m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL, LV No. 47 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1953 Per Copy—15^
TOO Disabled Allied War Prisoners
Are Exchanged For 500 Glum Reds
By Robert Tuckman
PfANMUNJOM, (/P) — One hundred disabled
* Allied war prisoners, some weeping silently, came
down freedom road today in an historic exchange for
500 glum Red sick and wounded of the Korea war.
The trade, first clear break in long - deadlocked
truce talks, could be the prelude to an armistice in the
-i
In The War In Korea . . .
SEOUL, W)—Fighting along the
Korean battle front sputtered
briefly then all but died out to
day as the warring armies swap
% ped disabled prisoners at Pan
munjom.
Murky weather grounded most
U.N. warplanes today following
Sunday’s mammoth assault
against Communist frontline posi
tions. The Fifth Air Force called
it the biggest close-support effort
in six months.
More than 225 jet and propellor
driven fighter-bombers dropped
fire and explosives on the Tied
lines from dawn to dusk.
A strange object described as
triangle-shaped and about seven
feet in diameter was spotted by
U. S. airmen flying slowly over
Red lines in western Korea. There
was no official comment.
The battleship New Jersey
opened up on Wonsan with her
nine 16-inch guns Monday in the
* the Navy’s unending air and water |
siege of that transportation hub.
McKay Says Statehood
For Alaska Will Depend
On The Bill Submitted
WASHINGTON, UP — Secretary
of the Interior McKay said yes
terday he expects Hawaii to be
come a state, but that Alaska
statehood “would depend upon
the bill submitted to Congress.”
“It Would be very foolish to
allow any territory to come into'
this Union unless they could sup
port themselves as a state,” Mc
Kay continued. “That is the only
question involved, I believe.”
McKay said he favored all pos
sible cooperation with Canada. He
noted that the Pacific Northwest
will want Canadian cooperation
in connection with some dams
i that would back the Columbia
River waters across the border;
that the Northwest wants natural
gas, and Canada is one source;
and that Canada has cheap coal
“So I think we should be very
cooperative in doing all we can
to develop both in our economies.”
Senator Calls For 6 Billion
Cut In Atomic Spending
WASHINGTON, UP— Sen. Fer
guson (R-Mich) called Saturday
for a six billion dollar cut in arms
and atomic spending, amid signs
the Eisenhower administration
may support a slower buildup of
western defense.
The proposal by Ferguson, chair
man of the Senate Armed Ser
vice Appropriations Subcommit
tee, came in the face of an asser
tion by Sen. Symington (D-Mo)
that U.S. military strength is lag
ging further behind Russia’s ev
ery day.
>34-month-old war. The talks, sus
pended last October, resume on
Thursday.
* The blue-clad Allied prisoners
included 30 Americans, 12 British,
50 South Koreans, four Turks and
one each from Canada, South
Africa, Greece and the Philip
pines.
100 Return Tommorrow
Another 100 return tomorrow—
35 Americans, 12 British, three
Turks, and 50 South Koreans, the
Reds said today. In all, 605 Allied
sick and wounded are being
traded for 5,800 Reds.
Those crossing today appeared
to be in fair health and well-fed.
None mentioned unusually harsh
treatment in the North Korean
prison camps, where some had
been since 1950, the first year of
the war. But one officer said
treatment was “unbelievably
poor” before the truce negotia
tions began, then picked up ma
terially.
Four came back on stretchers;
others walked or hobbled on
crutches.
It was a solemn, dramatic scene
as the sun burst through clouded
skies in mid - morning.
The returning prisoners grin
ner or wept or remained stolid,
each man to his own feelings.
Reds Tried to Make Conversions
Sounds of battle from a nearby
fight echoed over this ancient vil
lage.
Many said the Reds tried to'
win them to Communism, but
there was no outward indication
of success.
Cpl. Kenyon Wagner of Detroit,
Mich., a tuberculosis patient, said
Allied soldiers were “exposed to
Communist literature and study
was encouraged.”
Asked if any had turned Com
munist, Wagner replied: “I could
not say.”
