2£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No. 89 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1954 Per Copy—15^
Call For Stricter
Regulation Of
Coffee Prices
WASHINGTON, UH — Congres
sional critics of soaring coffee
prices renewed their call for
stricter regulations today in the
wake of a government report
blaming the price hike on spec
ulators and other artificial causes.
But coffee traders and produc
ers promptly denied it was their
fault that the nickel cup of java,
a favorite pick-me-up for mil
lions of Americans, is becoming as
extinct as the buffalo.
The Federal Trade Commission
issued a report yesterday saying
the boost in average retail coffee
prices—from 91 cents to $1.18 a
pound between December and
April—“cannot be explained” in
terms of the laws of supply and
demand.
It said one reason was specula
tion by both U.S. and Brazilian
interests, but that price hikes also
stemmed from skimpy coffee crop
reports and from Brazil’s action
in raising its minimum coffee
export price from 53 to 87 cents
a pound July 1.
And while the price spiral
added less than a cent to the
cost of a cup of coffee in Ameri
can restaurants, it said, the cus
tomer’s bill was upped from 5 to
10 cents and in many cases to 15,
20 and even 25 cents.
But it had this encouraging
word: with production up and
consumption dropping off, pros
pects are for “lower coffee prices
in the future barring excessive
crop damage and provided supply
and demand are permitted freely
to run their course.”
Recommend Investigation
Into Need For Permanent
Government Tin Smelter
WASHINGTON, Wl— A special
Senate-House investigation of the
tin situation was recommended to
the Senate yesterday by its Armed
Services Committee. It proposed a
$50,000 fund to pay for the probe.
Armed Services chairman Sal
tonstall said the proposed commit
tee would look into the need for
permanent operation of the multi
million dollar government tin
smelter at Texas City, Tex.
The present administration at
tempted to close down this smelt
er last June 30 and Offer it for
sale, but Congress, spurred by
Sen. Lyndon Johnson (D-Tex) and
other Texans, by resolution ask
ed continued operation pending a
congressional study.
The tin smelter was constructed
and put into operation during
World War II and is the only one
in this hemisphere. Johnson con
tends it should be continued per
manently as a national defense
measure.
Churchill Keeping Mum
LONDON, W)—Prime Minister
Churchill parried an attempt in
the House of Commons Thursday
to find out whether he intends to
resign—and if so, when.
Parliament is quitting today for
the summer reces» until October
—and there’s been plenty of lobby
talk that Churchill may resign as
Prime Minister .before then or
shortly after.
Legislative Examining
Group to Continue Health
Hearings in Anchorage
Howard Lyng, chairman of the
subcommittee of the Legislative
Examining Committee, left for
Anchorage Thursday, where he,
together with Rep. Harold String
er of Anchorage, and William
Moran of Juneau, will continue
hearings on the operation and
activities of the Territorial Dept,
of Health in the Third Division.
Completion of the hearings is
set for July 30-31 and Oct. 1.
Boys Nation Approves
Statehood For Hawaii
WASHINGTON, UP) — State
hood for Hawaii was approved
unanimously yesterday by a
“model” Senate session conducted
by the teenage delegates to “Boys
Nation.”
The boys, under the sponsor
ship of the American Legion, ran
the gamut of parliamentary pro
cedure in passing the Hawaii bill
during a 105-minute session in
the old Supreme Court chamber
of the capitol.
Frequent cries of “point of or
der,” “will the senator yield?”
and points of personal privilege
resounded through the room.
A statehood bill for Alaska was
shelved and universal miltary
training was approved by a 74-9
vote.
1,200 American Airlines
Pilots To Strike Tonight
CHICAGO, GD —The AFL Air
Lines Pilots Assn, says it will
strike against American Airlines
at midnight tonight.
Clarence Sayen, ALPA presi
dent, said all of American’s more
than 1,200 pilots would strike.
The dispute involves union ob
jections to American’s scheduling
of continuous flight time of more
than eight hours.
The CAB waived the regulation
against more than eight hours
continuous flight time in June.
