m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LX I No. 98 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1959 _Per Copy—15^
Death of Bull Halsey Plunges Nation
Into Mourning for Pacific Fleet Hero
FISHERS ISLAND, N. Y., UP) — |
President Eisenhower led the
nation today in mourning the
death of Fleet Admiral William
F. <Bulli Halsey.
Halsey, 76, died here yesterday
of a heart attack while vacation
ing.
He gained fame as the admiral
who chased the Japanese fleet
to its death in the Pacific in
World War II.
President Eisenhower said he
had lost a warm personal friend,
and the nation one of its “great
natural leaders.”
“His great personal contribu
tion to the successful campaigns
in the Pacific and the exploits
of the forces under his command
are a brilliant part of American
military history,” said Eisen- .
hower.
Another great military figure
of the Pacific war, General Doug
las MacArthur, said, “He was one
of our greatest admirals, and his
name will always be associated
with our great victory over
Japan.”
Halsey was born in Elizabeth,
N. J., the son of a ship captain.
He was never an outstanding
scholar, but managed to enter
Annapolis, and played fullback on
the football team. On graduation
in 1904, the yearbook called him
a “real old salt.”
When Halsey took command of
Navy forces in the South Pacific
in 1942, the tide of war was run
ning heavily in favor of Japan.
“We had nothing but a shoe
string. We were told to hold on,
and we held on — from Guadal
canal to Tokyo,” he said later.
“When I had the 3rd Fleet, I
had a tremendous steamroller,”
Halsey said. “I could do anything
I damned pleased. But in those
early days, I was scared to death
all the time. The Japs had every
thing. They could have wiped
us out.”
His daring made the shoestring
fleet a telling weapon. His motto
was simple — “Hit hard, hit fast
and hit often.”
Only a few months after taking
command, he led his forces deep
into the Pacific for a strike at the
Marshall and Gilbert Islands, the
first big naval offensive of the
war.
Finally his forces gained control
of the Pacific and in 1955, during
a 35-day period, his command de
stroyed or damaged 2,804 enemy
planes, sank or damaged 148 Jap
anese combat ships and sank or
damaged 1,598 merchant ships.
He leaves his widow, a son,
William F. Halsey III, and a
daughter, Mrs. Margaret Halsey
Spruance.
Controversial Labor Bills
Go To Joint Conference
WASHINGTON, UP» — The Sen
ate today sent the House and Sen
ate-passed labor control bills to
conference with the House after
repeated assurances from Demo
cratic leaders that such legisla
tion would be enacted this session.
Republicans did not press their
demands to vote on accepting the
House measure without a confer
ence, although Senator Karl
Mundt (R-SD), expressed fear of
a deadlock which might result in
no bill or passage of the milder
Senate bill.
Senate Democratic Leader Lyn
don Johnson said he is willing to
stay in Washington until January
3, when the 1960 session will con
vene, if necessary to make sure
that a labor regulation bill is
passed.
Senator John Kennedy, author
of the Senate bill who will head
the Senate conferees, backed up
Johnson, saying there is going to
be a bill this year.
Tragic Endings
SOUTH GATE, Calif., UP — Last
year an auto accident wrecked
the wedding plans of Geraldine
Neff — just one night before the
marriage was to take place..
Geraldine was to marry John
Futon of nearby Compton on
June ^9, 1958. The night before
the wedding Fulton was involved
in an accident en route to a ba
chelor party. He was left perma
nently paralyzed. About three
months ago he broke off the en
gagement.
Two months later, the 19-year
old South Gate girl became en
gaged to Cecil Roberts of Chino,
Calif*
Last Friday night, driving alone
near Las Vegas, Nev., Miss Neff
made a U-turn and crashed into
another car.
She was to have married Rob
erts Saturday. But she died in
the crash.
Top Japanese Say If They
Had Halsey’s Know-how,
They May Have Won War
TOKYO, UP) — Former Vice
Admiral Takeo Kurita and his su
perior former Admiral Jisaburo
Ozawa, agreed today that in the
death of Fleet Admiral William
F. Halsey “America has lost a
great admiral.” Kurita lost the
battle of Leyte to Halsey.
Tameiohi Hara, a former cap
tain in the Japanese Imperial
Navy and navy historian, said:
“The United States has lost one
of the finest admirals in the his
tory of navies. Had Japan had an
admiral of Halsey’s calibre and
I stubborn fight, Japan might have
j at least won the Solomon battles,
if not the entire war.”