Wagner said he was given “the
whole works” in medical treat
ment, including modern drugs. He
said one of his Red doctors was
trained in Detroit.
Pfc. Almond L. Noland of Rex
ville, N.Y., a captive since Dec
ember, 1950 said:
"Plenty of Girls"
“Treatment up there wasn’t too
bad ... I believe we got the best
they could do although the first
winter was pretty rough.”
Some prisoners said they had
seen Russians in North Korea,
but others said they had seen
none.
“We saw plenty of girls,” said
another.
From Panmunjom, the prisoners
were rushed by helicopter and
ambulance to Munsan’s “Freedom
Village” for medical care and in
terviews. Then on to a hospital at
Seoul.
Some were expected to leave
Tuesday for Japan on the next leg
(Continued on Page Two)
Troops Survive
A-Blast 2500 Yards
From Ground Zero
LAS VEGAS, Nev., UP)—Twenty
two hundred Marines crouched in
trenches witnessed the most spec
tacular atomic blast of the spring
series—a shot that flashed blind
ing white then turned a beautiful
rosy orange during an unusually
long-lingering afterglow Saturday.
The pre-dawn detonation, first
to involve Marines maneouvering
in helicopters, was set off from
a 300-foot tower.
After the explosion the ground
troops from Camp Pendleton,
Calif., and Camp LeJeune, N.C.,
scrambled up and advanced in a
tactical exercise toward a mock
enemy. Their trenches were 4,000
yards from Ground Zero.
Leap-frogging over them came
200 more Marines in 40 Sikorsky
helicopters applying vertical en
velopment tactics similar to those
carried out in World War II by
gliders and paratroops.
Six Marines and six soldiers
rode out the blast in trenches well
in advance of the main body of
troops. Authorities wouldn’t dis
close their distance from the blast.
Nine volunteers were stationed
2,500 yards from Ground Zero in
a previous test.
The exercise commander, Brig.
Gen. William C. Bullock, said
there were no casualties.
The brilliant flash was seen in
Los Angeles, 250 miles away, as
an orange-yellow glow illuminat
ing the entire sky.
Rabbits were exposed to the
I blast for military effects tests.
Sheep were used, too, to' show the
Marines the effect of a bomb on
living things.
Too Cold In Ohio
For Eskimo Girl
AKRON, O., (J>> — The 19-year
old Eskimo wife of an Akron, O.,
serviceman is finding her first
spring in Ohio somewhat short of
her dreams.
“It’s miserable here,” com
plained Enika Thornton as wet
snow flurries dribbled over the
city for the second straight day.
“The cold bothers me more than
it ever did before,” she said.
“This dampness is more chilling
than 40-below in Alaska.”
Enika is the wife of Airman
2/C Lawrence Thornton, Jr., on
leave now visiting his parents
here. They were married while
Thornton was stationed near An
chorage.
MAN DENIED NAME OF
SANTA CLAUS, ASKED FOR
"PECUNIARY BENEFITS"
FAIRBANKS, UP — The name
Santa Claus belongs to the world
and not to any one person.
That, in efect, was the ruling
of Federal Judge Harry Pratt at
Fairbanks Saturday in denying
the request of Robert Lee Chesser,
a resident of a community known
as North Pole, 14 miles south of
Fairbanks, to change his name to
that of the revered St. Nick.
Chesser sought the change in
names for “business and pecuni
ary benefits.”
Missing Plane Located
55 Miles From Galena,
But No#Sign of The Pilot
The Piper Cub plane flown by
Pilot Schuh and missing since last
Wednesday on a flight frqm Kot
zebue to Galena has beep located
this afternoon about 55 miles
northwest of Galena by one of the
Air Force search planes.. No sign
of the pilot was seen according
to the first report received at
press time.
Earlier today the CAP L-5 was
taken out to search by John
Cooley and Paul Carlsen. They
were reported to be headed to
ward the Bendeleben Mountains
with gas enough for about four
hours.
It was also reported that gas
has been made available at Moses
Point for searching aircraft
-j
Treasury Secty. Asserts
No Depression In U.S.