American, United Air Lines and
TWA then started non-stop flights
from New York to California, of
nine hours or more.
Covenant Orphanage At
Unalakleet Closed, High
School To Be Started
The Covenant Mission Orphan
age at Unalakleet has been closed
this week and personnel has been
transported to White Mountain
where the orphanage yill be lo
cated.
Part of the group were taken to
White Mountain by Rev. Roald
Amundsen in the new Stinson
station wagon, which was a gift
to the mission by a private family
and was flown in by Amundsen
last month from Boston.
In Unalakleet the Covenant
Church will start a high school, to
be staffed by Dr. and Mrs. May
nard Lundberg and Mr. and Mrs.
Spencer Strand. The school will
be limited to local residents and
students boarding in private
homes this year, but it is planned
to expand it next year into a
boarding school as well.
This is another step in the
growth of the Second Division
educationally, as heretofore the
only high school has been at
Nome.
V
Thieves Rob
Sluice Box Of
40 Pounds of Gold
FAIRBANKS, UP—Thieves op
erating in the brazen manner of
gold rush days desperados have
looted a remote Alaska mine of
raw gold while the mine crew
slept nearby.
Territorial police reported yes
terday that someone entered the
Alder Creek gold mine 25 miles
north of here Tuesday night and
removed gold nuggets and dust
from the “riffles” in the sluice
box.
Martin Sather, mine operator,
estimated the loss at “definitely
not less than $1,500” and per
haps up to $10,000. He said it was
difficult to tell the amount of
gold in the box, which his crew
was nearly ready to' empty after
recent sluicing.
Police kept the theft secret un
til yesterday in hopes the thieves
would try to sell their poke of
gold in local markets. Authorities
said the nuggets and dust, along
with impurities caught with the
gold, may weigh 40 pounds.
The authorities said investiga
tion was complicated by the fact
that many persons were in the
area for army maneuvers. Usual
ly there is virtually no one in the
remote district except the mine
crew.
Congress Passes
First Overhaul Of
Tax Laws In 75 Yrs.
WASHINGTON, W)— Congress
completed action last night on the
first complete overhaul of the na
tion’s tax laws in 75 years, and
both Republicans and Democrats
claimed they would profit more
politically.
Whatever the political effects
may be in the coming campaign
for control of Congress, the ac
tion sent to the White House for
virtually certain approval the bill
President Eisenhower had desig
nated as the cornerstone of his
1954 program.
The bill carries $1,363,000,000
in assorted tax cuts for individ
uals and corporations in its first
year of operation, or in later
years. It does not change major
tax rates except to maintain the
52 per cent levy on corporation
income which dropped to' 47 per
cent on April 1 and is extended
retroactively.
Republicans hailed the bill as
capping a TVi billion-dollar 1954
tax reduction program — biggest
for any single year. This already
has been used in GOP campaign
material.
Democrats interject here that
two big boons to the taxpayer
took effect automatically under a
1951 law enacted when their party
controlled Congress.
These include the 10 per cent
reduction in personal income tax
and the expiration of the corpor
ation profits tax, which took ef
fect Jan. 1. On April 1 various
excise tax cuts totalling a billion
dollars took effect. These were
fought by the Treasury but en
thusiastically supported by Re
publican congressional leaders.
Gen. Services Administrator Advises
Government Give New Loan To US Tin
-<
Would Investigate Sen.
McCarthy As Substitute
For Proposed Censure
WASHINGTON, <JP» — Sen. H.
Alexander Smith (R-NJ) today
quoted Vice President Nixon as
saying Smith is “on the right
track” with a proposal to investi
gate Sen. McCarthy as a substi
tute for a move to censure Mc
Carthy. i
Smith told reporters that if his
substitute is defeated, however,
“I would feel compelled” to vote
for a resolution by Sen. Flanders
(R-Vt) proposing to “condemn”
McCarthy’s red-hunting tactics as
chairman of the Senate Investiga
tions subcommittee.