Patterson Matchmaker
Suspended in New York
NEW YORK, OP) — The State
Athletic Commission today sus
pended the promoter’s license of
Rosensohn Enterprises Inc., and
the match-maker’s license of Bill
: Rosensohn.
Rosensohn promoted the June
26 heavyweight title fight at Yan
kee Stadium in which Sweden’s
Ingemar Johansson won the world
heavyweight title by stopping de
fender Floyd Patterson.
The commission and District
Attorney Frank Hogan’s office
both are investigating the promo
tional background of the fight.
Rosensohn, who now is vaca
tioning in Cannes, France, said on
August 4 that he unwillingly
signed away control of Rosensohn
Enterprises so that the Johansson
Patterson fight could be held.
WEATHER FORECAST
Party cloudy with scattered
rain showers. Low tonight 40-45;
high tomorrow 50-55.
Nome Data last 24 hours— Tem
peratures: highest 59, lowest 43.
Sunrise 3:56 a.m., sunset 8:12 p.m.
Japan Firms Will
Survey S.E. Alaska
For Iron Ore
TOKYO, W) — Four of Japan’s
leading iron and steel companies
are planning to dispatch a mission
on a 20-day visit to Alaska start
ing late August to survey pros
pects of importing Alaskan iron
ore.
The six-man mission will be
headed by Saburo Tanabe, vice
chief of the Fuji Iron and Steel
Company’s purchasing depart
ment. He will be accompanied by
representatives of the Lawata
Iron and Steel, Japan Steel Tube
and the Sumitomo Metal Mining
Companies.
A Fuji Co. official said the mis
sion, the first to be dispatched
to Alaska, will tour mostly south
ern Alaska.
'He said Japan has made no
Alaskan iron ore purchases yet
because of its low grade but was
interested in exploring mines
there in the hope of making pur
chases in the future.
Japan imported some eight mil
lion tons of iron ore in 1958 main
ly from Southeast Asia countries
including Malaya, Indonesia and
The Philippines.
Since the war’s end, Japan also
has turned to India and Latin
America for iron ore to counter
the drop in supply from Com
munist China.
Admiral Thinks
Soviets Can Launch
Submarine Shots
WASHINGTON, UP) — Admiral
Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval
Operations, said today the Soviet
Union probably has submarines
abe to launch ballistic missiles.
The United States still is only
building the test of its submarines
which will be able to launch
Polaris missiles.
At a news conference, Burke
was asked if Soviet submarines
now are able to fire only the
slow, air-breathing missiles or the
swift, high-projectory ballistic
missiles.
“I think they have both,” he
replied.
He added that the Soviets have
been doing a great deal of work
in the submarine and missile
field.
Until now Navy officials had
suggested that Soviet submarines
probably were capable of hand
ling only the air-breathing mis
siles.
There is no known counterwea
pon capable of intercepting bal
listic missiles, though the United
States is working on the problem.
Air-breathing missiles can be
fired only from the surface,
Burke said in answer to a ques
tion. Ballistic missiles can be
launched from submarines hiding
well below.
- Burke said he thought it pos
sible that a Russian submarine
sighted and photographed last
May near Iceland had missile
launching capability. He said it
seemed to be a “fairly new” type.
POINT PLEASANT, N. J., UP)
—Susan Millstein, 19, was named
Miss Seafood Pricess Saturday.
In her irst public pronounce
ment she said “I guess I should
say I like fish but I just don’t, and
I won’t eat it. The only time I
went fishing I fell into Silver
Lake trying to make a cast.”
Presidential Veto Marks Oil-Gas Lease
Proposal A Short-Sighted, Limited Plan
GETTYSBURG, Pa., UP) — Pres
ident Eisenhower today vetoed a
bill to raise the limit on oil and
gas lease holdings in Alaska of
one individual or corporation
from 300,000 to 600,000 acres.
The President said the bill
would sacrifice “sound principle
and the long-run public interest”,
for a limited gain.
He said in his veto message he
was aware that allowing increased
acreage holdings might be of im
mediate financial importance to
the 49th State. But, he added. “I
believe this to be a short-sighted
goal for it even could result in
depriving both the Alaskan and
federal governments of substan
tial revenue.”
The President’s statement gen
erally outlined the objections
raised in Senate debate by Senator
Gordon Allott (R-Colo).