Even If There Is Peace
NEW YORK, UPl—Secretary of
the Treasury George M. Humph
rey said today the United States
is “not headed for depression”
whether there is a truce in Korea
or even a real peace.
“There is no reason to fear
peace,” he said.
In his first address since he took
office in the Eisenhower adminis
tration, Humphrey outlined a fis
cal policy that called for a reduc
tion in taxes when governmental
expenses “are under control.”
“Taxes must come down,” he
said. “It’s simply a matter of
timing geared to reduction of ex
pense. Both are too high and
both must be reduced. . . .
“We are not going to have a
depression in America whether we
have an armistice, a real peace,
or continue to develop a proper
and balanced posture of defense.
There is no reason for a depres
sion unless we fail ourselves to do
the things we ought to do and
lack the courage and foresight to
do them.
“There will be readjustments,
of course. There are always re
adjustments taking place in any
active economy, sometimes to the
advantage or detriment of one
group and sometimes to another.
But depression, No. We cannot
preserve our way of life through
another long, deep depression and
we must never permit it to occur.”
Russia Declares Chinese
Guerrillas In Burma
Threaten Far East Peace
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., UP)—
Russia told the United Nations
today the presence of Chinese Na
tionalist guerrillas in Burma
threatens the peace and security
of the Far East.
The Soviet declaration was
made by Georgi N. Zarubin be
fore the General Assembly’s 60
nation Political Committee which
is debating a Burmese complaint
against the Chiang Kai-Shek gov
ernment.
Zarubin disputed assertions of
the Chinese Nationalists that the
forces in Burma were an inde
pendent unit over which Chiang
had no control.
“There is no question,” he said,
“that the Kuomintang group in
Formosa directly operates the
forces in Burma.”
Special Interests
Blamed for Ouster
F & W L Director
WASHINGTON, UR —The en
mity of ‘‘special interests” dis
pleased by his conservation ef
forts was blamed Sunday by Al
bert M. Day for his removal as
director of the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
He said pressure for his ouster
was brought by California duck
hunters and Alaska salmon pack
ers, but declined to name any
persons he said were involved.
Secretary of the Interior Mc
Kay announced Friday he was
naming John L. Farley of Seat
tle, to replace Day some time next
month in the $13,200-a-year post.
Sen. Kefauver said in a state
ment that “it is very discourag
ing” that McKay “has decided to
use one of the principal scientific
and conservation agencies of the
federal government for political
purposes.”
He referred to the furore raised
in recent weeks over announced
plans—now temporarily postponed
—to remove Allen V. Astin as dir
ector of the Bureau of Standards,
and commented that “apparently
the lessons of that case have been
lost on Secretary McKay.”
Miss Rachel Carlson, former ed
itor in chief of the Fish and Wild
life Service, said the action “is an
ominorus threat to the course of
conservation and strongly sug
gests that our national resources
are to become political pawns.”
Day, informed Thursday he was
being replaced, said he was told
McKay wanted to put men of his
own choice in all top policy
making positions in the depart
ment.
In addition, he said, “I was
told that in my position as director
I had made some enemies.”
“No one could have been in
public life as long as I have with
out making some enemies,” he
added.
Govt. Orders Communist
Party Bare Membership,
Give Financial Accounting
WASHINGTON, (#)—A govern
ment board Monday, branded the
U.S. Communist party as “a sub
sidiary and puppet of the Soviet
Union” and ordered the party to
bare its membership lists and give
a financial accounting.
The order is subject to review
by the courts.
The four present members of
the Subversive Control Board ag
reed unanimously that the party
“is substantially directed, domin
ated and controlled” by Moscow.
The party, the Board said “op
erates primarily to advance the
objective” of a Russian-directed
world Communist movement.
The Board’s order was issued
almost 19 months after former
Atty. Gen. J. Howard McGrath
started a registration proceeding
against the party.
Indications are that it will be
a year or more before the Su
preme Court has the final say on
constitutionality of the 1950 Inter
nal Security (McCarran) Act un
der which the Board acted.