsibility to the depart
ment respecting applications from
outside municipalities.
Previously, liquor licenses were
issued by the district courts upon
application, unless protests were
filed and substantiated by citi
zens.
One applicant in the Fairbanks
area was found to have been ar
rested 20 times for offenses in
cluding assault with a deadly
weapon, robbery, and inducing to
prostitution.
Another in the Fairbanks area
was shown by an FBI “rap sheet”
to have been arrested 19 times
for violations including receiving
stolen property, narcotics viola
tions and white slave traffic.
Two applicants in the Anchor
age area were found to have re
turned to Alaska within the past
few months after serving terms
at McNeil Island Federal Peniten
tiary. Another is awaiting trial on
a murder charge.
Presenting |
FIRST EDITION
ol
* !
ESKIMO
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by
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On Request f
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*
For reservations,
Trado Mark. Faa Ataaricaa World Ainaayr, lac. Phone Main 1 2
593 First Avenue, Nome
Pw /iMEKICm