Allott said the measure would
allow huge concentrations of
lease holdings without giving any
guarantee that the lands would
be explored or developed.
The loss of money to the state
and federal government, he said,
would come if rental and lease
rates are raised through legis
lation now before Congress. The
loss to the state alone, he said,
would run into millions of dol
lars annually.
“The need,” Eisenhower said
today, “is for further progress
under existing programs, not just
speculative or control holdings of
excessive acreages, if the devel
opment of oil and gas resources
on public lands is to occur and
the interests of Alaska and the
nation are to be served.”
Senators Gruening and Bartlett,
sponsors of the bill, described the
opposition to the bill in the Sen
ate as an effort to make the meas
ure a political issue.
The Interior Department -had
opposed the measure. It said the
limitation could be raised to 600,
000 acres, but that half of such
holdings should be north of the
Brooks Mountain range and half
to the south.
The Legislation, introduced in
the House by Representative
Ralph Rivers, was requested by
the Alaska Legislature. Original
ly, the Alaskans had asked a limit
of one million acres.
Space Flare Rocket
Seen 150 Miles
From Firing Site
WASHINGTON, OP — The U. S.
Space Agency rocketed a gigan
tic sodium flare 150 miles above
Virginia’s eastern shore today and
created a spectacle visible from
Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dayton,
Ohio, to southern Florida.
It was the first shot in a high
atmosphere research series _aimed
to learn about upper level winds
and the rate at which material
discharged at that level spreads
out.
There will be another shot at
7:35 p.m. EST, tomorrow.
The National Aviation and
Space Administration fired the
charge aloft in the dawn twilight
from its Wallops Island station.
The 75-pound payload was
hoisted by a 27-foot, two-stage
Nike-Asp research rocket.
The twilight hour was chosen
so that sunlight from below the
horizon would reflect on the so
dium cloud and make for better
visual observations from the semi
darkness below. Tomorrow’s even
ing shot was timed for the same
purpose at the other end of the
day.
The results were rated close to
perfect. Sighting reports came
from Pittsburgh and Dayton, as
far south as Vero Beach, Fla.,
and inland to Montgomery, Ala.
The rocket nose cone contained
10 pounds of sodium propellant,
set off at an altitude of 50 miles
by a charge of thermite.
SUNDAY RESULTS
American League
Boston 6-2, New York 5-4.
Washington 6, Baltimore P.
Kansas City 7, Chicago 2.
National League
Pittsburgh 2-2, Milwaukee 1-5.
Philadelphia 8-6, Cincinnati 50.
Chicago 5, San Francisco 4.
St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 3.
Pacific Coast League
Portland 6-3, Salt Lake 5-4.
San Diego 2-0, Seattle 0-2.
Vancouver 2, Phoenix 0.
Spokane 11, Sacramento 10.
Highway Traveler Saves
Infant from Burning House
CLEVELAND, OPi — James
Pfaff didn’t know there was a 3
year-old bojy in the bedroom the
first time he went into the burn
ing house.
All he knew was that a fran
tic couple — both deaf-mutes —
needed help. They had led him
to the bedroom window and
pointed.
Pfaff, 31, and his wife, Susan,
were driving past when they saw
Mr. and Mrs. Bivens gesticulating
outside the house.
Pfaff went in through the win
dow but was driven back by
smoke.
By then his wife had gotten one
word from Mrs. Biven. The deaf
mute, who had learned to pro
nounce sounds approximating
words, was near hysteria, but
Mrs. Pfaff understood one word,
“crib.”
“There must be a baby in a
crib,” she told her husband.
Pfaff went back in. Finally he
found Scott' Biven huddled un
conscious in a corner of the crib,
found the window again and,
half falling, half leaping, brought
the boy out.
The father, who was badly
burned getting out of the house,
explained by sign language he had
thought his wife was bringing
Scott out. His wife had thought
he was bringing the child.
The boy, who can see, hear and
speak, was treated for smoke
inhalation.
Pfaff, of Chicago, was treated
for cuts and burns on the hands.
Japan Suffers Numerous
Deaths from Typhoon
TOKYO, — Typhoon George
killed 126 persons in cutting
through central Japan Friday,
police reported.
The toll is expected to go
higher with 119 listed missing
and 712 injured. About 10,000
were reported homeless.
Twenty-four fishing vessels
-were listed sunk and 1,185 bridges
washed away.