As a substitute for the Flanders
resolution, Smith has proposed
that the Senate create a special
committee, headed by Nixon, to
investigate the alleged good or
evil of so-called “McCarthyism.”
The committe would report to the
Senate early next year.
Smith said a number of sen
ators want to make it clear that
“they are waiting to be counted”
on the issue of McCarthy, and
seem inclined to let the test be
made on the Flanders resolution.
He said if they prefer that “sud
den death” approach to the prob
lem, that will be all right with
him.
Sen. Flanders said he regards
as “still good” the prospect that
the Senate eventually will adopt
his proposal to censure McCarthy
for what Flander calls unbecom
ing conduct. But there was gen
eral agreement that a substantial
number of senators would like to
avoid any showdown vote now on
the politically explosive issue.
U.S. Atomic
Arsenal Is
Growing Rapidly
WASHINGTON, UP) — The na
tions atomic arsenal is “growing
rapidly in total numbers,” the
government said today, and high
level action has been taken to
assure continued U.S. superiority
in the A-bomb and H-bomb field.
The Atomic Energy Commis
sion so told Congress today in its
semi-annual report which also
said there had been record pro
duction of uranium from domestic
sources in the last six months and
a “sharp rise” in the production
of fissionable materials at lower
unit costs.
It reported continued progress
toward development of reactors
for industrial nuclear power,
which it said may be produced
economically in the foreseeable
future, and “for naval and air
craft propulsion and other mili
tary requirements.”
The commission reported the
near completion of the atomic
power plant to drive the Nautilus,
the Navy’s first nuclear powered
submarine whose hull has been
completed. A second atomic sub
is under construction and plans
for early building of two more
were anonunced yesterday by the
Navy.
1 WASHINGTON, (TP)—A govern
ment official has criticized opera
tions of the U.S. Tin Corp. mine
in Alaska but suggested it may be
advisable to give it a new loan
rather than drop the project.
The testimony came from Ed
mund F. Mansure, General Ser
vices administrator, at yesterday’s
hearing on the Seward Peninsula
project by the Joint Defense Pro
duction committee.
Mansure appeared after Ken
neth J. Kadow, former president
of U.S. Tin, urged congressmen to
back the company’s application
for a new government loan of
$403,000.
Unless the additional loan is
granted, Kadow said, the mine
would have to close down and the
government “would probably get
about a nickel on the dollar” from
the three million in federally
backed loans U.S. Tin already
has received. '
In afternoon testimony two top
government officails disclosed
that all the stock of U.S. Tin is
now held by the government in
esrcow, which means, among
other things, it cannot be sold
without government permission.
Mansure and Dr. Arthur S.
Fleming, defense mobilizer, ap
peared somewhat uncertain, how
ever, as to the wisdom of starv
ing the project by a refusal to
approve any more loans.
Mansure told the committee he
was “very much concerned with
the management of this com
pany,” but estimated the May
June production rate at 460,000
popnds a year. He said at least
600,000 pounds would be needed.
Then he added:
“Granting no unusual setback,
this project could produce 850,
000 pounds.” He said it was
“possible” that the government
would know within a year “whe
ther there is a sufficient deposit”
of tin to make the project worth
while.
The real “question,” Mansure
said, is “the need for defense pur
poses.” He called the operation
“definitely a speculation.”
A decision whether to continue
or give up the project, he said,
would depend in large part on
an expected recommendation
from the Bureau of Mines.
Mansure said he does not see a
“chance” of the government “get
ting its money out” of the opera
tion. But any possible new ad
vances, he said, would appear to
be well secured by current pro
duction.
“If the project is carried out
as now planned the government
will have achieved its broad ob
ective and it is to the govern
ment’s best interests to carry it
out.”
GROOM SINGS FOR WEDDING
PRATT, Kan., UP)—Paul Crabb,
a contractor, had to sing at his
own wedding.
Crabb has a fine bass voice, and
his fiance, Miss Mary Ann Mc
Namee, insisted that he sing “I
Love Thee” and “Always” before
marching to the altar Wednesday
night.
Crabb did.